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In July, I embarked on a 6,500 mile road trip with my husband. No, that is not a typo. We really did drive SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED MILES from our home in Ohio to the coast of Oregon, south into California and back to Ohio. And get this, we did it for fun. On our 23rd wedding anniversary.
It was an incredible trip. I met friends that I’ve talked to online for years, but never met in person.
We tent camped for the first time in 13 years and the first time alone as a couple, ever.
We saw incredible roadside attractions and historic and natural park sites like Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Yellowstone and the Redwoods.
We spent hours walking on the beaches along the Oregon Coast and I found sand dollars! Something I’ve always dreamed of. It was an amazing trip.
Our road trip also had moments that were unpleasant.
We drove a lot. Six thousand miles. Duh.
We got pulled over. Um. Yeah. That.
We got lost. Darn GPS.
The first night we pitched our tent at nearly midnight, we couldn’t get the tent door zipped and slept with it open, fearing that a wild animal would venture inside.
We drove into the wee hours of the morning to miss getting stopped in road construction only to get stuck the next morning in, you guessed it, road construction.
I almost peed my pants in Yellowstone when we couldn’t find a bathroom that didn’t have extremely long lines.
We drove into a horrible storm, couldn’t find a hotel room and slept in the car in the parking lot of Walmart, rocking in the wind while the sky was filled with thunder and lightning.
We missed our children.
But all those minor disturbances add up to some great stories, right?
Road trips are not a foreign concept to my family. If we have the time and it’s an option, we’ll road trip nine times out of ten to our destination. In addition to having plenty of space for everyone and everything we’ve packed in the car, over the years I’ve learned how important to keep your vehicle clean and smelling fresh while traveling for a comfortable trip.
As the fast food bags began to pile up at my feet, I began to wish that I’d followed my “Keep the Car Clean” rules that I enforce when traveling as a family and that I’d bought fragrance for the car.
It really isn’t difficult to keep the car picked up when you travel. And since we often use rental cars during our road trips, it’s important when the trip is over the car doesn’t require a ton of clean-up and care before we drop it off. I mean who wants to spend hours cleaning out the car or incur additional cleaning fees? Not I!
Here are a couple really easy steps to keeping your vehicle clean on a road trip.
This short video walks you through the steps I take to keep our vehicle picked up on the road.
- Don’t eat in the car.
Nearly 100% of our mess in the car stems from eating in the car. But honestly, on long road trips, is it practical to NOT eat in the car? For us, it is not. Read on.
- Keep a Trash Bag in your car.
Before we leave on a trip, I make sure that I’ve placed a few plastic grocery store bags or brown paper bags in the car. Make sure everything goes in the trash- from the fast food trash to the tiny gum wrapper.
- Each time you stop at a gas station to fill up, take a couple minutes to tidy up the car.
Toss out the trash you’ve bagged up and wipe down the steering wheel, dash and seats (if they’re leather) with a wet wipe (baby wipes work well for this). Especially if you’re traveling through dusty climates.
- If you’re traveling with children, store their items in a bin or backpack.
- Before you get in the car, make sure you stomp off your feet.
Especially if you’ve spent time on the beach.
- Keep all your receipts in a designated space.
I keep all my receipts. In the past, I’ve tossed them in my purse or stashed them out of sight in the glove box, but those receipts add up over time. I keep an organizer in the glove box and one above my visor so I can store my receipts and tally up expenses at the end of the trip.
- Don’t forget your favorite car fragrance.
It’s not enough that your car look clean. When you’re on a nearly two-week cross-country road trip, you want your car to smell clean too.
You’ll find a selection of odor neutralizing air fresheners or vent clips at Walmart in the Air Care or Automotive Care aisles for under $5. I popped into my Walmart SuperCenter and found a selection of new Yankee Candle® products that are perfect for those on the go.
The new Smart Scent™ Vent Clip is an odor-neutralizing unit that fastens securely to any vehicle’s dash vent. Fragrance is released as the air flows from the vent and is easily adjusted by using the slider at the back of the clip.
Think of the Car Jar® Ultimate as a mini Yankee Candle® for on-the-go. It also neutralizes unpleasant odors while it freshens the air in your car. The finest premium-quality ingredients infused with natural essential oils are used to create four “true-to-life” scents. Dreaming of an exotic island escape? Try Pink Sands™, a mix of bright citrus, sweet florals, and spicy vanilla. Like the scent of freshly laundered clothes with a hint of green notes, white flowers, and lemon? Try Clean Cotton®. Macintosh gives the fragrance of a just picked apple while MidSummer’s Night® offers a more masculine blend of musk, patchouli, sage and mahogany cologne.
These new Yankee Candle® brand products are only available at Walmart so don’t forget to pop in and check them out.
Are you ready for your next road trip? What tips do you practice to keep your vehicle clean on the road? What is your favorite Yankee Candle® brand fragrance?
© 2015 – 2016, Tonya Prater. All rights reserved.
Donte Enciso says
Sit down on the seat with your legs outside and knock your cold, block-like feet together. Then you just swivel in. It means your footwells won’t be quite so grimy and icy.
Stephanie R says
It looks like you had an amazing road trip, despite the few hiccups because what road trip is complete without a few hiccups right? We don’t have any road trips planned but next time we do I will be sure to remember these tips because our car really gets trashed with three kids in tow!
[email protected] says
without all those hiccups it wouldn’t be an adventrue! i love a clean car, we keep extra everything in my van so it stays that way
Tara says
Great tips! We did 10,000 miles one summer with kids, and we almost gave up trying to keep things tidy. But then we realized that at home we have a “cleaning day.” We started implemented cleaning day on our trip – and it only took a half hour, so we did it every three days. Much easier than cleaning the house!
Allison says
Such great tips! I’m road tripping it to Boston next week and these tips will totally come in handy!
Patty says
Aren’t the Badlands amazing? I just loved them – and Yellowstone. You can’t do all that driving without some erm, complications. Glad you had a fun anniversary trip. Congratulations! Many, many more.
Tonya says
Thanks, Patty. Yes, I have traveled enough that I have come to expect a few complications. 😉 It was still a great trip. And the Badlands- Wow. We hit them right at sunset and the view was incredible.
Valerie Remy-Milora says
I love road trips and have put in my fair share of miles! I fell in love with them as a kid, my mom and grandma would pack my 3 siblings and I in grandma’s station wagon and we’d embark on a two week adventure to national parks. We saw them all, over several years… A few years ago my hubby and I packed up our 3 girls and a young lady we were hosting from Italy and embarked on a 10 day camping trip to five parks. It was Ah-ma-zing!!!
Tonya says
I love the national parks. How cool that you’ve seen them all! That’s my next goal- to see all of the parks. Sounds like you gave your guest from Italy a memorable trip. It doesn’t get much better than our national parks.
Lauren Ivy Chiong says
What an awesome trip you had! Thanks for sharing the ups an downs of your journey and some great tips.
Jenna Wood says
I live in SoCal and I just finished a road trip up to Washington and back to see my mom….I kept my reciepts tidy but I was also SICK with the flu….so nothing else was in order. Needless to say there was a serious funk by the time my trip was over. Hooray for Yankee Candles car care products! #client
Alicia says
These are great tips! We have a bad habit of eating in car on road trips. But, no foods allowed in car aside from that.
Jasmine says
I’m horrible at keeping my car clean! The shopping bags in the car is a great trick I will have to try it out!
Daisy says
I love your trip and all of the tips. I have to say that keeping receipts in one place is an awesome idea! We often travel and need to save receipts for reimbursement, so when we are messy and lose a receipt, it’s like losing cash.
Shop with Me Mama (Kim) says
Great tips! We always eat in the car though, lol! But, we do have plastic garbage bags that we throw our trash in after eating.