Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about some smart things to stash in
Speaker 1: your car so that all trips or weights are more comfortable.
Speaker 1: Unless you've lived in a few big cities, if you've
Speaker 1: got to commute, or kids or both, you probably spend
Speaker 1: a fair amount of time in your car. I used
Speaker 1: to think I didn't. I work from home and my
Speaker 1: kids schools are less than ten minutes away. But then
Speaker 1: I started tracking my time and realized, Wow, all those
Speaker 1: short trips add up. That's one reason I started the
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast. I wanted to give people something they
Speaker 1: could get through on a short trip. Anyway, after my
Speaker 1: recent episode on using up gift cards, I got a
Speaker 1: note from a listener named April. She wrote that I
Speaker 1: kept ending up at Target or CBS or some other
Speaker 1: store on an errand and realizing I didn't have the
Speaker 1: gift card, or running home for an in an out
Speaker 1: gift card before we made a rare impromptu gift card
Speaker 1: stop for dinner. So one day last summer, I grabbed
Speaker 1: a credit card wallet I had and put all of
Speaker 1: the gift cards I might use outside the house in it,
Speaker 1: then put it in my glove compartment. Now, if April
Speaker 1: needs to stop by Target Chicken, just reach in there
Speaker 1: and grab the card. This got me thinking of all
Speaker 1: the other things that it's wise to keep in the car.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a coincidence that my family has
Speaker 1: gotten sick less frequently since we started keeping bottles of
Speaker 1: hand sanitizer in the cup holders of our cars. We
Speaker 1: also keep some paper towels for the inevitable messes, and
Speaker 1: a small garbage container. In our family minivan, there's a
Speaker 1: bottle of water or two for hydration emergencies, usually some
Speaker 1: granola bars, sunscreen for sunny days, and an umbrella for
Speaker 1: rainy ones. I keep a handful of quarters in case
Speaker 1: I'm somewhere with old fashioned parking meters. I thought these
Speaker 1: were pretty smart ideas. Then I asked by Twitter followers
Speaker 1: about their car stashes, and I realized I'm pretty much
Speaker 1: rookie level when it comes to preparedness. The most common
Speaker 1: out of the box idea people mentioned a big towel.
Speaker 1: This is as useful for messages as paper towels, but
Speaker 1: can also be used for drawing off. Anyone who is wet,
Speaker 1: or putting under anyone who is wet for whatever reason
Speaker 1: that wetness has happened. A large towel also enables an
Speaker 1: impromptu picnic, or if you need to be outside, can
Speaker 1: be wrapped around someone who is cold. A few people
Speaker 1: mentioned garbage bags. These are useful for the inevitable garbage
Speaker 1: that builds up and that people forget to cut out
Speaker 1: of the car, but can also make reasonable ponchos for
Speaker 1: a sudden downpour. That said, actual ponchos aren't that expensive either,
Speaker 1: and might be worth keeping around. A first aid kit
Speaker 1: or at least band aids is never a bad idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1: people with teenagers mentioned the importance of extra phone chargers.
Speaker 1: Your young passengers might desperately need to restore their batteries
Speaker 1: so they can text each other across the back seat.
Speaker 1: Of course, not all entertainment must be electronic. One person
Speaker 1: mentioned a book of mad libs. Another suggested a book
Speaker 1: of crossword puzzles. Both require a pen, so be sure
Speaker 1: to have that too. Either of those are a sticker
Speaker 1: book for little kids can provide a lot of entertainment
Speaker 1: for a small amount of car volume. A few people
Speaker 1: mentioned Frisbees and April, who wrote in with the gift
Speaker 1: card Hack, mentioned that she kept a deflated beach ball
Speaker 1: in the car so she and her family could bat
Speaker 1: a ball around if they found themselves waiting somewhere like
Speaker 1: a sibling sports event with time to kill. Now that
Speaker 1: I'm back in the newborn stage, people reminded me of
Speaker 1: the importance of extra clothes. An extra sweatshirt should suffice
Speaker 1: and helps with unexpected cold and find extra socks. Cold
Speaker 1: feet make people miserable, and that's the last thing you
Speaker 1: need on a car trip. As I read through this list,
Speaker 1: I realized that it sounds like a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1: But the good news is that none of it takes
Speaker 1: up that much space. A small crate in the trunk
Speaker 1: could corral it all and then you'll be ready for
Speaker 1: whatever life on the road throws at you. So what
Speaker 1: do you keep it in your car? I'm sure I'm
Speaker 1: forgetting something brilliant, so let me know what it is
Speaker 1: at before Breakfast podcast and I hurt media dot Com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's b the number four than breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.