Tips & Suggestions for a long haul drive
From: photoduniya.com
It is extremely nice to hear a lot of interest within my readers to drive similar distances cross country. I am constantly being asked for any suggestion that could help in such a drive. I have updated the Travel section of photoduniya.com with as much of information as possible and I will jot the main points again here:
- This is our second cross country drive. We had most of our lessons on the first. And we also had a growing interest to do this trip again from the first drive!
- Travel for the fun of it. Look out, enjoy the beauty outside and take in as much as you can of the region you are traveling through. We took diversions, we stayed additional days in places we wanted to see in winter and we stopped where we wanted to spend a moment longer.
- Prepare your vehicle - oil change, tire pressure and the electrical circuits are absolutely necessary if you are traveling through a wide range of climatic conditions. Our car was practically new in this drive, with almost new tires and yet we had situations where the pressure faltered, where the grip wasn’t as good. I have never changed a tire before! Never. And all I am good at with my car is either driving it or re-fuelling it. And thank god, we did not run into issues.
Our off road SUV - Nissan Xterra
- If you are planning to drive in the winter, you could have very difficult roads. So keeping to 1 or 2 interstate highways for the most part of the journey helps. The image below shows a spot on Interstate I-80 which was completely icy and the snow had not been cleared for quite some time.
Icy patches on I-80
- Carry extra wind shield fluid in the car. We faced a situation where we had used up all the fuild by the afternoon and it started snowing in the evening when we suddenly heard the fluid motor burring! We had run out of fuild on a winding dark narrow mountainous stretch close to Reno, Nevada.
- Keep water, fruit juice and dry food in the car. Water and the juice is to keep your body hydrated while on the wheels. The food is primarily for emergencies and will also help you to keep your stomach from running completely empty. Driving with an empty stomach could lead to fatal accidents.
- Keep one map & a torch lamp in the car. We used a five dollar Mapquest map book bought from Walmart. It helped us on course corrections for all closed highways and byways. We used a ten dollar maglite torch lamp from REI.
- Dont push your body or your vehicle to its limits. You are traveling to see and enjoy. So relax! Keep ample time in your hand to stop for some coffee and breathe in the fresh air!
- Keep in touch with a friend or a relative. For the most part, we had our family friend watch over us during the journey. They would call us and make sure that we were all right. We had also taken their help on navigation and weather information.
- While driving, know for sure that many other people on the road should not even be behind the wheels in the first place! So do not tempt or be tempted to exceed speed or do anything unusual or illegal. There would only be a few drivers along the way who are driving for several days at a stretch for several thousand miles. This is not a competition to reach first - this is probably a once in a life time opportunity to see the country in its natural best. So keep your focus.
- Last but not the least, enjoy the drive. Look out, stop to take some pictures or to exchange some greetings with the local people - you may never meet them again!
If you are planning to travel cross country we wish you good luck and hope you have a memorable trip. Do share your trip experience so that we could also plan something similar on a new route!
Could not find what you are looking for? Search all related sites one more time. You could also email us & suggest what to write next.
More Free Software & Internet Services
- Candid Travel Picture from the Streets of Kolkata - Devotees along the Ganges
- Street People Portrait - Candid Portrait of Children from Kolkata
- Horse and carriage rides in Central Park, New York City
- Naked Cowboy - Candid Photo of Naked Cowboy in Times Square
- Street dance, music and roller skating in Central Park
Bookmark Nature Travel & Candid Street Photography
More on Photography, Media, Home Office & Photography Business:
More on Photography, Media, Home Office & Photography Business:
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply