Do you still "prepare" a car journey?

[Exoticlover]

In the age of satnavs, 24/7 service stations, drive-in hamburger restaurants, smartphones, is there still the need - or the desire - to "prepare" a car journey?

As in making some ham sanies, hard-boiled eggs, thermos flask. A road map, maybe a picnic rug. Sour drops/boiled sweets. Maybe driving gloves, or your preferred travel cardigan. Driving shoes? A mix-tape, or your radio tuned to your favourite station. A "pit stop" planned ahead, in that quaint little village pub.

What do you think?

[MikeM6]

I would much rather have a sandwich than ANY of the fast food burgers, and I quite enjoy taking the scenic route if there is one. I enjoy driving still, so I'm not just interested in the fastest route all the time.

I do use a satnav, but I would alway look at the map and have a rough idea where I am going so that I'm not totally reliant on the technology.

[rxe]

For a long journey (say going to Spain) I’ll clean the car interior - if I’m going to live in it for the next 20 hours, it might as well be clean. Check the fluids and pressures …. and just drive. Pretty much anything can be solved on the fly with a phone and a credit card for those backward areas that don’t do phones.

Other than that, no, Get in car, drive it.

[ImDesigner]

Exoticlover said:

or your preferred travel cardigan.

[Exoticlover]

rxe said:

For a long journey (say going to Spain) I’ll clean the car interior - if I’m going to live in it for the next 20 hours, it might as well be clean. Check the fluids and pressures …. and just drive. Pretty much anything can be solved on the fly with a phone and a credit card for those backward areas that don’t do phones.

Other than that, no, Get in car, drive it.

So you want to make a lunch break in that quant little Spanish village where they speak Spanish, only to find out that they even do not take credit cards, so backwards are they. You are hungry. What are you going to do? Yell at clouds? Or come off your high horse and, shock, pay with cash? In small banknotes, not 500 EUR notes?

It pays off to be prepared.

[Cloudy147]

For me there is an element of prep for long family journeys, but it’s different to the good-old days that you describe.

The day before I’d check tyres, fill up with fuel and clean the inside of the car so it’s all nice. On the day, I make sure we have all appropriate phone/device charges plugged in and ready to go, set up the sat nav, review the route, make drinks. Blankets are always in the car anyway.

As for a break it tends to be a service stop at wee or lunch time. There are loads of these about so rarely need to prep for it.

Music tends to be delivered by radio for us, but also use Apple Music if not and will just stick on one of their playlists.

So yes, I still prep for long journeys but not in the same way.

Edited by Cloudy147 on Tuesday 9th August 08:15

[Exoticlover]

Cloudy147 said:

For me there is an element of prep for long family journeys, but it’s different to the good-old days that you describe.

The day before I’d check tyres, fill up with fuel and clean the inside of the car so it’s all nice. On the day, I make sure we have all appropriate phone/device charges plugged in an ready to go, set up the sat bag, review the route, make drinks. Blankets are always in the car anyway.

As for a break it tends to be a service stop at wee or lunch time. There are loads of these about so rarely need to prep for it.

Music tends to be delivered by radio for us, but also use Apple Music and just stick on one of their playlists.

So yes, I still prep for long journeys but not in the same way.

Sounds good but very robin reliant on 3rd party infrastructure. Especially given the price and quality of service station "food". An organic self-made sarnie is much healthier and higher quality of life.

[so called]

rxe said:

For a long journey (say going to Spain) I’ll clean the car interior - if I’m going to live in it for the next 20 hours, it might as well be clean. Check the fluids and pressures …. and just drive. Pretty much anything can be solved on the fly with a phone and a credit card for those backward areas that don’t do phones.

Other than that, no, Get in car, drive it.

Same here, annual drive to Spain required a car clean, tyre and oil check.
Other than that, we like to take three or four days to drive down so hotels are booked in advance.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

I was contemplating this whilst in the queue for the ferry to France. I’d have said that 8 out of 10 cars had been cleaned just before their big journey. Lots of sparkling BMWs , Volvos, MBs but also clean Zafiras and Nissans. Even old stuff.

I was also looking at how many cars had the new UK stickers on them, most but there were still a few without any ID. And then my favourite is how many people had fitted beam benders. Not many! That particular foible appears to be the preserve of the elderly, socialist or nerd. It got to the point whereby I was wondering if you needed to fit them anymore a

Like most people I also check oil, tyres and bring a breaker bar for the wheel nuts if I get a puncture.

[Alorotom]

Never have done any prep at all - just get in and go.

That includes when we used to decide on a Friday lunchtime when finishing work that we’d go to Disneyland Paris for the weekend and quickly shoot home grab a bag and some clothes and head straight down.

Only had a couple of issues ever:

the first being the wiper motor packed up (couldn’t have seen it coming, it just failed)

the second being a blow out when I hit scaffolding knuckle on the mway (it was bouncing and I was pleased it hit the tyre rather than the body/window - again just one of them things)

the final one was avoidable and as I pulled into the eurotunnel terminal my front brakes started grinding - by the time I pulled off the eurotunnel train it was very loud so all braking from then on (all the way to Disneyland and then back to Newcastle) was done well in advance with gentle use of the handbrake and a very rare press of the brake pedal - worked a treat

[ARHarh]

I always carry a picnic blanket in my cars. But then again I am retired

[Triumph Man]

Being a Land Rover owner my preparation for a journey involves loading the storage bins in the boot with tools, and checking the fluid levels. My wife sorts the catering (if any)

[NDA]

I never prepare.

However, I did think on a recent trip to Provence how we all managed before sat nav! I recall mapping the journey and making an easy to read cheat sheet of motorway junctions... today it's so easy.

[Zarco]

I check tyre pressures and make sure I've downloaded a few episodes of The Huey Show on my phone (no CD player in our family car these days sadly).

[Exoticlover]

NDA said:

I never prepare.

However, I did think on a recent trip to Provence how we all managed before sat nav! I recall mapping the journey and making an easy to read cheat sheet of motorway junctions... today it's so easy.

But was it that difficult in the old days?

[AC43]

I just did 1,700 miles round France. Did lots of little things.

Before I left I cleaned the car, re-gassed the a/c, put UK stickers on the plates, changed the headlights beams from the dash controls and changed the speedo from miles to kms. Also had the tyres checked out and, as they were marginal, put some new ones on.

In addition I downloaded some playlists to my phone and tried to pre-enter as many of my destinations as possible into Google Maps. The latter saves a lot of faffing about as my OH isn't that tech savvy and it's sometimes hard to do via voice commands on the move.

[Pica-Pica]

Exoticlover said:

NDA said:

I never prepare.

However, I did think on a recent trip to Provence how we all managed before sat nav! I recall mapping the journey and making an easy to read cheat sheet of motorway junctions... today it's so easy.

But was it that difficult in the old days?

Here’s a challenge. Check your route on a mapping app. Note the distance and the time it predicts. Then set off in your car without using any Sat Nave or app, and see how the time and distance vary. You are allowed to use the sun and other stars to navigate.

[captain.scarlet]

Since I was a child I've enjoyed reading maps and atlases, and developed it into a skill, so true to that I'll usually consider routes on Google Maps if I'm going somewhere unfamiliar.

If it's fairly straightforward then at least I'll know where to come off a major road and which traffic lights to turn at etc.

I also check Street View imagery of random or key parts of the proposed journey so that (assuming the imagery is up to date or still reflects reality) I have an idea as to what I will visually encounter along the way and to some extent reassure me of my whereabouts, although I have an odd habit of trying to not rely on the navigation unless I really have to, such as when I really am lost!

Often by way of follow-up (I guess due to enjoying map reading), I may revisit the route on Street View again and remind myself of it and what I notably saw along the way. I find it helps cement the route in my memory and again contribute to less dependency on a satnav.

[Roger Irrelevant]

For the annual drive to the south of France I'll get a good stash of food and drinks ready in order to minimise buggering about on the way down, check oil/tyres/washer fluid, and shovel out the worst of the mess that has accumulated. I'm also very odd in that I really much like looking at a map and memorising how to get to places - probably a result of doing outdoorsy stuff all my life. I've found that to get to virtually anywhere in the UK or France all you need to do is remember to follow signs for five or six places and then the directions for the last mile, and Google Streetview is great for the latter as you can basically do it before you do it.

Edit: just seen captain scarlet's post above mine - glad I'm not the only map geek out there!

[thewarlock]

If we're going a proper trip, going some distance, I'll check all the fluids, tyres, clean the car a bit and depending on my mood/where we're going/who's coming, make/find an appropriate playlist on spotify.