{"id":6328,"date":"2015-12-14T06:08:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T20:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/?p=6328"},"modified":"2020-06-20T00:59:55","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T14:59:55","slug":"driving-home-for-christmas-and-surviving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/driving\/driving-home-for-christmas-and-surviving\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Home For Christmas (And Surviving)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"chris-rea-driving-home-for-christmas-1\"<\/a>Driving Home For Christmas (And Surviving)<\/p>\n

\u201cDriving in my car, driving home for Christmas\u2026\u201d Hands up if you\u2019ve had this one piped at you recently on the radio or through the store sound system. At least it\u2019s one of the least toe-curlingly cringe-worthy Christmas ditties that get hauled onto the playlist at this time of year (unlike \u201cLet It Snow\u201d, \u201cIt\u2019s Lovely Weather For A Sleigh Ride Together With You\u201d and other tracks that are singularly inappropriate when it\u2019s sweltering and the streets are full of sweaty people in sunnies; just don\u2019t get me started\u2026 rant over). At least this one raises a point and talks about a bit of what really goes on \u2013 long-haul driving to visit the rellies and crowded roads where you\u2019re \u201ctop to toe in tailbacks\u201d and get \u201cred lights on the run\u201d.<\/p>\n

It can be a bit of a nightmare, trying to load the kids in the car and head off on a long drive interstate to the home of whoever is hosting the family Christmas this year. Haven\u2019t we all been there and done that, either when we were kids or when we got kids of our own.<\/p>\n

To make sure that you arrive in one peace and reasonably sane, it pays to plan ahead. To help you with this process, here\u2019s a few handy hints that will get you through that 8+-hour haul.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be prepared to take the trip in two bites. If the trip requires more than 12 hours of driving, it could be wisest for everybody\u2019s safety and sanity to spread it over two days. This may mean a stopover at a camping ground or motor inn unit in some obscure little town so everybody can sleep. Attempting to have the entire family sleeping in the car is probably not going to work unless you have a small family and a large car. The only time that I\u2019ve managed to get a decent sleep in the car when accompanied by the family was when (a) both the children were under 10, (b) we owned a van and (c) my husband slept underneath the van.\u00a0 If your trip is going to take three or more days of travel, consider flying instead of driving unless you\u2019re really keen on driving and have a very tolerant family.<\/li>\n
  2. Allow for breaks. And we don\u2019t just mean a quick whip into the dunny when you\u2019re stopping to refuel. It\u2019s better for your back and for your alertness (and will tire the kids out more quickly) if you actually get out and move around a bit.<\/li>\n
  3. Share the driving. If you have more than one driver in the family, then make sure that everyone gets a turn. This includes the L-plater, who could probably do with the experience of driving at night. Don\u2019t forget to pack the L plate and\/or the P plate if applicable.<\/li>\n
  4. Audiobooks are a wonderful way of passing the time \u2013 possibly better than music in some circumstances (might not be the best in very busy traffic, as they may distract the driver, especially if you\u2019ve got to the big showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort \u00a0just as you negotiate that spaghetti junction). On the whole, children\u2019s stories are a lot easier for adults to tolerate than cheesy children\u2019s songs. If the worst comes to the worst and you really can\u2019t agree on the book or the music, get separate devices and headphones for individuals \u2013 but not all the time. Learning to share and tolerate each other\u2019s tastes is an important life lesson.\u00a0 You may want a session where you pre-load your MP3 player, iPod or phone with a playlist for the journey where every family member makes a contribution.<\/li>\n
  5. Have some time when the music isn\u2019t playing and use this for old-fashioned \u201cquality time\u201d conversation, telling Dad jokes and playing silly story-telling games. Or singing.<\/li>\n
  6. Choose food and drink wisely. It\u2019s best to be flexible here and pick food that can be eaten in the car if needed or taken out as picnic food \u2013 it\u2019s all very well to plan a nice picnic where you make your own filled rolls from the ingredients in the esky but this is horribly fiddly and messy if a heavy downpour coincides with your planned lunch break. Beware of too many drive-through takeaways, as all the additives, caffeine and sugar in the soft drinks and\/or food, as these will make everyone more frazzled and energetic. They also get pretty pricey if you do it every time. Bring your own in lunchboxes or have a \u201csupermarket special challenge\u201d where you set a dollar limit and see what you can find in the nearest supermarket.\u00a0 Stick to water for the kids (and possibly for the driver), as this doesn\u2019t make your upholstery sticky when it gets spilled. Freezing a bottle of water the night before helps the water stay cold; adding a splash of herbal tea (e.g. peppermint or one of the fruity ones) makes it a bit \u201cspecial\u201d for the kids. Don\u2019t overdo the water or you\u2019ll have billions of toilet stops, but don\u2019t underdo it either.<\/li>\n
  7. Swap positions around. This means the passengers as well as the drivers. This is more feasible if your children are in the booster seat stage or older but is a bit of a hassle in the case of a more substantial baby or toddler seat. Possibly have some sort of competition (which the parents rig to ensure that everyone gets a turn at winning) with the winner getting the most coveted seat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Aagh, now I\u2019ve got an ear worm and can\u2019t get that Chris Rea song <\/a>\u00a0out of my head.<\/p>\n

    Safe and happy driving,<\/p>\n

    Megan http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/offers-zaim\/zaymer-online-zaymi.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Driving Home For Christmas (And Surviving) \u201cDriving in my car, driving home for Christmas\u2026\u201d Hands up if you\u2019ve had this one piped at you recently on the radio or through the store sound system. At least it\u2019s one of the least toe-curlingly cringe-worthy Christmas ditties that get hauled onto the playlist at this time of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-driving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6328"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11612,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions\/11612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}