Getting Your Car Ready For Your Green Road Trip Adventure!
Going on a car journey for your holiday? Got the spare spark plugs?
If you are heading off on a long journey as part of or all of your holiday, you might as well take some little things that can be the difference between a quick fix and a long wait at the garage - and that’s if you happen to run into trouble close to one, rather than having to find one in the first place - and assuming on top of that that they speak English!
We all know that a spare tyre is expected and many people carry a torch, an ice-scraper, some oil and maybe a warning triangle, but there are many more little things that can really help out if you intend to be on the road for a while.
Now, you won’t want to weigh your car down with a huge amount of excess things, as it will use more fuel and allow less space for your holidays bits or family. However, most essentials are only lightweight anyway.
Spare Stuff:
Things like headlights and brake lights are an essential safety feature of your car, so make sure that you have at least those 4 spare bulbs before heading off. All the other lights are not really vital in stopping other cars bumping into you - Although the more you carry with you the better things will be for you.
Some spare fuel wouldn’t be the worst idea either. You never know when you will start running out of fuel - and you never know when you will next see a fuel station if you are travelling in the middle of nowhere.
Spare clothes and blankets are something you might have already because of the journey anyway - but spare water for the car for cleaning windows, refilling the engine and rinsing things off could be worth having, as well as toilet roll, some plastic bags and rags are certainly things I have found worth having on my travels.
One time my car started mis-firing - (which turned out to be caused by me spilling oil on one of the spark plugs when I was refilling the engine without a funnel - now added to my list of carry-on things)) and all I needed was a replacement spark plug! Something you don’t normally carry - but when your car starts chugging up a hill and only gets to 40 mph - you’d wish you had one!
Other Helpful Items:
It’s not just replacement items that could come in handy while travelling, there are a whole host of ‘grab’ items that could really make things run more smoothly.
Pen and paper isn’t a bad idea for on-the-road games as well as for taking details of directions and possibly names of hotels, tourist sights you hear of on the road and even for taking down number plates of vehicles that are involved in accidents or incidents along the way.
Maybe even a portable solar-powered battery charger is something you might consider if you have a mobile phone with you or even a laptop or iPad. They take up hardly any room, yet could keep you away from civilisation for a lot longer if that was your plan.
A tiny bit further from the norm, but by no means worth ignoring is a basic first aid kit with iodine to make fresh water safe to drink. If you want to have all eventualities covered - always think of the things that will be really annoying to you on a day out and prepare for it. So would you want a headache all day? No, take pain relief then. Tummy ache? Loose Stools? No? Then have it covered as a basic.
And of course, don’t forget your toothbrush!


