If looking for a holiday road trip to take with the family, consider a few spots in Michigan where the scenery is beautiful, the hit to the credit card is low, and the impact on the temperament is dramatic.  As the economic climate continues to decline and the pressures are building as the holidays approach to meet the budget necessary to sustain the typical holiday traditions without maxing out the credit cards, a family car trip may be just the thing to relieve tension and put everyone into a warmer holiday mood.

The most important element of my suggestion for a holiday day trip is to plan locations that fit the holiday theme, but do not even require exiting the vehicle.  A driving trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan is always a holiday favorite, as the city itself prides on sustaining the Christmas holiday throughout the year.  Boasting the largest holiday Christmas shop in the world, and “world famous” family style chicken restaurant, I never find it necessary to even walk the shops down main street.  Simply stopping for a meal and driving around the city is relaxing enough to put me in the mood for the holiday, and relieve the stress associated with credit card bills and shopping for the “perfect” gift.

Another favorite option is to take advantage of the increasing number of large scale holiday light displays, set up outdoors specifically for drive through enjoyment.  Many of the light displays local to Detroit area include narration of the displays over a particular radio dial frequency and encourage interaction with the children in the car to bring them into the spirit of the holiday.  Some are religious, others are more secular, the best part is you are warm and dry inside your car with your family.  No standing outside in the sleet waiting for tickets for an event, or waiting for the Polar Express to arrive.  Simply driving through the season’s beauty with the family is gift enough.

A simple drive to and through Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, will take the family back to the old days of holiday tradition.  Again, it’s the drive with the family that always brings back memories of my childhood trips with the family around the holidays.  It didn’t matter where we went or what we did, it was the car ride that I always remember with such warm fondness.  There are no interruptions with a car ride.  No immediate distractions.  Just you and your family enjoying some time together, and looking forward to a common destination.

The car trips is what the memories are made of.

It’s funny how I find that many of my warmest childhood memories of the holidays actually took place in the family car.  If asked what my family does at Christmastime, I would say that we would go to evening mass on Christmas Eve, and now that I think of it, it was always sleeting, because my Mom and I always wore heels on Christmas Eve, and it was my dad’s job to keep us from wiping out on the ice between the car and the church.  After mass, we would drive to Big Boy for dinner, we always intended on going somewhere else, but always wound up at Big Boy, where my parents would inevitably reminisce about the days when Big Boy was a drive in restaurant, complete with waitresses on roller skates, and how the modern sit down version where everything goes on a credit card just doesn’t compare.  This, I suppose was their version of a holiday memory in the car…

After dinner, we would take the long drive to my grandparents’ house to visit with them until late.  There were never any gifts; no credit card Christmases, that was not the point.  We just got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa, and that was good enough for us.  The drive would take over an hour, and my brother and I would look for holiday light displays out the window on the way.  This was long before the days when all were in competition for the largest light display.  It was a treat to see a house with Christmas lights on it, and my brother and I would excitedly shout out to each other as we drove by, to be sure neither of us missed this rare treat.  There seemed to never be anything we wanted to listen to on the radio on this trip.  Seems odd to me now, but at the time, it was expected, as it seemed to be part of the tradition of the Christmas Eve Road trip.  Usually found a Christian radio station retelling the original Christmas story as we drove through the snow.  We always made sure to leave Grandma and Grandpa’s before midnight, as my brother and I were sure Santa would not arrive if we weren’t at home and asleep by then.

The ride home was always a bit quieter than the ride to Grandma’s.  My brother usually fell asleep, and I laid on the back seat and watched the streetlights go by in the rear window above me.  There’s something about the atmosphere of that drive home and the rhythm of the street lights above that makes me think of Christmas and Grandma’s house.  The memories would not be the same without the car ride with the family.

Planning to take a trip somewhere the best way to go is by Greyhound Bus especially if you do not want to see everything from 30,000 feet.  The Greyhound may not arrive at your destination as quickly as when flying. The ride is very comfortable and a lot more reasonable in cost than it is when you fly or use Amtrak.

Greyhound, founded in 1914 is the largest transportation provider in intercity and across country. People who live within a city or wish to go from place to place within a large city find that taking the Greyhound is much safer and a lot more economical than trying to drive your own vehicle. Greyhound provides scheduled stops to different areas picking up and letting off passengers as they go.

The typical fee is about one dollar for your ride and if you need to exchange buses you may pay out any where from $200-$10.00 but when you take into consideration the cost of parking in a city parking garage you are still saving money. You find that by using the Greyhound that you do not have to fight traffic, pay out expensive parking garage fees and best of all you can relax until you reach your destination. When you are planning to do things in a large city, why not travel Greyhound.

When you want to travel from city to city or state to state, you are able to get a ticket going one way or save money by buying a round trip ticket to your destination. In order to make it easy as possible you can go online and find out the schedule for your trip so you know when you are going to leave, if you will be exchanging buses and when you will arrive. You can buy your e-ticket on line saving you up to 20% off your fare. When you wish to buy your ticket on line it is very simple to do you just buy, print and go saving yourself a wait at the bus station window. You should arrive early to check in your baggage making sure that you are ready to go when the driver loads the passengers. The people at the Greyhound Bus Line are usually very courteous and helpful to the passengers but the bus must leave on scheduled so everyone can make there next connect on time. Travel Greyhound and go safely enjoy this great mode of transportation.

In today’s economy many people are deciding against long family vacations and taking shorter road trips instead.  Even a three or four day road trip can put some miles on your car, though.  You will need to prepare for your road trip before you leave to make sure that you are able to have the best time possible in your shorter vacation time frame.

Vehicle Inspection

About two weeks before your road trip have your car inspected by a professional mechanic.  Let him know that you will be taking a trip in the car and that you want to make sure the car won’t give you any trouble.  The two week time frame is in case the mechanic finds something that needs to be fixed.  This way you will have plenty of time to wait for the repairs before setting out on the road.  If you didn’t budget for the repairs, put them on the credit card and pay for them when you get back.  Don’t avoid repairs to save money.

Pack Smart

While it is important to check the weather report before you leave so that you are taking the right clothing, it is more important where you put your clothing and other items for the trip.  If everything will be in the car, make sure to keep any items that will be dangerous in the case of an accident in the trunk or buried well under soft clothing and blankets.  Heavy and sharp things tend to go flying through the car on impact, so place them where they won’t be able to hit anyone in the head.  If you will be using your roof racks, make sure that the heavier items are centered on the roof.

Pack Kid Smart

If you will be traveling with children, take things to keep them busy on the road. Travel games are available in the toy section of any department store, but on a long road trip these tend to get boring after a couple of hours.  Electronic handheld video games and movies will keep their interest, though.  Get out your credit card again and invest in a car DVD player and some good DVDs for the kids to watch, as well as a couple of new games for their handhelds.  You will have that credit card bill to pay later, of course, but the credit card bill will be of little inconvenience when you recall how pleasant the trip was with no fighting children to maintain in the back seat.

Drive Smart

Driving smart means driving while awake and alert.  Don’t try to go too far without taking breaks and don’t try to drive all day and all night to make it to your destination quicker.  This is simply not safe.  Take frequent breaks to get out of the car, stretch, and get some fresh air.  This will wake you up for the next leg of the trip.  Stop to sleep at night, too.  Even if you are switching off on the driving, sleeping while someone else drives is not really restful sleep and you will get tired after it gets dark.

Are you planning a vacation in the near future and plan on bringing your pet?  When taking a driven vacation there are many things on a person’s mind.  There is always a worry about forgetting something, not locking up the house or forgetting to run a certain errand beforehand.  Vacations are meant for a time to relax and a time to get away.  You don’t want to spend your vacation time worrying about these silly little things when you’re gone.  To make things a little easier and one less thing to worry about check out the check list below.  What items do you need for your pet?

Items to bring for your pet on vacation:

• Pet food.
• Pet treats.
• A seat belt to keep them safely buckled in the car.
• Pet bed.
• Pet leash.
• Water and food bowls.
• Any necessary pet medications.
• Pet carriers.
• Pet toys.

You may question the item “seat belt”.  If you’re unaware of a pet seat belt, be sure to check them out online.  They are just like a real seat belt you find in the car.  You simply hook the seat belt up to the car’s seat belt.  Once you have it hooked up to the seat belt you want to attach the pet seat belt to your pet’s harness.  Having a seat belt for your pet is one of the best things you can do for your pet.  You want to make sure they are safe at all time when riding in the car.  Also try to never let your pet ride in the front seat.  Buckle them in in the back seat just like your child.

As you can see there a lot of little things to bring for your pet!  It’s almost like packing for another person like yourself.  To make your vacations run more smoothly be sure to check off all the items on the check list above to avoid any hassles and forgotten items.  You don’t want your little pet to suffer because of forgetting a certain item.