How quickly can a rocking road trip become a complete nightmare? A blink of the eye it seems. While there is no way to prepare for every situation and sometimes things are unavoidable but there are a few things you can do to keep the trek from coming to a screeching halt.

I’m no mechanic by any means and I’m not the best person to get advice from when dealing with cars (hence this is a travel blog not an auto blog) but I did live 10 hours away from my school so any journey home involved a lengthy road trip. Some of these tips are unfortunately from personal experience.

*Bring a spare car key- who hasn’t locked their key into their car at a remote rest stop in the middle of nowhere? And keep it somewhere accessible because nothing is worse than locking BOTH keys into your car.

*Get your oil changed and fluids checked before you leave- peace of mind is worth a lot.

*Make sure your tires are in good condition and have proper amounts of air- hopefully you do this anyways.

*Make sure you have a spare tire and your jack is in working condition- we found out way too late that my jack had rusted over.

*If you have an older car bring extra water and coolant- arghh can we say Las Vegas in July? Happened to me twice.

*Don’t let your gas tank get below ¼ tank of gas- don’t push it, especially if you are on unfamiliar roads and you don’t know when you’ll see another gas station again.

*Be alert- alternate drivers and keep each other awake. My husband swears by sour candy to keep him awake (or is this a ploy to eat candy?). Other tips are to open the window for fresh air, keep the air conditioning blowing, drink a coke, but whatever you do play it safe- if you are getting tired pull over.

*Avoid speed traps- I know after seven hours in the car you are just dying to get to your destination, but nothing will slow you down more and make you more irritated than a speeding ticket from some podunk town in the middle of nowhere. Plus it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Ok, you are totally right- these are all common sense items. But you would be surprised how many times people overlook them when they are rushing to make sure the car is packed and fueled. And these simple things can really make a difference between a smooth journey and a giant headache.

For more tips and information: Check out the National Motorists Association