Spring Break will be here before you know it and being ready is key! Even if you are not planning a road trip out-of-town there are plenty of reasons to prepare your car for Spring Break! We are uber frugal and spend many days adventuring around our town or county for more of a stay-cation type of vacation most years. This year we are planning to head out-of-town to Gatlinburg which is super exciting in itself.
I will be sharing with you all the ways to prepare your car for spring break. First and foremost make sure that you check the safety of your vehicle which includes tire pressure, fluids, and spare tire. Once that is done you can see what other items you might want to add to your vehicle before Spring Break.
Our Car Always Contains These Items
Jumper Cables and Extra Fuses
We have an older van so we make sure to always carry a pair of jumper cables. We also make sure to keep extra fuses in our glove box just in case. Our rear window wiper wasn’t working recently and I was hoping it would be a simple fix. When Princess and I checked the fuse it needed replacing. I grabbed a fuse right from the glove box and had it swapped in seconds. If we didn’t have extra fuses this 5 minute repair could have turned into 20-30 minutes having to drive to the store for a box of fuses!
First Aid Kit
We have a hard sided first aid kit that we bought many years ago at Walmart. We have refilled it a dozen of times and added items that are tailored to our family’s needs. We have alcohol swabs, pen needles and fastclix lancing barrels since Eldest has Type 1 Diabetes. We make sure to have a variety and sizes of bandaids since Lil’ Reds fingers are still quite small.
Phone and Device Chargers
If you know our family then you know how much we love our tech! I make sure to keep at least 3 charge cables in our van to keep cell phones and tablets charged. Princess added a 10 foot charge cable that is connected to the rear outlet in the back of our van. She can charge any device that she brings along the way. We have to make sure that Eldest keeps his Dexcom G4 charged in order for it to read his blood glucose consistently. We also make sure that we grab a wall charger or two for when we reach our destination.
Snacks
Warmer weather can present a challenge to keeping our snack bag filled. We only keep dried fruit, nuts, cracker snack packs and jerky in our snack bag for warmer months. We then add fruit cups, applesauce, cheese sticks and beverages in a soft sided cooler as we head out the door. We have even shared tips for how to pack a cooler!
Jackets or Hoodies
Spring usually means cool breezes or rain showers so we make sure to have a bag filled with rain jackets for each family member packed in the back of our van. When we went to Conner Prairie last year I was very glad for our bag of jackets!
Power Packs
We own a handful of power packs that we try to keep charged just in case. We have a couple that fit comfortably in our hands and can be slipped into a sling bag or purse. Princess has a super flat charger that is small enough to fit in her wallet. I bought a solar charger for Christmas and while we are at home it sits in my office window to stay charged daily. Big Red was given a smaller cylindrical charger pack from my blog mentor Sherryl of Simply Sherryl!
Headphones
With four children ranging from preschool to teens, headphones are a must for traveling and keeping our sanity. Eldest and Princess use monoprice earbuds while Big Red and Lil’ Red use their CozyPhone headphone headbands.
Spring Break Items Added to Our Car
We try to keep our van relatively clean but with each season our needs change a little bit. During the Spring the weather is warmer so we need to add items for slightly warmer weather.
Sunscreen and Sunglasses
Warmer weather means that we will stay outside for longer periods of time often during a sunny day. We make sure to pack extra sunscreen and to wear glasses to protect our eyesight! The kids still wear their sunglasses that they received from DiscountGlasses.com!
Toys for Park Play
We have a zippered canvas bag that we pack with toys to make our park play dates more fun. We make sure to have jump ropes, bubbles, small balls, plastic horseshoes and bug nets. This bag is especially handy for pit stops while traveling.
Crate of Rain Boots
My kids love playing in water whether it’s the creek or low-level river. I make sure that we have rain boots or water shoes for each child at the very least. I have my boots from Nomad Footwear that I still wear and love. Eldest has outgrown his so we are looking for a new pair that’s comfortable. Princess is just about to outgrow the pair her grandpa gave her two years ago for her birthday. Big Red had outgrown his so we bought a pair of lined rain boots from Walmart. Lil’ Red is wearing a pair of bright blue rain boots handed down from Big Red.
Nature Guides and Nature Study Supplies
I love to learn more about our local flora and fauna whether it’s through a free parks program or just on our own as a family. We own every field guide that ODNR has put out so we will make sure to add those to our van for impromptu nature studies.
So you can see it takes a lot of thought to prepare your car for spring break but I think you will agree that it is well worth it! What items do you include that we have not listed? We would love to hear your ideas!
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