Hey there! We know that the news carries grim tidings, as 300 more cases are added to the complete tally of COVID-19 cases in Victoria. We hope that you’re all staying safe and indoors like us, and you’re staying safe and healthy throughout these troubled times.
For a lot of us that were planning trips after the lockdown, we’ll have to put that on hold for now as we ride out the storm indoors to make sure that we don’t catch COVID-19. For now, it’s best to plan ahead so that when this is all over, we’ll have some pretty amazing memories in celebration of beating COVID-19.
If you’re planning on going on a long road trip like we are when this is all over, here is some gear that we’d like to recommend for your car to make your trip as enjoyable as possible.
Is Your Vehicle Safe & Sound?
It’s not unheard of for a group of people to hop on a car, a truck, or a caravan with a destination in mind, only for their vehicle to suddenly break down in the middle of the trip. Worst yet, if you’ve already covered so much road that it’s impossible to turn back at this point, and if there’s no auto shop in sight.
Not only is it extremely expensive, but it’s also a massive hassle when you could be having fun on the beach or the holiday village you’re planning to visit.
Here are a couple of pointers to make sure that doesn’t happen:
Get your car checked out a couple of days before the trip. This is absolutely the most important thing that you should get done before the trip. You can visit a local mechanic, get a diagnosis for your vehicle if it’s been acting up, and get it fixed immediately.
Alternatively, you can get a car diagnostic tool, also known as an OBD2 diagnostic tool. This fits any modern vehicle, from regular sedans, trucks to caravan trailers. Plug it in, wait for the codes to generate and check the manual for these error codes (if any are generated).
Plenty of mechanics also work with OBD2 diagnostic tools and if you happen to know one within the area, this helps save a lot of time when making sure that your car is in tip-top shape.
Don’t forget your tyres, either - make sure to bring some spares (which most of us already) do, and make sure that your tyres are inflated with the correct psi; you can use a pressure gauge for that but for more accurate, digital results, get a tyre pressure monitoring system, also known as a TPMS. They’re quick and easy to install, and in the case of TPMS gear that we have here at Elinz, they come packed with a suite of features such as GPS trackers and alarm systems for your vehicle.
Get both of them via our automotive accessories category which you can see here.
Long Road Trips Can Be Boring - Here’s How You Can Beat The Boredom
We all know it - long road trips can be mind-numbingly boring. You’re just cooped up in your car along with your mates, with nothing to do other than to look out the window or fiddle with your phone or any handheld gaming device.
If you’d like to make the trip as fun as possible from point A to B, here’s some gear that you need to have in your vehicle when you’re out on a trip:
Powerbanks OR inverters. If you’ll be spending time on your phone for more than half a day, then you need to bring along an alternative power source for your electronics; you can either set up your car with a small inverter; in the case of bigger vehicles, don’t be afraid to get the bigger inverters so you can share more power on your trip!
Some caravans even have bigger, 5000W inverters, able to power up entire television sets, charge up laptops, and other more power-demanding gear!
If you don’t need that much of an intense power source, you can instead get a powerbank - either pick 10k mAh or 20k mAh, which is able to charge mobile devices such as an iPhone or Android phones multiple times (depending, of course, on the mAh of the device and the powerbank).
Alternatively, you can install some car DVD players for your vehicle- pick between headrest car DVD players, top-down, roof-mounted car DVD players, or any other kind. These make for some amazing road trips and you can just blast music on it or get a movie that everybody likes playing on the screen.
If you’re looking for a big selection of car DVD players, we’ve got you covered here at Elinz. Visit our car DVD player category for more information and different variants of DVD players that you can only get here (and at low, low prices, to boot!)
Plenty of our car DVD players even have games pre-packed into them; so if you’re looking into satisfying that nostalgia for older, 16-bit games or if you have some kids along with you on your trip, there’s no better way to keep everyone entertained and preoccupied than with video games!
Keeping Your Trip Safe
If you’re planning on going on a trip after COVID-19 (which we hope happens soon), you’ll need to plot your trip and plan it out to the minute details - it’s your first trip after the pandemic, after all, and it’s a worthwhile celebration!
Plot out your destination via GPS and if you’ll be in for a long road trip and will be making your stops at inns or holiday villages, make sure that you’re tracking your vehicle’s location via a GPS tracker.
If you don’t have one yet, get yours here today.
--------------
We hope that this helps you feel optimistic about the future, and we hope we’ll all be out there on the road again in the coming weeks!
For now, we urge everyone to stay safe, stay indoors, and stay healthy by eating and exercising right. In the meantime, getting this checklist done should keep you busy while we’re all in quarantine!
Shop smart and from the safety of your home today with Elinz!
