It’s December already and most of us are gearing up for a break!

Road trips are a part of our culture, especially around Christmas as we visit friends and family, or just escape from the city.

With the fire season already started and road accidents increasing over holiday periods, we thought we’d put together a bit of a Driving Well guide to cover some health, wellness and safety tips!

Comfort

Proper posture at desks is drilled into us, but have you ever thought about your posture when you’re driving?

Not only does good posture & support decrease aches and pains, there’s research indicating that good posture improves focus and stress levels!

For an easy to follow set up, here’s a pic for you:

Breaks

Have a break for 15 minutes at least every 2 hours. Preferably swap drivers!

Why? Give your body a break, stretch it out and move it!

But that’s not the only reason. It’s subtle, but proper driving draws a lot of brainpower as you’re consciously and unconsciously processing risks and planning ahead. So, give your brain a rest!

Break Activities

Walk, stretch, jump, play and breathe!

Stopping where there is a park is a great option. Move your body, get some blood and oxygen to your muscles and brain through walking.

There are lots of other exercises you can do to help move the joints that have been squashed up for the last hour or so. (Keep an eye on our social media pages, we’ll post the exercises there!)

You could also fit in a quick breathing mediation to relax your brain and de-stress. The good ol’ “take 10 breaths” is sufficient here, or you can lie down on your picnic rug and find a quick 5-10 minute guided meditation on youtube!

Snacks

Who is not guilty of snacking on chips, lollies ice-creams and McDonalds! Sure, it can be normal for a road trip, but sometimes we can overdo it, right?

So why are they not the best choices?

Well, other than it obviously going against your healthy diet ambitions, it can really impact your focus and energy levels due to the blood sugar spikes and drops!

Here are some better snack options:

Sandwich or wrap
Savoury muffins

Celery, carrot and cheese sticks
Beef jerky
Boiled eggs
Popcorn
Oh, and don’t forget water!

Comment on our post if you have any other awesome snack ideas!?

Simple Reminders

Now, we all know these ones but it doesn’t hurt for a reminder seeing as we’re here.

Check your mirrors! Especially if you’re swapping drivers.

Buckle up – Seat belts should be over the hips, not the stomach, and over the collarbone and breast bone opposed to the neck and shoulder.

Tetris – Make sure you pack so that if you had to brake suddenly everything would NOT come tumbling down.

Sun – Sun gets through the windows (slip, slop, slap!).

Mobile phones - Do not touch your phone while driving. Don’t even look at it (unless it’s the maps). If it needs to be touched either pull over or get your co-pilot to pilot the phone.

25% of accidents in Australia are caused by mobile phone use! It’s just not worth the risk.

You can find some road rules here: https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/mobilephones/know-the-rules.html

Must have apps

Stay up to date with fires, accidents and road closures.

Here’s some sites and apps you can use:

General

ETA - Meeting someone?Rather than texting and calling to let them know when you’re due, they can watch you drive if you send them your google maps details, Glympse or Waze link before you leave.

Fuel - https://www.fuelcheck.nsw.gov.au/app (NSW), https://petrolspy.com.au/ (Aus), https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.hwem.gaspy&hl=en, (Aus & NZ)

Music - Use your ‘Ok Google’ or ‘Siri’ (“Ok Google, Play My Favourites on Spotify” “Ok Google, Skip Song”)

NSW

Traffic - https://www.livetraffic.com/desktop.html

Fires - https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

Rest areas - https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/using-roads/trip-information/rest-areas/map/index.html

Qld

Traffic - https://qldtraffic.qld.gov.au/

Victoria

Traffic - http://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/respond

SA

Traffic - https://www.traffic.sa.gov.au/