Holidays – do you enjoy the journey?

Holidays and short breaks to your static caravan are a real treat and help re-charge your batteries. When planning our holidays, most of us think all about what we will be doing when we get there, but less about the preparation and journey.

From packing the car, making sure you have secured your home and getting someone to feed your cat – getting ready to go on holiday can be a stressful time. And then there is the journey!

Being prepared can make travelling to your static caravan less stressful and mean the holiday starts from the moment you lock your front door.

Here are our tips:

1. Make sure your car is in good repair; check tyre pressures and tread, fill up with fuel, top up the windscreen washer tank, add screen wash and check the lights are all working. This is good practice anyway, but particularly before going on holiday – it would be terrible to break down on the way! If you are travelling in the winter in a remote area, pack a warm coat, gloves and a small snow spade.

2. Plan your route before you set off. Check ahead for any road works or diversions on your route, and try to avoid rush-hour travel if you can. Also make sure you have loose change for any toll roads or bridges you may need to cross.

3. Make the journey easier by having planned rest stops. Give the driver a break and let the passengers stretch their legs. You can plan a visit to an attraction on the way to start the holiday in style. Or take a picnic and stop at a beauty spot.

4. Keep a list of all the items that you use regularly when you are at your caravan. Then on your first visit at the start of the season, take these items and leave them in the caravan. For example bedding, tea towels buckets and spades, walking boots, picnic bags, cleaning products. You can also do this with food products such as condiments and tinned/packet foods. This way you don’t have to pack and unpack the same things over and over again on each subsequent visit. You can just throw some clothes in a bag and jump in the car.

5. If you have children in the car listen to a story CD, have a sing-a-long or play classic journey games such as I Spy. Prevent the dreaded ‘are we nearly there yet?’ by telling the children how long the journey will take and plan a stop at a newsagent shop or motorway service station and let them choose a magazine to read during the holiday. If you have very small children or babies, time the drive around their nap time and they might sleep all the way there! If children (or adults) suffer from travel sickness ask your local pharmacist for a remedy before you set off – either tablets or special wrist bands.

6. And finally but very importantly, check you have your caravan keys with you. They might keep a spare set at the Park office, but what if they cannot find them? We can’t shorten the journey but with a bit of planning and preparation you can improve your trips to your static caravan. Safe driving and happy holidays!