Driving abroad in a foreign country cane very daunting. We have driven in many countries around the world, and with that not really knowing the best ways to save money, stay safe, or just some useful tips to make your travels that little bit better. I have put together some of the ones I feel, would keep you from overspending and not getting lost.
- Avoid petrol stations on the motorways or any main road, they hike up the price for the convenience but with the ease of the GPS find a local supermarket and fill up instead.
- Services, those lovely hubs of bad fast food and overpriced everything. Use the toilets and nothing else, trust me these places are money pits, be more prepared and avoid buying food in these places.
- Superstores will become a good friend but only if you are prepared and write a list because otherwise, you will overspend.
- The need for a good GPS system is critical. We use apple maps a lot (only available on Apple iPhones). It’s excellent at showing you the road congestion, this helps when the time is dwindling. Another great one is Google Maps.
- Pack essentials in an easy grab bag, such as fruit squash (cordial), snacks, charger leads, additional devices or anything you would use in an average day. It saves so much hassle searching through everything to find what you need.
- Extra plastic carrier bags! Because of dirty washing or general rubbish collects. So don’t go saying no to those disposal little gems, you will need them on the road eventually.
- Sort out your entertainment, by this I mean a decent radio station, good music on CDs or even podcasts via Bluetooth off your phone. Of course, passengers have a load they could do from reading, puzzle books to plays various on the road car-spotting games.
- Cigarette car charger, this has been a lifesaver at times as not all cars have these ports so be savvy and order one before you head off.
- Be prepared for rush hour times, you can’t beat them all. You’re always going to try and avoid them, but sometimes you will just have to suffer from the tedium. They tend to be between the hours of 7am-9am and then again between 4pm-7pm.
