Road trip planning

It's that time of the year to pack up the family and go on a road trip to celebrate the summer months. If you are packing up your car you'll want to be prepared for a happy, healthy and fun trip!

Essential road trip technology

Technology has come a long way in helping us navigate the world and the highways. To prepare for your trip be sure to download ahead of time some essential apps on your phone.

• Spotify for all your music needs! You can make play lists ahead of time and it's sure to cover all music genres that your family likes.
• Waze is the best navigator app out there. Not only is it "crowd" sourced for traffic information it also warns of road hazards, weather and accidents ahead. It also has a pretty great detour system to get you around bad traffic.
• Gas Buddywill display the current prices of local gas stations. You can sort it by distance from your current location or price!

Be ready for fun and be prepared for an emergency!

It's wise to gather information you may need in an emergency such as your physicians phone number, your auto insurance policy information, emergency contact numbers and copies of any prescriptions.

Also keep on hand reservation numbers, receipts and tour/itinerary information you booked ahead of your trip.

Review and update your insurance policy

Before packing up and hitting the highway you'll want to make sure your auto coverage is up to date. Do you have road side assistance as part of your coverage? If not it might be a good time to add it. Are all the drivers that will be taking the wheel covered?

Auto Tune-up

Lastly, though it is common sense it's easy to forget, before you leave have a tune up! Have the mechanic check your lights, belts, brakes, wipers, tires etc. Additionally you should make sure you have safety equipment with you in case of a break down such as jumper cables, flares, car jack and usable spare tire.