OT - Telling a relative about your location as you take a long car trip.

[Hector]

This is all hypothetical. Suppose I am taking a trip by car from my home in northern Maryland to Miami, Florida. That is 1125 miles. The trip will require about 19 hours of actual driving time and I plan to do it over two days. Before I begin the trip I tell my daughter about it. She lives in San Francisco. I am starting the trip on August 24, and expect to arrive in Miami on the evening of August 25th.

 

But then for some reason I don?t ever make it to Miami. Something has happened to me. I don?t check in with my daughter at the end of the trip. Two days later, on the morning of August 27th, daughter is concerned as to my whereabouts. She wants to alert the authorities and file a missing person report.

 

I will describe two possible scenarios.

 

#1. I didn?t check in at all during the trip. All she knows is that I left Maryland early on the morning of August 24th and I didn?t arrive at my destination. She doesn?t know whether I made it 25 miles, 550 miles, or 1100 miles. All she knows is that I didn?t arrive. Under this scenario, who would she notify? And what information could she give them? She doesn?t know which of six states I might be in. She cannot say anything more about my possible location other than it is somewhere along the 1125 mile drive.

 

#2. I check in by cell phone every two hours as I make the trip. Each time I check in I give the date, time, and my exact location. A failure to check in every two hours means my last known location was within two hours of my last check-in point. Based on this, my daughter can narrow my location down to one or two states, and my location will be known to be in a 120 mile stretch of roadway. She cold notify the state police in either one or two states and tell them that my location is somewhere on a 120 segment of roadway.

 

My question is this: would it be paranoid for me to operate under scenario #2 in which I check in every two hours? Is it completely reasonable for me to operate under scenario #1, with no check-ins, so that my daughter has no knowledge of the progress I have made on my trip? What are your thoughts about this? Which scenario do you operate under when you take an 1100 mile car trip?

[Maralynn]

I think you need a third option! When I'm traveling by car I usually check in with someone (mainly my folks) once or twice a day. Or if my dad is bored, he'll call (cell phones work both ways!) several times a day (hey, where are you at?).

Of course, I also doubt I would travel that distance by car alone.

[Joe Anne]

Whenever family travels we always check in. Even a drive from a day visit, we usually let whomever know we got home ok. If you are travelling that long of a distance by yourself, I like Maralynn's option. If you stop at truck stops to eat (best food and coffee!), they usually have telephones at the table, and that is a good time to check in even if you just leave a voice mail message.

Being a retired medical pro. I would also like to say, make sure you have up to date emergency information in your wallet. Name, address, emergency phone contacts (at least 2 preferably 3), blood type and any allergies & meds you are taking. It is sad and frustrating when ER personel cannot notify family or friends when necessary... so please update your info.

Have a safe trip...hope it's for pleasure.

Take care and stay away from the alligators! :eek:

[Dixie_Girl]

Hector, as a profesional traveler, I can only offer this advice. Having a set time to call has the draw back of you maybe not having a signal. She will worry needlessly. Better, each time you cross a state line, call ASAP. If you stop for a meal or break, call. When you are IN your motel room, call. If she knows what state and hwy. you are on, a call to the state troopers will be sufficient. They have access to all accidents, etc. Any stop you should call, including rest areas. Call when you stop, and again to let her know you are ON the hwy again. If you call when you get there, but not when you leave, they will know where to start looking for you. Other than that, eat asphalt and spit 4-wheelers! Ooops, sorry, truckers motto,,,,,,,,,,,well, eat asphalt and spit bugs then! Have a great trip!

[INU]

This is an interesting post!

 

hypothetically speaking...

 

From a search and rescue person's point of view, it is much easier to locate the person if we had a Point Last Known/Seen as close as possible to the actual point. It wouldn't be fun to have risks in mind while travelling all the time but it is smart of you to plan like this. So if possible, I'd call in as often as you can or even just text-message with updates. For this reason, it's good to use credit card to pay as it leaves tracks of where you were.

[Tassie]

I usually call when I get to a place in the evening - but then 9 hours travelling would be the most I'd do in a day - mostly only 4 or 5.

I usually know where I'm going to be each evening, and leave a copy of the itinerary, with motel phone Nos. etc. with a couple of people.

 

Joe Anne - in relation to your point - do you guys have the ICE (In Case of Emergency) system for your cell phones there? It just got going here last year. People are encouraged to store at least one ICE contact no in the phone book of their cell (we call them mobiles). Then emergency service people can check the cell phone book for the ICE number.

[Joe Anne]

Hey Barb, I have not heard of that, but then again I am not up to date on some of the new technology with cell phones etc.

Maybe someone else knows and can answer that question.

That sounds real smart to me.

[Anda]

Tassie, I know a lot of people who have an ICE number in their cell phone in US. Not me

Maybe it's time to do so

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

I don't use the ICE thing, I just have SPOUSE in my phone.

 

I would call every 2 hours. If she is not home or whatever, just call and leave a message every 2 hours.

 

When I lived alone, I would check in with a friend. I would call them up and say (usually to their answer machine) I was going to the park, on a 20 mile run, to the beach, or whatever and that I should be home to check in again in so many hours. If they don't hear from me, I left the route I traveled on a map in my apartment. I had 3 friends with keys to my place.

 

Also, all my friends who were married and had someone at home to worry about them would expect me to either call or email to let them know I got home safely when I visited.

 

I did the same thing when I lived in a dorm. I had a single room and would check in with my nutty neighbor who was always up until all hours. He was up studying and would just make sure he heard me come home. When he did, he'd knock on the wall. I'd knock back and that was that.

 

Checking in too much is better than too little!

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

http://weebordercollie.com

[DebC]

The longest drive we take is to Acadia National Park, and although we don't usually make calls along the way we always call someone to let them know we arrived OK. I also leave behind our cell #, the route we are driving, the car plate number, where we are staying, when we should get there, etc. The person watching the pets/house would get all that info plus one of our relatives numbers, and the relative gets the house watchers number along with all the above. So far that has worked for us. When I was a kid I remember my parents would have my sister call collect and ask for herself! That's how they knew she got back to school OK.

[2 Devils]

One other thing to think about is having an update phone that has one of those fancy GPS type chips in it so you can be tracked if the phone is on... I think that is how it works. If it is, they can pinpoint your location pretty easy...

 

Now if you don't like that type of thing, I would do what others suggest. I do not call every couple hours unless I am bored. I let my husband know when I am leaving, I may call during the trip but I also make sure he knows which way I plan to travel. I will then call when I arrive, if I remember I am usually meeting folks and I get sidetrack and forget to call until hours later. Thankfully, my husband is used to me doing that...

[NancyO]

Alot of the newer cell phones have GPS on them, to locate the phone and caller. On my phone I have to turn on the continous GPS feature, which will give your location even if the phone is not in use, otherwise the GPS feature only is working when I make a phone call.

 

I think calling as you go is a good idea, the frequency depends on the tolerance of the person you are calling

 

I always leave my location and phone number of the farm that I will end up at with my husband and dtr in case I don't have cell phone reception, the reason for 2 people, is that once my husband had an emergency admission to the hospital when I was away, I had no cell phone signal. My dtr was able to call the people hosting the event to let me know he had been admitted to the hospital.

 

Nancy O

[BustopherJones]

We typically establish a schedule with our kids as to when we will call them; usually, it might be once or twice a day, so that we don't get on their nerves. DW's Impala SS (which is the car we take on extended trips) also has OnStar, so we are tracked via GPS at all times, whether the car is in operation or not; it also provides us with any services we might need from a safety standpoint, which is quite a comfort, and ensures that we are always in cellular communication no matter where we are in the country.

[bskeeter]

I make a lot a road trips from south Florida to Alabama, Georiga, and North Carolina -- mostly by myself or with a one of the dogs.

 

I make calls to DH or someone in the family every few hours (usually at potty and gas breaks), just to let them know how things are going and my location. I don't think I'm being paranoid, just being cautious. You never know what might happen just up the road.

 

I do have ICE in my cell phone. I think that is a great idea.

 

Jo Anne -- Good idea about the updated medical info and emergency contact!

[Hector]

Thank you for all your replies; I have learned some useful things. I have put ICE entries in my cell phone. And I have determined that my cell phone does have GPS capability so I could be located if I ever place a 911 call from it. Since I am regularly taking 25 mile solo bike rides in rural country, that 911 GPS could be very beneficial in an emergency.

 

The replies generally confirm my opinion that frequent check-in calls are worthwhile so that the travelers location is known to a relative or friend. Yes, it may seem like a bother to do that, but if a situation ever arises where authorities must be notified of a missing person then it would be highly useful to be able to narrow down the person's location.

 

So thanks again, I appreciate your opinions and input.

 

Hector