Learn Real English: Let's go on a road trip!

136,590 views ・ 2017-05-06

Adam’s English Lessons


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Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com.
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I'm Adam.
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Today we're going to talk about taking a road trip.
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Okay? Because this is a very popular activity in Canada and in the US, and I'm thinking in
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Europe as well, and probably Australia.
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Big countries where people like to drive, they like to go on road trips, means it's
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a long trip, you're driving everywhere, staying at hotels, maybe camping out in the woods,
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all these things.
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But a lot of things you need to do to prepare and a lot of things you need to know about
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what to expect on a road trip.
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Okay?
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So, first, you're going to have to have some tools with you, you're going to have to have
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some gear we also call it.
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You're going to make sure you're prepared for anything. Okay?
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Always have a tire gauge.
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A tire gauge basically measures the air pressure in your tires.
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You're measuring PSI, pounds per square inch.
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You want to make sure your tires are full, you want to make sure that you're getting
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the best mileage out of your car.
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And you also don't forget your spare tire, the one in the trunk, or underneath, or wherever
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your spare tire is.
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Make sure that it is also full, because you don't want to be in the middle of nowhere,
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have a flat tire, and then you go try to put on your spare and it's also flat.
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What do you do then, right?
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Then you have to hike to get a tow truck from somewhere.
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Just in case, though, take a pump, like a pump to fill air.
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If you can take a manual pump, you can take an electric pump.
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Be prepared for flat tires - they do happen.
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Also make sure you have a survival kit.
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If you do get stuck in the middle of nowhere and nobody's going to be coming for a long
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time, and the next town is far away and you can't really walk to it, you want to be able
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to survive out wherever you are until a car does pass by.
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What you want to have, you want to have some flares.
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A "flare" means it's something you light and it makes this big, big light.
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You put it on the road, people can see you from miles away.
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If somebody sees it, they will come help you.
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In the middle of the night if somebody is driving and your car is on the road, it's
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dead, no lights on, they won't see you until they hit you.
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This will make sure that they see you.
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You can also just have reflectors.
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So when a light from another car hits this thing, it becomes very bright, very easy to see.
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You should also have some edibles.
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Basically something to eat that won't go bad.
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Nothing that's fresh, only dry, like nuts, or vacuum-packed things so you always have
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food with you.
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Make sure you have a blanket, make sure you have a flashlight, make sure you have some water.
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If you're stranded, basically...
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"Stranded" means...
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One second.
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"Stranded" means left somewhere alone without any help coming anytime soon,
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so be ready for that.
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Also make sure you have a first aid kit.
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If you want to know what's in a first aid kit and how to use it, watch my other video
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about first aid.
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I talk about what should be in a kit, what you need to know for first aid.
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Probably a good idea to have a GPS, global positioning satellite.
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Okay?
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So you always know where you are, where you need to be.
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This will also make sure you don't get lost.
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And if you are lost, how to find your way back to civilization so you're not in the
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middle of the woods forever. Okay?
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So, make sure you have all these things before you hit the road.
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"Hit the road" basically means go drive, go for a drive, go on a road trip.
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So we say: "Okay, everybody's ready.
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Okay, let's hit the road. Let's go."
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So, on the road, what are you going to need to know on the road?
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First you need to know what HOV lanes - high-occupancy vehicles.
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So some...
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In some places that are very busy, usually in cities, the highways have one lane that
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is saved only for people with...
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Only for cars with two or more people in them.
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If you're by yourself and you're driving in this lane and a policeman catches...
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Or a police officer-sorry-catches you, that's a big ticket.
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Stay out of these lanes unless you have two or more people.
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In some places it will be three or more people. Okay?
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High-occupancy vehicles.
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You will also have to be ready for toll roads or toll bridges.
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A toll is basically a fee.
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You have to pay to use this road or you have to pay to use this bridge.
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Always make sure you have some coins with you; quarters, dimes, whatever, so you can
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pay for these.
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Sometimes you can pay with, like, bills as well, but always make sure you have coins with you.
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Now, it's a very good idea to know your car's MPG, miles-per-gallon rate
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or your kilometres-per-100-litre rate.
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Why? Because if you're in a big country like Canada and you pass a gas station and you don't fill
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up, the next gas station may be 100 kilometres away.
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If you don't have enough gas in your tank to get there, you will become stranded in
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the middle of nowhere.
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Okay?
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Know what your car can do, what it can't do.
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If you know that you don't have enough to the next gas station - go in, fill up, move on.
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Okay?
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Keep your... If you're going into the States and you're from Canada or you're from any country that
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uses metric system, 1 mile is 1.6 kilometres.
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Keep that in mind as well.
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And also keep in mind that the miles per hour is much lower than the kilometres per hour
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even if you're doing the same speed.
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Okay. Now, the gas station.
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If you want to stop, get some gas, maybe get some food, use a washroom, we often call this
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a pit stop.
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You're driving, you're driving, you're driving, ah, you know what?
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It's time for a pit stop.
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Now, in car racing if you watch, like, Formula 1 or Monaco, etc., they drive, drive, drive,
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drive, drive, and then they come in, change all their tires, get some gas, and keep going.
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That stop is called a pit stop.
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That area where they do all this work is called the pit.
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But we use it in everyday language to mean take a break.
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Take a pit stop, take a break.
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You'll also see it called a truck stop where all the truckers, the big full trucks come
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in, they rest, maybe they sleep, they eat.
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Try to avoid these at nighttime a little bit if you're by yourself in some areas.
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They're also called rest areas or a rest stop.
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But all of them basically mean the same thing, you can go in, rest, take a break, probably
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there's a washroom there, some vending machines.
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Some of them will have restaurants, some of them will have vending machines.
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Again, you need coins, put your coins, get your bag of chips or whatever you like.
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Then you're back on the road.
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Be very careful about speed traps.
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A speed trap is an area where a police officer in his car, in his cruiser has a very good
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hiding spot.
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Okay?
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And he's hiding and he's just waiting for you to come flying by.
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And as soon as you pass him and you see him: "Uh oh", too late.
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He already trapped you, he's coming after you, he's giving you a big ticket.
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So be careful about speed traps where it's very easy to get caught speeding.
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But then again don't speed, right? Everybody's very...
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Doing the legal limit, everybody's good people.
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No problem.
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Now, sometimes you will have choices to make about how you're travelling.
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If you had a good itinerary...
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"Itinerary" is basically a plan, like where you want to be what day, which way you're
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going to go.
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But sometimes you will take detours.
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A detour is a shortcut.
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Or you wanted to go this way, but you changed your mind; you're going to go this way and continue.
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So you go out of the way or you take a shortcut.
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But the other option is to take the scenic route.
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The scenic route is usually longer, but it's much more beautiful, there's more things to
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see, maybe there's a place to stop and do some activity.
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So you choose which one you want.
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You don't have to go by your itinerary, you don't have to go by the plan.
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Be spontaneous-sorry-be creative about it, do whatever you like.
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You will also share the road, of course, with other cars and other motorcycles, but you
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will also share them with rigs.
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A rig is a big truck.
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A semi is also a very big truck.
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So big...
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We call all trucks rigs.
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The semis are the really long ones.
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They usually have 18 wheels, so you have the tractor, you have the trailer, and the whole
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thing is called a semi.
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An RV, recreational vehicle.
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All things that drive are vehicles, but a recreational vehicle is basically like a house
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on wheels.
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These are people who have...
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It's a big... It looks like a big truck, but inside it's like a...
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It's like a box, there's a bedroom, there's a washroom, there's a kitchen.
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You can drive from one place to the next, set up for a few days, have like a little
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vacation there, pack up, drive to the next place, etc.
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And some people will just have a trailer.
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They'll have their car or their truck, their pickup truck, and behind them they will be
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pulling a trailer.
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When they get to a trailer park somewhere, they open it up.
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Again, inside maybe they have a bedroom and a little kitchen, and a washroom, or they
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have other things in there.
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So you're sharing the road with all these people.
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Now, road trips are great fun, but you have to be prepared for them.
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For example, from Toronto to Vancouver I think it's about 4,900 kilometres.
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If you have two people driving 24 hours a day, you could probably do it in like 35/36 hours.
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Most people take four days to drive from Toronto to Vancouver.
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You go through the middle of the country where there's nothing, wheat, and sky, but then
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you get to the Rocky Mountains and it's all the most beautiful place in the world.
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You get to the other side in British Columbia, to Vancouver - all very beautiful.
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But it really, really unenjoyable if you have any problems along the way.
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Okay? And I speak from experience.
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So, I hope all of this is helpful.
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I hope if you come to Canada, or the US, or Europe,
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you have the opportunity to take a road trip.
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Make sure you have a good car, make sure you're properly equipped, make sure you know what
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you're going to be coming across, and go have fun.
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If you have any questions about this stuff, come to www.engvid.com.
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There's a quiz there, you can check your knowledge of the vocab, you can ask me questions,
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you can tell each other your stories about the road trips you've taken.
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And if you like the video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and come again soon
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and I'll have some more good videos for you.
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Bye-bye.
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