It is almost Road Trip season, but before you start daydreaming about having the breeze in your hair, your favorite playlist playing on the stereo, and the open, winding road welcoming you to a day of adventure, let’s talk about the road trip essentials you need to pack for a badass road trip.
Whether you’re heading abroad, doing a cross country road trip, or taking some timeout to explore your backyard, there’s something about taking a road trip that feels so classic and liberating. You’re in complete control of your pace, time, and destination, so just strap in and ride into the sunset…
Hold that thought for a second. A fun road trip can turn sour pretty quickly if you missed a couple of essentials. From the items you need for yourself, the car, and other items that could turn your road trip vehicle.
It’s a road trip and you’ll likely be miles away from the nearest roadside maintenance, so it’s best to have all the handy stuff you need to keep your vehicle running smoothly. Some of these items are obvious but still need to be listed because they are easy to forget, others are not so obvious, but are still important nonetheless. You can send me a ‘thank you’ cup coffee later.
Seems obvious, true, but you need to ensure that your road trip checklist includes a spare tire that’s in good working condition – and yes, you have to double check. While you’re at it confirm you have a working jack and tire iron in the car. If you aren’t comfortable changing a tire by yourself, this video below might come in handy.
Doesn’t matter where you are driving without any of these three things can get you in trouble. I consider these to be the ultimate road trip essentials you might want to star or highlight on your list to indicate their importance. If you’ll need one, make sure to research and apply for special cross border cars before you leave.
I can’t remember the last time I opened my car’s manual back at home, but I always bring it along on a trip because there’s no way to tell which light might come on, refuse to turn off, or how to access the fuse box when you’ve lost connection to the internet. If you’re using a rented car, ensure that the manual is in the car, after all you’ve probably never used this type of car before.
This should contain items like battery booster cables, warning triangles, tire pressure gauge, flares, gloves, reflective vest, window breaker, rope, whistle, etc. This will give you options and cover for any possible eventuality
Having a gallon of water in the truck can come in handy if your car overheats. You’ll also need wiper washer fluid, engine oil, transmission fluid, and brake fluid. And if you only thought about keeping yourself hydrated, think again.
Before my journey through Texas I wouldn’t have considered this a necessity, but it would have helped keep the car cool by blocking some of the sun rays from hitting my skin. It’s also worth investing in one if you have an RV and would like to add another layer of privacy to keep people away from your business.
Even with the windscreen cover, make sure to keep your electronic away from the window to prevent them from getting baked by the sun.
Whether you’re travelling with kids or not, having a garbage can or bag in the vehicle prevent trash from, well, thrashing about. A car garbage can that stays in place is even better so everyone knows where to discard stuff, it makes for an easy cleaning later plus you don’t have to deal with ant infestation.
This one is an absolute necessity, and you should consider yourself lucky if you’re in an area that offers such service. But if you’re in South America or Nairobi, you’ll have to get the equivalent or some helpful phone numbers before taking off.
After getting packing car essentials, you now have to switch attention to yourself. Self-care is very important in the times we live in, so don’t skimp on yourself. Your road trip will be much more fun and enjoyable if you feel clean and comfortable throughout the journey.
Irrespective of who you are, old or young, lots of melanin or very little, you still need to take proper care of your skin, more so on the road when you’re exposed to sun rays and the element. Dermatologist recommend using an SPF over 30 – and reapply often.
Lol, so what if you don’t have a baby? You still need baby wipes in your life. I honestly think they’re the best thing since … you get the point. They can be used to wipe faces, hands, necks, and just about any part that needs some moisturizing. You can even use them as emergency toilet tissues if you run out of supplies.
I don’t know about you, but I like to pack my towel whenever I’m going on a road trip. It’s no fun having to air dry after a really nice dip in the river, or getting stuck in a hostel with no towel. If you have limited space, consider packing a smaller towel or a sarong.
I don’t know which is worse, stopping at a roadside gas station that’s out of toilet paper or having to take a dump behind a tree without toilet paper. Besides, toilet tissues are really handy for cleaning sweaty brows and handling runny noses. Remember to toss them in the portable garbage can in the car. Toothbrush and toothpaste are really important to keep your mouth fresh as well as have great conversation.
Think of it as air freshener for your body. After caring for your car, you need to also care for yourself – and the other occupants in the car. It’s bad to be stuck in the car with someone that has body odor.
If you’re from any of the sunny state, you don’t need to be reminded how essential flip flops are for resting your feet, using public showers, and giving your toes some freedom. Just make sure to get a product that is sturdy and won’t bail on you.
You’ll need this for the same reason as the toilet paper. You want to be able to disinfect your hands after using the toilet at the gas station. Other than this, you’ll need it countless other times while on the road.
Yeah, this one is coming from experience. I once found a sweet little spot close to a lake, they even had a campsite to chill out for the night, but by morning my left arm looked like I had a measles outbreak. So not cool. This should be close to the top of your list if you intend to hike, follow a trail, or rest someplace with a body of water or lots of plant cover.
A Swiss Army knife is a useful tool to have in your possession if you decide to take a hike or an overnight trip from your vehicle.
Very important because cash is still king in many places – and in particular for parking meters and road tolls!
You have an emergency kit for your car, this one’s for you and your passengers. This should include painkillers to numb down injury pain and migraine, and also medications to prevent allergies. If you are allergic to certain things like bee sting, pollen, or bug bites, you should take along with you prescribed medications for such, you never know when you’ll be exposed. Cotton buds, bandage, methylated spirit, etc. might come in handy.
The type of clothes and other materials you pack to keep you comfortable on the road trip should match your destination, the weather, and the activities you intend to perform. Heading to a National Park? Walking along the beach? Skiing or road tripping in the winter and need extra warm layers?
Clothes should have multi-purpose, feel good to wear, comfortable, and be worn a couple of times. I consider it a waste of space to pack a shirt if I can only wear it once – except, of course, you have an occasion that warrants wearing such.
You should also consider going with a specific color palette. You’ll find it much easier to mix and match pieces without violating too many fashion codes.
It’s the new age. No WiFi access doesn’t mean out phone and other devices are useless; they can still serve millions of purposes.
I know you saw this coming. Many car accessories are now capable of powering and connecting to your smartphone over USB. Depending on where you go, you might have to charge your battery inside the car while listening to your playlist on the stereo. A detachable charger will let you do this with little hassle.
It is still illegal to fiddle with your phone while driving and even if the penalty isn’t severe where you are heading you should avoid interacting with your phone while driving. I can’t stress how important it is to get hands-free kit for your phone. The one I got has a clip that easily hooks to the base of your air vent which makes it ideal, especially for a rented car so you can detach the clip without damaging the car.
It’s really important to have a paper map of your destination if you’re unsure of the internet connection, but if you’re heading to another city or place with strong WiFi signal then a map that fits in your handheld device will suffice – just ensure it can function offline in case you lose some signal bars. Many travelers, that includes me, seem to prefer Maps.me.
Most, if not all, car stereo systems now support playing music through a USB storage. You can make a playlist with your computer, or you could use the aux cable to connect your phone output to the stereo system. You could burn your music to a compact disc or play music from Spotify or some other app. Need help? Here are some suggestions for creating your playlist
Wanna save some dough on gas? Download a gas app so you can compare different prices of gas in your region. Ensure the app works where you’re heading before you move.
Taking pictures with your device all day will drain your battery pretty quick. If you’ll be away from a stable source of power for the day or even overnight, then you should consider getting a power bank to keep your devices alive while you’re away. Bonus point if it has a built-in flashlight or some solar cells.
If you enjoy reading, then a book or two should be enough to keep you company – you didn’t go on a book-reading trip did you? If you have kids or young people with you, you should consider getting some games to keep them from getting bored – or causing a migraine, in the case of kids.
My favorite way of packing uses the three bags policy – one large bag, a weekend, and a day bag.
This technique is great when packing for cross-country road trips since you’ll have a couple of one night stays and the rooms aren’t always spacious enough to lug big cases in and out.
This one is really tough to answer because it depends on how long you’ll spend on the road and the weather conditions.
If you’re packing perishable foods, you will need a makeshift refrigerator made of cool bags of ice. Depending on the temperature outside, you might need to replenish the ice every day or two. You can get ice at gas stations or supermarkets.
There’s a good reason why this list doesn’t include bottles of water. Buying large gallons and jugs of water to refill your reusable water bottle with is much cheaper – plus less plastic waste.
This road trip packing checklist has been curated by a seasoned road tripper that enjoys the feeling of independence, freedom, and adventure that accompanies a road trip holiday. It contains enough details and useful items to make your journey comfortable, happy tripping!
