Sadly the car in the first image is not the one we’ll be travelling to France in this summer. This was lent to my husband and me to test drive for my birthday in 2018. For anyone who knows us or has read previous blog posts, we drive from Glasgow to the South of France in 48 hours which means lots of planning and re-reading my blog post about what’s needed for a self-drive holiday. This blog post is centred around the essentials that I think you need in the car for a long journey to make the trip more bearable. I’ve also asked some fellow bloggers for their top tips which you’ll find at the end of this blog post.
When travelling by car I’m always a passenger as I still haven’t passed my driving test yet. I promise I’ll get to it eventually. This means that I need to be relied upon to have the directions for where we’re heading and once we’re in France I’m also responsible for dealing with the tolls too. Because of this I usually keep items in the door and glove box that are within easy reach so I know where to find them when I need them. There is also always one of my inhalers in my husband’s glove box so there is always one in the car in case I need it.
The things I want to cover in this blog post are the extra things that make the journey easier on me as a chronic illness sufferer but also those little things that you may not have thought of in the past but will help you too. One thing to consider if you’re making a long car journey is to hire a car and KJ PCO has a great choice. This can make life easier for you especially if you have a car which may not make a longer journey (I’ve had first-hand experience of this)!
Maps and printed directions
As much as I love having Google Maps on my phone I also love having physical maps in the car too. For some reason, you’ll never have a phone signal when you need to make a detour so the map is a necessity for me. For France printed directions are also a must as using Via Michelin you can also find out where the toll stations are plus how much they’ll cost. Laura from Inside Laura’s Head agrees with this and also suggests pre-downloading as much as possible that you may need for the journey in case you don’t have a signal/WiFi.
Playlist
I don’t know about you but I need a really banging playlist for a long car journey. From the driver’s point of view, this is what is going to keep them awake for the duration of the drive – especially when that drive is two days to the South of France. I’ve set up some different playlists on Spotify that can be used depending on the mood we’re in.
Blanket
We tend to travel at all times of the day and night so a blanket is a must for me. We set off for our Eurotunnel crossing early in the morning so making sure I’m warm until the weather warms up is very important to me.
Medication/Pain Prevention
Being a chronic pain sufferer reducing that pain is incredibly important to me. As well as my normal medication I like to make sure I have a stock of painkillers handy. I’m also thinking about a heating pad to replace my trusty hot water bottle.
Phone holder
We’ve recently discovered Apple car play but I like to have my phone in a holder so I know where to find it if I need to check anything instead of using my husband’s phone which is connected through the car. Having it in front of me means I’m less likely to pull it out of my bag to check it for any notifications but I know where it is if I need it.
Sunglasses
For long journeys, sunglasses are a must-have and even more so if you’re travelling in the summer. I find they help reduce headaches as well as being better for my eyes.
Technology Bits and Pieces
Even before I was a blogger I carried around a huge amount of technology with me when I travelled. Now I make it a point to have a charger block and iPhone cable plus the adapter for charging a phone using the lighter socket in the car too.
Kindle
For the section of the journey where my husband knows exactly where he’s going, I often take my Kindle with me so I can read a book to stay awake instead of nodding off when there’s not a lot for me to do as a passenger/navigator.
Suggestions from other bloggers
I asked some other bloggers for their long car journey essentials and was given lots of great ideas and ones that will probably become staples for the next long car journey we do.
- A neck pillow and snacks – despitepain.com
- Headphones, sunglasses and a bottle of water – Paula Hickey
- A good pair of walking shoes and a jacket – The Platinum Line
- Halfway break that you can look forward to – Meandering Wild
- Awesome playlist – Rebecca from Day Trip Queen
- Emergency Breakdown Kit – Lisa’s Notebook
- Kindle, notebook and pen, snacks, water, snuggly blanket and a plan of toilet stops – Jera’s Jamboree
