Car Safety - things to keep in your car

Travel Safely & Comfortably.

I was approached the other day by Tia Philipart, of SiegeMedia.com, who has some great advice to share with you on travelling safely... I'll pass that on to you in a moment but let me tell you that Tia's topic struck a cord with me.  

This time of year people are often thinking of making travel plans for the holiday seasons or for vacation time to escape the depth of winter. We also tend to travel more this time of year because we are shopping more - have you noticed that your grocery bill goes up towards the cool of fall and the calm, cozy feelings that chilly winter days bring us? More sitting around, enjoying cooking smells, getting bored, more gatherings and festivities... but it's true. Stats show us it is a very common occurrence. To top it off, the winter holidays have us shopping more for presents too - even with the convenience of online shopping, we still end up having to travel to a surrounding community to get our lists fulfilled. 

With all this travel in mind... are you prepared? What if you were held up in the street, a huge line on either side of you, no clue what happened ahead to cause this, stuck there and waiting for hours? Are you prepared for that? Because it can happen, and there you are without food or water, no shades for the back seats or back window, no blankets... nothing. What if it was a fire up ahead and there's a lot of smoke, or someone is idling needlessly and they have a lot of black smoke coming out of their car? What if you just break down and have to wait a few hours for help... are you prepared for that? 

Dave and I were visiting a second hand shop and bought a like-new bag with a shoulder strap that is narrow enough to slip under the seat, or under the passenger legs. This thing has a lot of pockets both inside and out and along the sides too. There are quite a few pockets on either side of the lid, and the lid flips over and snaps shut keeping the whole thing tidy and clean. Inside, there are numerous sectionalized compartments. I think this bag was built to be a business person's laptop satchel. Anyway, it works wonderfully as a travel bag. We take it if we expect to go further than a half hour drive from home. Depending on what we are doing, there's plenty of room in the bag to add this or that for the specific trip from snacks and reading materials to our laptop. 

However it contains: sanitary wipes, chewable aspirin, breath mints, lip balm, kleenex (which can act like toilet paper in a pinch), a sealed bag with toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste, a sealed bag with menstrual pads (can act as bandage in a pinch), a sealed bag with a travel sewing kit and toothpicks, a hand mirror, a pair of sunglasses, a sealed bag of dog bones, a hair brush and a bookmark. 

Anyway, that  is our travel bag. My key chain also has a few pills of my personal prescriptions, allergy stuff, etc. in it. The jeep itself has a first aide kit with a few pills worth of our medications, basic pain medication. The Jeep also has a basic mechanic tool kit and emergency road stuff. Dave keeps these tucked in the back corners of the jeep and under the back passenger seats (which are usually folded down). He uses bungee cords where necessary to secure things. We also keep 2 large clear bottles of purified tap water (we have a machine in the house) and place those inside a cloth bag, close up the top by twisting the handles and securing that near the back hatch. We are often needing it for dog water, to wash our hands or feet and other things along the way. When we get back, I just dump the water on a plant at home and replace it with fresh, purified water. The pockets in the back of the jeep are used to store extra tie-down supplies, gloves, etc.

This link here will take you to some fantastic tips to help you decide what to keep in the car, what to pack for a trip and the best place to store these items. They also offer great advice to prepare for when you might feel your safety is compromised. 
https://www.carrentals.com/blog/things-to-keep-in-your-car/

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