Road Trip Planning: The Definitive Guide for A Great Road Trip

Whether you want to hit the country-side with your gal pals or have a boys weekend, taking a road trip is the rite of passage. The lure of traveling slowly on a straight road with no care of time is ideal for many of us. Road trips are a feasible option for many considering the pathetic airline service in the region.

Why Take A Road Trip?

Road trips are a great way to refresh yourself. You can take a road trip to see family, sacred places or popular tourist destinations like Los Angeles.

Sometimes road trips become an essential way to break from the city’s toxic routine. Road trips can become an outlet for you to relax. Road trips are a way to walk out of your comfort zone and explore the world around you. They help you explore and appreciate the aesthetics of places that were previously unknown to you. Road trips can be an excellent exploring experience.

Why road trip? Road trips tell you a lot about yourself, how you react in places with no stress and limited space and privacy. A road trip with a group of friends can help you learn a lot about yourself. You also get a chance to surround yourself with what's important, your family, and your friends.

What car should you use for a road trip?

It may sound obvious, but whatever car you take on your road trip, it should be in its prime condition. A maintained vehicle is vital for you and your passengers' safety, and it also won’t break down in the middle of a deserted highway. Automobiles that are well maintained also use a lot less energy.

It is best if you

·      Get an oil change (unless you’ve gotten one done pretty recently)

·      Top off all the fluids, from power steering to the window washing fluid.

·      Inspect your tires and make sure they’re in great shape.

·      Keep a fully inflated spare tire.

If you don’t know what all of this means, you can go to a service station where they’ll take care of all of this for you.

How often should you stop on a road trip? Road trips can be tiring, and to take care of you and your car, you should make stops every five hours.

A note to the wise: A car with a limited amount of weight in the form of baggage glides for longer.

Best Weather for a Road trip?

The weather all around plays a significant part in road trips; weather can turn a perfect trip into a total nightmare. Before planning anything around a road trip, it is best to check out the weather beforehand use the weather checking apps available.

There are a lot of weather apps available that you can check, and these apps are advanced enough to give you estimates on your predicted travel time, chances of rain, hail, tornadoes, and some even have the option to book your hotels.

Best Apps To Help You With Your Road Trip

There are a lot of apps readily available that you can check out. One such app is Weather on wheels, which was developed by students at Texas A&M University. The app has features to figure out the weather for road trip display estimated travel time, chances of rain, air temperature and forecasted winds. It even has a calendar that you can use to schedule your road trip.

Another useful app that you can use is Gas Buddy, which updates you on the gas prices and give you real-time data on fuel prices from over 140 different gas stations. Gas buddy will help you find the most cost-effective gas stations and help you save some dollars and use them on important things like roadside cafes and cocktails by the pool. You can also use this app regularly to save some money.

If you want an exclusive road trip app, then road tripper is an excellent app through which you can plan epic adventures on the go. Road tripper notifies you when you’re five minutes away from something amazing or cool. This app helps you find a lot of weird places and scenic spots that can help you capture beautiful pictures for your Instagram.

For hotels, you can download a road trip planner app like the app hotel tonight, which will help you sort out the accommodation for you. Hotel tonight enables hotel owners to give discounts on their empty rooms, which means that you can get a last-minute place pretty easy and cheap. The app also has a pre-booking option, which you can use to book your rooms beforehand. Or you could camp in your car.

Road Tripping Rules

Be flexible

The point of taking a road trip is to be able to break free of your regular monotonous schedule. Road tripping means, no timetables, no plans and no deadlines. You can do whatever and whenever you want.

Be spontaneous

You can make plans on the go, play road trip games, be open to road trip ideas, and visit and go to sites that you didn’t plan for. You can play all your favourite songs on the road and have everyone sing along to it and have fun.

You get to catch up

Remember that in our everyday hustle, we often lose track of our friends and become engrossed in that. Use your road trip to its full potential and make it an opportunity for you to catch up with your friends.

What Do You Pack?

There is a wide variety of road trip packing lists available, just one search away. Use those lists to help figure out the things you need, remember that it is essential not to overpack because then you’ll only be lugging luggage around you throughout your road trip. I’ve put together a list of road trip essentials that you should not skip.

·      Water bottles

·      Road trip healthy Snacks!

·      Road trip food

·      First aid kit

·      Travel pillow

·      Travel Mug

·      Sunscreen!

Be sure to pack for the weather for wherever you’re going and keep no more than two spare pairs of clothes, don’t carry on unnecessary weight. So here’s all that i have to say about road trip planning! Happy tripping!

Plan your Babymoon: The definitive guide for a Babymoon

What is a babymoon?

Contrary to popular opinion, a babymoon does not involve a baby, unless you consider the fetus in the womb as a baby. The concept of babymoons is to give the future mom and dad the last vacation before the little bundle of joy arrives.

When Should You Go For A Babymoon?

A babymoon is the last opportunity for a couple to spend time alone together and also their last vacation with freedom. A baby is a big responsibility, and an even bigger responsibility is caring for it, so if you’re thinking of opting for a babymoon, go for it! Babymoons are typically taken in the second trimester after you’ve taken the 12-week scan and before it becomes inadvisable to fly.

What To Do On Your Babymoon?

You can do whatever your heart desires on your babymoon, do your research on babymoon ideas. You could travel or do a staycation. You could go in for a couple's massage, sleep in, go to the beach to relax or order room service. The possibilities are endless.

Is It Safe?

A valid concern raised by many expecting parents is whether taking a babymoon is safe for both the mother and child. Experts claim that late babymoon traveling is not as safe as it may seem. Couples are advised to be fully aware of the risks associated with traveling in the air up to week 32.

Premature delivery and complications can be nothing less than traumatic for you and your significant other. Experts advise that you should be fully aware and vigilant of the conditions and should avoid traveling internationally as international travels will rarely ever get covered by insurance. I would also recommend getting travel insurance for your local trips as well because well. Babymoons are risky.

How Do You Prepare For Your Babymoon?

The first step for preparing for your babymoon is to talk to your OB/Gyn and ask for your prenatal records so that in case anything horrible happens on the trip, the emergency GYN would have a detailed history of your condition and will be able to help you better.

The next step is packing for your babymoon, and you can buy babymoon packages. Remember that your comfort comes in first before anything else. Pack a couple of pairs of comfortable stockings, comfortable pajama sets, comfortable shoes that you can wear anywhere. Don’t forget to keep a reliable water bottle with you at all times because pregnant women need to stay hydrated.

The primary purpose of a babymoon is to be able to have some romantic time alone with your partner, so I would recommend throwing in a few cute dresses in for your fancy dates.

Popular Destinations For A Babymoon?

There are a lot of beautiful locations you can visit on your babymoon. However, I would recommend keeping your comfort and safety at the topmost priority. Choose a place that works best for your partner and you, but don’t travel too far away from home.

Mountains

You could go on a hiking trip on the hills, which can be great for you so that you can reconnect with mother nature and energize and fuel your soul. However, remember not to walk too much and to stay hydrated! Wherever you decide to hike, make sure that there is a proper clinic or hospital nearby.

Hiking isn’t the only thing you can do. You could also go for a sightseeing trip and stay at a hotel which is more relaxing and fun.

Beaches

No doubt beaches sound like a perfect babymoon destination. Beaches are known to be great places where you can ultimately relax and soak in the sun. You can lounge on the beachside with fruity drinks and get that pre-baby massage to help you soothe yourself.

Beaches also typically have some excellent restaurants around them as well, so when soaking and relaxing at those stunning white sand beaches get tiring, you can walk into a restaurant to have a beautiful dining experience.

For the nights, you could have a beach bonfire and relax listening to the waves crash against the shore sounds perfect right.

Weekend Getaway

If you can’t plan a great babymoon destination or babymoon location, a weekend getaway at a small city or resort is your best bet. If you manage to plan your getaway before a significant event like Christmas, then rest assured that the getaway will be fun for you. You and your partner can shop for yourself and your family and relax. In short, any time spent alone relaxing with your partner is going to be amazing anyway, no matter what you do.

Should I Bring My Toddler To My Babymoon?

There is no rule as such that restricts you from bringing your kids along to your babymoon getaway. Bringing your toddler with you will help you not be stressed as parents, and who knows it might turn out to be a wonderful babymoon vacation for all of you. One thing you will need to keep a note of is whether the places you’re planning to stay in, are family and toddler-friendly or not.

A bay moon with your entire family can give you all quality time to spend together and relax. Go for it!

What Places Should I Avoid For A Babymoon?

Avoid places where the Zika virus is circulating! For those of you who don’t know about the Zika virus. It’s a virus transferred by mosquitoes and is considered dangerous for pregnant women. About one in five people experience the usual Zika virus symptoms which are fever, rash, and muscle pains for up to 12 days after being bitten.

The Zika virus can be passed on from a pregnant woman to her fetus, and that virus can cause an infection, which can lead the fetus to be born with a congenital disability, and even worse, your child could get fetal brain defects too.

Be careful about the babymoon destination you choose, and keep yourself updated on the places where the Zika virus is circulating so that you can spend your babymoon Zika free!

Babymoons are a recent new trend, and I feel like if given a chance, one should opt for a babymoon vacation. The most important thing to remember is to relax! Enjoy your time with your partner!

Best Holiday Destinations For Disabled Travellers

These days there is more awareness about the mental and physical disabilities. These people are visible, important and a part of society. This awareness has made more people to be understanding and want to be more accommodating. Some countries and cities have also taken it a step further by designing their cities and tourist packages to cater to the disabled, so they can equally have a positive experience of their vacation. Other countries and cities are slowly becoming aware and making changes to accommodate.

We cannot deny the fact that a lot more work still needs to be done in order to make the travelling experience better and enjoyable for disabled travellers. For those of you who may be disabled or have friends, family and colleagues that may be disabled. We created a list of the top travel destinations that provide suitable facilities. Enjoy!

The top friendly destinations that have great access for the disabled list as follows:

1.   Berlin, Germany

Berlin, the capital of Germany, commits to provide better opportunities for the disabled. The city is barrier-free. That means the city is easily accessible to those who use wheelchairs.

The city provides mobility opportunities to blind and partially sight people as well as the deaf and hard of hearing equally. Berlin has a new accessible building and public transport for the disabled. The city also received the European Commission Access City Award. The hotels, tourist’s places and other events are in access of disabled too. Please be aware that some of the main attractions are not wheelchair friendly.

In terms of flying to Berlin. Please note that wheelchair access is available at Tegel airport or Shönefeld Airport. Alternatively you can take the train to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (which is has wheelchair access).

2.   National Parks of the United States

National Park services decided to build the Accessibility Task Force in 2012. The plan was developed for five years to increase accessibility throughout the parks.

Moreover, National Park Services provides lifetime free pass to permanent residents with permanent disabilities. Therefore, with pass disabled can get free entrance to 2000 recreation sites as well as a discount on the amenity fees.

The top accessible parks in the list are Congaree National Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park.

3.   Sydney, Australia

Sydney is the topmost disabled-friendly destination. It provides public transportation facilities to the disabled. More than 2000 tactile and Braille Street signs and accessibility map are available for disabled. The map gives information related to searching for accessible restrooms and mobility parking spaces.

The map warns the disabled in case of any barriers and stair inclines. Sydney is working on even more opportunities for the disabled. which is amazing!

4.   Disney World

Disney world is included in top destinations that have great access for the disabled. The park provides a wheelchair, audio descriptions, captioning, and assistive listening rental.

Disney World provides a guide for disabled Guests and offers a Disability Access Service (DAS). The services offer comparable return time for disabled who cannot wait in conventional lines.

5.   Dublin Ireland

Dublin provides digital information to search for the disabled-friendly places in the city.

The website Mobility MOJO provides current information. The information includes pubs, parks, restaurants, transportation, and other attraction in Dublin and beyond.

Dublin is trying to redesign its old historic buildings so it can make it more accessible for the disabled. However, the city has several accommodations for the disabled. Please note, that there are a lot of cobbled stones and little hills in the city, so you may need assistance or a private tour guide to make the trip more accessible. Overall, the main tourist attractions have very good accessibility.

6.   Hanauma Bay, Hawaii

Hanauma Bay provides fabulous facilities for the disabled. The disabled can relax on the beach on wheelchairs free of cost.

The other facilities like transport buses and tram to are accessible. The special screen in movie theatres is also accessible.

The other accessible destinations for disabled are listed as Pattaya Thailand, LEGOLAND, Loutraki Greece, Sicily Italy, and South Africa, Seattle WA U.S of America.

If you know any more destinations, feel free to leave a comment and share them with us. :-)