By Matthew Pataky

We’ve all experienced the following: A crazy friend interrupts your quiet Friday afternoon by yelling, “Road trip!” You then find yourself in the back of a van speeding to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Santa Barbara or some other random location. These spontaneous, unplanned and unstructured trips are my favorite.

I’ve had a number of memorable road trips, but the one that truly stands out is my family’s three-month trip through Europe. One would think that if you are taking your family to Europe for three months you would have some sort of plan. Enter Steven Pataky - a man without a plan.

Any seasoned traveler will tell you that planning your road trip is the key to a successful adventure. I will never forget sitting in the Frankfurt, Germany, airport, asking my father if he had a plan. After giving me that “I’m the father, you’re the son” look, my father attempted to phone some old friends. “Hey, just stopped in from America. Do you have a car we could borrow?”

One would think my father could have called ahead of time, as a road trip in Europe is not the typical Sunday afternoon drive. At this moment I truly understood my father’s total disregard for order.

When dreaming of a European road trip, one would expect to travel in an exotic sports car. After calling around to a few of his long, lost friends, my father finally secured us a car - a 1976 Peugeot 504. This car was a gem.

For those unfamiliar with this small, 4-cylinder, 4-door, it is the last vehicle one would want to drive on the autobahn. My father traveled heavy. You have not lived until you have experienced sitting in the back of a Peugeot 504, paralyzed in one position by loads of camping equipment.

Even though my father’s traveling system was quite haphazard, he always made sure that the car in which we were traveling was safe. We took the car to a state-run shop in West Germany. (This was 1980.) West German cars were required to be inspected once a year to receive the required travel sticker. After we passed the inspection and bought our insurance, we were off.

We traveled like stuffed sardines in a can for the next three months all over Europe. Our roof rack was so full it looked like it was going to burst. I could only imagine what people said as we drove past. “Look at those crazy tourists.”

Yet despite the lack of planning and cramped traveling conditions, my family had an amazing experience. I cannot remember laughing so hard on a daily basis in my whole life.

As for the practical side of taking a road trip, there are a few things to take into consideration. Make sure your license, registration and insurance are all up to date. Bring a cell phone, if possible. Enroll in a national road service plan. I have been a mechanic for more than 20 years and even I have a AAA+ membership.

Make sure the vehicle you are diving is roadworthy. Check the wiper blades and fill up the wiper washer fluid. Check the tire tread and tire pressure. You can always find the correct tire pressures on the front door jam or in the owner’s manual.

Brakes should be checked for pad and shoe thickness. Make sure you have enough of all of the vital fluids - engine oil, transmission oil, coolant, brake fluid, clutch fluid and power steering fluid. If you find that any of these fluids are low, check for leaks. If you are not comfortable with checking any of these items, go to your local shop before making the trip.

Be safe, have fun, and try to pack light.

Matthew Pataky owns Sunnyvale Foreign Car Service Inc. in Mountain View. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Pataky has more than 20 years’ experience in auto repair. E-mail him at skikirk@hotmail.com.