I am a research assistant for a study and must do some travelling for data collection. I leave early in the morning, end up driving about 550 miles in a day and returning home in the early evening.

My wife likes updates of where I am at what time, so I've fallen into this routine: I text message her when I reach certain points in my route. For example, it takes about one hour from my starting point to the first change from a major highway onto an interstate highway. When I reach the interstate, I simply text the number of the interstate highway, and she knows by the time stamp of the text message that at this time, I was getting onto this road. Sometimes I'll text, "Stopping in this town for gas" or "Stopping in that town for food".

This is a way for my wife to know where I am, that doesn't disturb her workday (as a phone call might). Plus it gives her a record of where I am at what time that she can refer back to, in case I didn't check in and she needed to alert authorities to begin a search (assuming I didn't answer my phone of course). That would give the authories a good starting point for a search.

I am reminded of a case that made national news that happened in my state. A girl in her late teens was driving to work early one morning and was very tired. She fell asleep while driving and her car went off the road, down a steep embankment and into a culvert. IIRC there was enough water in the culvert to leak into the car and cover part of her legs. Due to the nature of the accident, her legs were pinned under the dash and she was unable to get out of the car. I think her cell phone must have failed in some way too. She was near a major highway, and could hear cars going by, but was unable to alert them and her car was not visible to other cars passing by. She was there for several days and was finally found by a road maintenance crew. She was in relatively good shape, but a double amputation was required. Her recovery went well, and I think her story was on Dateline a couple of years ago.

Point being, this texting routine I've gotten into keeps my wife aware of my general location throughout these long day trips, and if I were to get into an accident and unable to alert anyone, she would be able to tell authories a general place to begin a search. Plus the fact that my car is very loud (needs a new muffler and one door leaks due to an fender bender), so the texting is easier than me shouting over the phone.

I thought someone might find this idea useful.

Perhaps it would be good to keep a portable air horn (boating type) in the vehicle.