Jingle All The Way: How to Survive the Christmas Car Journeys

Christmas is just around the corner, and alongside all those cheery Christmas songs, presents, and glasses of mulled wine, it means that we’re entering the time of the year when we all hop in the car and visit the relatives. Now, we know that you’d rather be curled up at home, watching the best seasonal movies, but it’s non-negotiable: you have to go. While you might normally enjoy driving your car, it gets less fun when there are so many other people on the road. Below, we take a look at how you can make the trips as smooth as possible.

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Plan Ahead

This is not a normal car journey. There is going to be a lot of other people on the road, all as eager to reach their destination as you are. You can make your journey more straightforward by planning your routes carefully. Have six different homes to visit? Then take a look at a route that’ll prevent you from doubling up on yourself too much. You can also use Google maps to see where the traffic in your area is bad.

Give Yourself Extra Time

Have a journey that should, all going well, take 45 minutes? While you can hope for the best, you’ll be doing yourself a favour if you plan the trip to take twice as long. There’s nothing enjoyable about getting angry at the slow-moving traffic, all because you were supposed to arrive at 1 pm and it’s currently 12:58. Give yourself time for things to go wrong; if they don’t, then you’ll feel like fortune is smiling down on you.

Share the Driving

You might be happy to assume all the responsibilities of driving when you are, say, going for a trip into the country. But Christmas time urban driving? That’s not all that much fun. As such, you should take turns to split the driving duties. You’ll enjoy being in the car for long periods much more if you’re not always the one behind the wheel. And when it comes to long journeys, it’s not just about what you’ll enjoy more: it’s also about your safety. You should never try drive for long periods, especially at night and when the conditions outside are dangerous.

Entertainment: Music, Games

Who says that car journeys, even ones laden with traffic jams, can’t be fun? Of course they can! It’s Christmas time, so load up your Spotify app with festive tunes: nothing will get the whole car in a good mood more quickly than a seasonal singalong! During the quieter moments, you’ll also want to be able to entertain yourself. Download the FFXV: A New Empire app, and you won’t mind that the journey is taking a little bit longer than usual. It’ll also be fun to have a quiz game based application, which can keep the whole car entertained. Who’s the master of general knowledge? Let’s found out!

Travelling with Children

Car journeys are a completely different kettle of fish when you’re travelling with children. Now, it’s not just about keeping yourself entertained: you also need to make sure that the children are well behaved in the back! Before you set off, ensure that you have plenty of snacks on board. Children get restless more quickly than adults, so plan to stop along the way so they can stretch their legs. It’ll also be a good to look some of the best car journey games that they can play with each other while you’re focusing on driving.

Going with the Flow

Attitude is everything in life. You can look at things in two ways: a positive way, or a negative way. While you’ll reach your destination whatever your outlook, it’ll be much more enjoyable if you’re travelling with an optimistic spirit. It is Christmas, after all! While it can be testing at times, make a vow to be in good cheer while you’re driving. It’ll all be worth it once you eventually arrive, or so you hope….

As a Last Resort

Of course, you can get around spending so much time on the road by inviting the people to come to see you! If you’ve got too many trips to make, suggest hosting a party at your place. You’ll get to see everyone, and will spend no time in the car! There’s a cost to this, of course, but it’s not like gas is free anyway.

Take the tips above, and it’ll be smooth sailing this festive period as you try to get everything done.