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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How to Survive a Long Road Trip

December 4, 2013 Leave a Comment

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How to Survive a Long Road Trip | Hands Occupied The holidays are upon us. If you’ve got family spread across the country like I do, you understand the sometimes-drudgery of taking the same long road trip(s) over and over again. Sure, the first trip or two to a place can be exciting or adventurous, but have you ever noticed that in road movies, they tend to cut or montage out the hours and hours of driving time? With family in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan and Arkansas, I intimately understand why.

How to Survive a Long Road Trip | Hands Occupied

With all this experience, I’ve developed some key tips for surviving long road trips:

  1. Love your car, and trust your car. Whether it be for its fuel efficiency, safety rating, design, sound system or general reliableness, I love and trust my Kia Optima. (See also: How I Decided on a Kia.)
  2. Traveling with pets? I’ve got a doggie road trip survival kit for you, and instructions for DIYing a back seat protector.
  3. Traveling in winter? Pack a human survival kit, complete with jumper cables, water, warm clothing and food.
  4. Bring things to do.
    • When I travel alone, I’m all about listening to my favorite audiobooks.
    • When my husband and I travel together, we each burn a few CDs to for the car. Sometimes it’s a themed travel mix. Sometimes it’s podcast episodes we want to catch up on and then talk about for two hours.
    • I, of course, always bring a craft. Almost always knitting or embroidery.
    • Sometimes I grab my camera too, in case the dogs do something cute or we drive by something spectacular.
  5. If you’re the passenger, avoid caffeine! You’ll have to make extra rest stops, and napping could be hard.
  6. Speaking of which, nap as much as humanly possible if you’re the passenger. It’s the ideal way to pass time and work on your sleep deficit.
  7. If there are two of you and you’re having trouble deciding what to listen to, the driver gets final say. Being behind the wheel for 7-12 hours is an important gig. They get dibs on the sound system. :)

This post is sponsored by Kia.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored Tagged With: kia, road trip, sponsored, survival guide, travel

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Head to the link in bio for an update on my 2021 p Head to the link in bio for an update on my 2021 plans for Hands Occupied. The two words that best describe this post are self-care and boundaries. 😜 
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Much love to everyone who sent supportive messages about taking time off and creative burnout. I often deflect with humor, but it was genuinely touching to connect with folks who understand. I’ll have something new for y’all later this week, so stay tuned! ❤️💛💙 
#handsoccupied 
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Pictured: An unblocked pile of four striped sweater panels in primary colors sitting on a blanket in my lap.
There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
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