Hitting the Holiday Road

The Road of Life with Brian and Chris Weeks

In your mind, the holidays are always like a Bing Crosby Christmas movie—everyone is smiling and toasting one another with good cheer. In real life, the holidays can seem more like a Chevy Chase flick—everybody’s stressed out and you’re trying with all your might not to flip out.

In addition to the normal holiday stress, many people choose to travel over the holidays to see faraway family and friends.

If you’re a holiday traveler, you already know that things can get a little stressful on the road due to cold, traffic, and family restlessness.

Although you can’t avoid the holiday rush, you can prepare for it—and maybe even enjoy some special time with family after all.

Prepare your car with Emergency Preparedness Kits and Tools.

It’s always wise to be prepared for an emergency, but never more so than when you’re preparing for a road trip in frigid weather. Be sure to include:

• Blankets, gloves, and extra warm clothing
• Jumper cables
• A flashlight
• Water bottles
• Nonperishable food (such as granola bars, trail mix, etc—if you pack any canned foods, remember to pack a can opener!)
• A power bank in case you need to charge your cell phone in a pinch
• Tire-changing tools
• A towel or rag

It’s also a good idea to pack a good old-fashioned, hard-to-fold paper map and printed step-by-step directions in case the GPS tracker in your phone loses its signal.

Prepare your family to enjoy some new road trip traditions.

Although tablets and smartphones can provide excellent entertainment during painfully long traffic jams, there are a lot of alternative screen-free family activities to keep the family busy and happy.

Stuff the pockets of an over-the-door shoe organizer with crayons, small toys, bagged snacks, and little trinkets, then hang it over the back of the passenger seat to give kids lots of options.

Compete to see who can spot the most early Christmas light displays or unique license plates, and pack some special homemade snacks to use as prizes.

It’s important to stop and smile in the midst of all the chaos.

Try to stop and savor the sweet holidays moments with your family whenever possible, despite the stress:

The infectious giggles of your children as they laugh and play with sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and everyone else who jumps in the mix.

Parents and grandparents bustling around the kitchen, buzzing with energy and fussing over last-minute details.

The authentic prayer of gratitude offered up at a table sagging under the weight of turkey, pie, and a million side dishes in-between.

Although you may already be dreading next year’s festivities, you’ll never get to experience this particular day again.