Simplify Your Next Road Trip With Advantage
This weekend I find myself heading to a wedding about 45 minutes on the other side of Ottawa and I could not be more excited. My friends are getting married and I get to visit our nation’s capital, something I haven’t done since I was very young. I don’t leave until Friday but at the time of writing (Tuesday), I already have my shirt pressed my suit at the tailors and the gift wrapped. So, now the wedding stuff is all taken care of but what about the drive? It will be a long one, around 5.5 hours not accounting for traffic so I definitely need to do some prep work. In this article, I will be going over everything you need to get ready for a long haul drive, specifically from the point of view of someone renting a car in Toronto.
Choosing the Right Rental Car
Renting a car in Toronto is incredibly easy with Advantage, we have 10 locations across the GTA and more on the horizon. If you cannot make it to any of our locations, don’t worry, we offer delivery within 50kms of any location.
There a lot of factors that come into play when you’re choosing your rental car for a long trip such as cost, size and use of the vehicle. For my trip I am driving a brand new Toyota Corolla, it has excellent fuel economy, a large trunk and amazing safety ratings. I would recommend the Corolla to anyone travelling with up to 4 people. Family trips may require something bigger like a Honda CRV on Dodge Grand Caravan call your closest Advantage location to check prices as they do vary.
Quick Rental Tip: Be sure to check the kilometre limit for your rental with the rental agent to avoid any confusion or extra charges when the vehicle is returned.
Packing the Car
When you’re packing the car for a long trip a good rule of thumb is only pack what you normally eat during the time you will be driving. Sitting in the car seems like an excellent excuse for eating a lot of junk but eating too much bad
food will make you tired. Eating an apple and some water is said to give the same boost as a cup of coffee. A trip to the coffee shop early in the trip is also a great way to help motivate yourself to get on the road earlier, knowing that a delicious cup of coffee is waiting for you down the highway will help keep you alert.
Blankets and pillows are also great to pack especially for those early starts and light night finishes. Keeping the temperature in the car low is shown to keep the driver more alert, with the blankets the passengers can stay cozy and warm.
Quick Rental Tip: foods like granola bars, apples and beef jerky are all great snacks for rental cars because they do not leave any crumbs on the seats or floor.
Getting Yourself Ready
The key to a good day of driving is a getting a good night’s sleep the night before. A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that driving with little to no sleep can be just as bad as driving under the influence.
Up next would be to get a killer playlist ready the day before. Make sure you have a good mix that everyone in the car will enjoy and if everyone can agree on one, podcasts make the time fly by when on long drives.
Be sure you Bluetooth is all set up before you head out so you will not have to take your eyes off the road if you get a call. If you do not know how to set up the Bluetooth just ask the rental agent and they will gladly set your phone up for you.
Quick Rental Tip: Taking frequent breaks is a great way to avoid driving exhaustion but if you plan on having more than one driver you have to let Advantage know because there are additional charges and insurance issues that would need to be worked out.
For your next road trip, Follow these simple steps and your road trip will go off without a hitch.