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Jennifer Blake: 5 ways to travel with less stress this holiday season 
5 ways to travel with less stress this holiday season

December 19, 2016

This is my favorite time of year, the holidays are so magical, but of course they don't come without stress. The holidays are a mix of balancing social engagements, budgets, and figuring out the best travel plans to accommodate everyone. We have already been to a few holiday parties, family events, and travelled to NYC for a mini-vacation. We are finally home, wrapping, baking and watching Christmas movies, but our travel plans aren't over yet. We will head from New Hampshire to Maine on Christmas eve, and then back to New Hampshire to visit more family, and then back to our place. We also still have to travel to Rhode Island for a family Christmas and up North in NH to visit some friends for New Years Eve (hopefully!).

If there is one thing you don't know about me, it is that I have major car anxiety. I can't even count the number of times I reached for the door handle on our way to NYC or reached out in front of me because Aaron tapped the breaks a little harder than normal. I pretty much refuse to drive in big cities or in bad weather (I'm looking at you, snow). I also prefer when things are neat and tidy, cleaning calms my nerves.

So how do we make car rides less stressful and make the most of them?
1// A clean car.
Thanks to the Armor All Car Care Gift Pack, we were able to not only clean our car before our 5 hours drive to NYC, but we were also able to keep it clean along the way because of the easy to use glass and surface wipes that are included! I selfishly picked one up for myself in the automotive section at Walmart, it was less than $20 and full of products I love to use on my car, but it would make a wonderful gift for a busy on-the-go mom or a car lover, I went back and grabbed another for a last minute gift! Being able to ride in a clean car, helped ease my anxiety a bit and made it more comfortable of a drive. Hit a bump and spill coffee? Grab a surface wipe! Dirty windows from salt and snow? Grab a glass wipe! The Armor All Car Care Gift Pack includes:

2// Car ride snacks.
When I say bring car ride snacks, I am talking easy ones! I bring unwrapped candy, trail mix, pretzels, and mixed nuts. I also ALWAYS put these things in ziplock bags so that they are easy open and easy shut, and then you aren't dealing with a million package wrappers.

3// Being prepared for the unexpected.
You never know what will happen on a long trip and my motto is better prepared than sorry, when it comes to road trips. I always look at the directions ahead of time because you never know when the GPS will lose signal, and suddenly you find yourself panicking and lost in a sea of cars (worst nightmare ahhh.) You also never know when Starbucks won't put the lid tight on your coffee, so you sit down, take a sharp turn out of the parking lot and suddenly find yourself, your seat and your steering wheel covered in Christmas blend coffee. With the Armor All Car Care Gift Pack you can grab a wipe to clean the coffee and then grab a rag and some leather polish to shine up that steering wheel! 4// A pump up and calming play list.
I always say you should have two playlists, one you can jam out to and sing your heart out. I'm talking about Closer by the Chainsmokers and 24k Magic by Bruno Mars kind of jams. I also think a more relaxing acoustic playlist is needed for those stressful traffic jams where you need to focus a little bit more!

5// Take breaks and leave enough time.
Like I said before, look at your directions and route ahead of time to make sure in case the GPS goes crazy, you have a vague idea of what direction you need to head! I also do not like to be rushed, I tend to get overwhelmed if I know I am going to be late. So leave enough time, plan for traffic, and plan for breaks, because lets be honest you will most likely need to stop a 7th time at Starbucks.

What are your holiday travel plans?

Take advantage of the $3 off digital coupon offer for the Armor All Car Care Gift Pack from Walmart, while supplies last!


