What would be the best advice for a road trip *to be updated 09/2015*

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I'm planning on leaving to BC for a few weeks in January, and this will be by car.

I saw a few threads about people doing crazy solo trips, but I was wondering what you guys would do before/during a road trip, and this is car and driving related.

Vehicle will be a 11' impreza.

I'm thinking fluids and brakes before leaving.


Is it stupid to do it alone?
 
It might be a bad idea doing it alone in Jan since the weather driving through will be god awful.
 
Full mechanical inspection
Good set of tires
Roadside assistance plan
If you're going to stray away from the highway, make sure to have a map, don't count on gps

Since its going to be winter, I would carry some winter survival gear.

- flares, warning triangles, candles, lighter, matches
- extra clothes, gloves, pants and boots
- lock deicer and gas line antifreeze
- energy bars and water
- spare gasoline
- Booster cables
- antifreeze
- windshield washer fluid
- tow rope, traction aid or salt/kitty litter
- road maps
- led flashlight and extra batteries
- first aid
- kit-seatbelt cutter
- road maps

I don't think it's stupid to do it alone, but I think you should be well prepared in cases he worst case scenario happens. You don't want to be snowed in the middle of Alberta with no food, water, an empty tank of gas, and no maps. The odds of it happeneing are insanely small, but it could happen, and it good to have most of that stuff in your car anyways. The best thing to do it check on weather often to make sure you don't head into a blizzard, stop for some coffee or check into a hotel if there's an incoming storm.
 
^ very good advices!

I do a lot of roadtrip on the Eastcoast of the U.S. I don't really bring a lot of stuff since my car is covered by the CAA and AAA, I still bring extra engine oil (as topper) and my tool box. The rest is water and redbulls :D also have cash and call your credit card company to let them know that's it for me

p.s. have fun and drive carefully but HAVE FUN :D
 
Best advice :

Don't go with a yaris.

The car is unbelievably uncomfortable when doing more than 2 hours drive...

You would think the opposite when looking at the plain couch seats, but they are horrible...

Without mentioning the crooked driving position if you are any tall...
 
The car is a 2011 Impreza.

Comment tu peux faire un road trip seul?
J'ai fait Mtl-Boston avec mes parents pis quand ils dorment, je capotes!!!
 
J'ai fait le trip jusqu'à BC seul dans ma JCW et j'ai adoré!

Inspection mécanique complète, un cooler réfrigérant sur le 12 volts avec ben de la bouffe, bien planifier ton itinéraire/place ou tu va arrêter pour dormir et bingo! Enjoy!

Moi j'ai fais ca à l'été donc j'arrêtais le plus possible dans des parcs National histoire d'avoir des beaux sites bien équipé pour le camping mais toi à l'hiver .. MMmm motels mon homme.

Aussi petite chose j'ai bien aimé est que j'ai demandé à plusieurs amis de me faire des cd's de musique d'environ 12h pour passer mes journées!

Bref enjoy soit vraiment prudent à l'hiver par-contre beaucoup de 18roues! Sale trip et je vais le refaire aussitôt que la vie me le permet!

Ah oui aussi je suis revenue par les US histoire de changer .. Le Canada est plus beau mais .. Un petit peu plus de pays why not!


Edit: 14000km en 3 mois ishhh .. :)
 
Last edited:
*VR6* said:
Best advice :

Don't go with a yaris.

The car is unbelievably uncomfortable when doing more than 2 hours drive...

You would think the opposite when looking at the plain couch seats, but they are horrible...

Without mentioning the crooked driving position if you are any tall...
Click to expand...

T'en que tu goûte pas au confort d'une Euro tu es correct ...

J'ai monté avec echo en Floride et jamais eu mal au dos .. Plus ma MINI sur mes KW V1 est assez tape cul .. Depend how princess you are .. ;)
 
Dubweiser said:
Full mechanical inspection
Good set of tires
Roadside assistance plan
If you're going to stray away from the highway, make sure to have a map, don't count on gps

Since its going to be winter, I would carry some winter survival gear.

- flares, warning triangles, candles, lighter, matches
- extra clothes, gloves, pants and boots
- lock deicer and gas line antifreeze
- energy bars and water
- spare gasoline
- Booster cables
- antifreeze
- windshield washer fluid
- tow rope, traction aid or salt/kitty litter
- road maps
- led flashlight and extra batteries
- first aid
- kit-seatbelt cutter
- road maps

I don't think it's stupid to do it alone, but I think you should be well prepared in cases he worst case scenario happens. You don't want to be snowed in the middle of Alberta with no food, water, an empty tank of gas, and no maps. The odds of it happeneing are insanely small, but it could happen, and it good to have most of that stuff in your car anyways. The best thing to do it check on weather often to make sure you don't head into a blizzard, stop for some coffee or check into a hotel if there's an incoming storm.
Click to expand...

All this. Especially in January, you're likely to run into some serious driving conditions between Calgary and Vancouver. You will have to be prepared for 24 hour+ waits, and/or 600km+ detours. If you have no experience driving in the mountains in the winter, it can get very interesting. A lot of the time you will be driving in deep snow on a 2 lane 2 direction "highway" with a cliff off to your side. Even in the summer you have to be careful, people come around corners too fast and drift into your lane.

Another thing to be aware of is gas stops especially if you're driving at night. You can go 100's of KMS without seeing an open gas station, so be sure to fill up as often as possible. Especially in the prairies and around Lake Superior. Jerrycan is always a good idea.

As long as you're a capable driver and are well prepared, you should be fine doing it alone. When I do road trips, I'm usually very poorly prepared (I tend to "wing it") and I've always done ok :bigup:

When driving through BC, I would suggest you go North on HWY97 just after Kamloops, instead of the "traditional way". This will take you to the infamous HWY99 just after Lillooet. HWY99, or the "Sea to Sky" highway will take you all the way past Whistler and Squamish, right down to Vancouver. This is by far the best stretch (255kms) of road I have ever driven on.

Have fun!:bigup:
 
AlpineWhiteDub said:
T'en que tu goûte pas au confort d'une Euro tu es correct ...

J'ai monté avec echo en Floride et jamais eu mal au dos .. Plus ma MINI sur mes KW V1 est assez tape cul .. Depend how princess you are .. ;)
Click to expand...

J'ai DESCENDU :D en Floride aussi en echo et la ride etait confortable, j'ai jamais eu mal ou que ce soit... Même que au retour je l'ai fait one shot.
edit:Je savais que le char etait fiable donc, j'ai juste acheter le necessaire.. plug pour creuvaisons, check pression du spare, fait le changement d'huile. verifier tous les fluides...Pour l'hiver, des bon pneus.<
C'est 90% d'autoroute, ya rien la. J'vais pas commencer a apporter tout ce qui est en matiere de sécurité ou de dépannage.. Système D criss
 
AlpineWhiteDub said:
J'ai fait le trip jusqu'à BC seul dans ma JCW et j'ai adoré!

Inspection mécanique complète, un cooler réfrigérant sur le 12 volts avec ben de la bouffe, bien planifier ton itinéraire/place ou tu va arrêter pour dormir et bingo! Enjoy!

Moi j'ai fais ca à l'été donc j'arrêtais le plus possible dans des parcs National histoire d'avoir des beaux sites bien équipé pour le camping mais toi à l'hiver .. MMmm motels mon homme.

Aussi petite chose j'ai bien aimé est que j'ai demandé à plusieurs amis de me faire des cd's de musique d'environ 12h pour passer mes journées!

Bref enjoy soit vraiment prudent à l'hiver par-contre beaucoup de 18roues! Sale trip et je vais le refaire aussitôt que la vie me le permet!

Ah oui aussi je suis revenue par les US histoire de changer .. Le Canada est plus beau mais .. Un petit peu plus de pays why not!


Edit: 14000km en 3 mois ishhh .. :)
Click to expand...

more pics of your JCW?
 
Sounds like fun, but is there a reason why you'd be doing this by yourself in the middle of winter?
Some of these roads can be just plain nasty and dangerous in January . IE Highway 17 (the trans-canada) in Northern Ontario has more than it's fair share of fatal collisions in the winter. Most of it is two ways, two lanes undivided with some stretches with with rock faces on either sides of the road. The prairies are lame enough to go through in the summer time without the drifting snow and sheer ice on the road surface.

When you factor the 7AM to 5PM daylight hours you won't be seeing as much scenery as you would want to, driving by yourself at night in the winter isn't optimal (keep the heater down if you wanna stay awake)
combined with the likely road closures along the way (if there's a crazy storm/accident) and the harsh road conditions might make this more of a white knuckle drive than your average sunday drive. Here's whats going on today in Alberta: http://globalnews.ca/news/1003856/brutal-highway-conditions-force-closure-of-trans-canada-highway/

If this sounds fun to you, carry on. If it was up to me, I'd fly to BC and save the roadtrip for the spring.
 
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