The essentials to pack

After a nightmarish day at work, I received a message from a local bookstore saying that three of the four novels I ordered have finally arrived and are ready to be picked up. In my list the top three essentials to pack for a road trip are

a) entertainment for the kids,
b) a GPS, and
c) holiday novels.

In that specific order. If the kids' needs aren't taken care of, hell will break loose and the whole family will suffer. Everyone travelling with kids knows what I'm talking about. You won't be able to enjoy any of the breathtaking scenery or want to stop to visit a nice little boutique you accidentally came by. You only want to get the trip over with, get back to the comforts of your own home and you finally end up wondering whoever came up with this stupid idea of going anywhere with the kids. "'Cause them spoilt brats don't appreciate any of it and don't understand how lucky they are!" But, if the car is fully equipped, loaded with DVD's and a DVD-player, maybe even a tablet with some kids' apps; comic books and toy cars (dolls, if you happen to have girls), portable small-scale board games, snacks, and pillows and blankets for the nap-time, the whole trip will quite probably go smoothly even with the little ones.

A GPS is a must these days even if you might miss some highlights of the journey by staring at the tiny screen wondering whether you should really trust the all-knowing computer system behind the route info or if you probably know the right way better yourself. In our case we always prefer having both the GPS and the classical map book with us. With the GPS we can easily get the shortest/fastest/most economical route to wherever we are heading to, and with the map book it's easier and somehow nicer to search for smaller roads, if you're not in a hurry, or scenic routes. Also some tourist guide books may offer several different local driving tours in certain areas.

A holiday isn't really a holiday unless you have finished more than one paperbacks. In my case they are usually chick-lit in the early days of the holiday, but after I'm sure I have reached the holiday-mode, I can transfer to drama or biographies, which I have begun to find increasingly interesting. For this trip, starting on Saturday, I chose something more.. inappropriate. A bit shameful even, I have to admit. Or maybe it's just grown-up? Have you heard about a book called Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James? Yeah, THAT one. I went and bought the whole trilogy without even having seen any of the books. Hopefully they are entertaining enough or at least a bit funny. Usually I buy a Marian Keyes novel for the funny part, but this time I wanted something different.

The fourth book, which they sadly announced to be delivered two weeks late and therefore won't make it by the time we leave, is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Have any of you read it and is it any good? If you have any good holiday readings you would like to recommend, please do!

Three more days of work and then it's going to be four wonderful weeks of absolutely anything my heart desires! YIPPEEEE!!!