What to Pack for a Road Trip

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With Spring Break this next week, Allen and I will be going on a little road trip across the western U.S. We’ll be starting our journey in Colorado, heading west into Utah and then north through Idaho and into Montana. It will be my first time in these states, so I’m beyond excited to go exploring new places and trekking through a few National Parks along the way.

Allen and I LOVE road trips and it’s the best way to explore new places in our humble opinions. For me, the journey is just as much a part of the vacation as the destination is. And I love just being able to talk and catch up with Allen along the way–we have so much fun! So when preparing for a week-long trip on the road, I thought it would be a good idea to share what I’m packing for the car in case anyone else is taking a long road trip this break.

So without further ado, here are the essential items I’ll be packing for us on our week-long road trip across the west.

SNACKS

1. Snacks. – chex mix (homemade recipe) or trail mix, chocolate-pretzel bark, gummy candy, grapes, carrots, fresh juice and/or coffee

First off, snacks. It’s one of the most important things for us (probably, unsurprisingly). Snacks can make or break the trip. You want to make sure to have a balanced mix of both healthy and what I like to call ‘fun food’. Fun food consists of that junk food you normally wouldn’t eat on a daily basis but for some reason crave irresistibly during a trip. For me, it’s foods like gummy candy and chex mix or munchies. And while I always have these fun foods on hand when traveling, I also make sure to pack healthy foods such as baby carrots, grapes, and trail mix that will give me the nutrients I need to stay feeling my best. Road trips have the nasty tendency of making you feel stir crazy and a little lazy (you are sitting in the car for hours on end), so adding in healthy alternatives helps you to keep you system feeling good and like it should.

ENTERTAINMENT

2. Reading Material. – magazines and other light reading material (you don’t want to be car sick)

3. Listening Material. – music, podcasts (currently loving Serial and 99% Invisible), headphones, car charger/auxiliary cable

Next up is entertainment. While I love chit chatting with friends in the car and playing fun road trip games, there are inevitable lulls in the trip where we like to add in a little variety for our entertainment. I like to bring light reading material for the trip, like magazines that won’t be too hard to read or require too much concentration. I’m really bad about getting car sickness on the road, so I usually only bring a couple just in case we hit a particularly straight stretch of road. Our main source of entertainment comes from music and podcasts though. Music in particular has a great way of setting the tone of the trip and can turn a boring strip of road into a journey down memory lane as you play the best of your high school or middle school playlists. In addition, we also like bringing along music without lyrics that we can play when we are going through a particularly stunning landscape.

We’ve also been getting into podcasts more and more lately, with my current obsessions being Serial and 99% Invisible. Along with your playlists and podcasts, you’ll also want to make sure to bring along a car charger and/or auxiliary cable for connecting to the car system. If you’ve got lots of different people in the car, it also might not be a bad idea to pack a pair of headphones too. For roadtrips during the summer, I also like to pack along a frisbee to throw around at rest stops. It’s a fun way to get some exercise along the way and doesn’t take up too much room.

HEALTH

4. Beauty. – eos hand cream, tinted lip balm, antibacterial wipes, tissues, gum, nail clippers, anti-motion sickness medicine

Next comes health trinkets that make the car ride a little more enjoyable. Things like antibacterial hand wipes, hand lotion, lip balm, and tissues have all come in handy at one time or another on a road trip. And packing some extra medicine for motion sickness can be a real life saver when there isn’t a gas station in sight. I also like to bring along plenty of gum for cleaning my teeth after salty snacks and nail clippers for that pesky hang nail that always seems to happen at the worst time. Nail clippers also come in handy for cutting random tags or packages that you forgot needed opening. They’re just a useful tool to have for anything that comes up.

And as for lip balm, I like to have a tinted one on hand to make me feel a little more put together and polished in the car. I know road trip fashion is all about the comfort, but there’s something to be said about feeling a little primped with a rosy tint on the lips that puts me into a instantly better mood. It takes the sometimes frumpy-feeling of travel clothes up a notch, no? I like to stick all these smaller items inside a pretty little pouch in my larger tote bag. That way I know exactly where they are and they don’t disappear to the bottom of the bag when I reach for them.

COMFORT + ESSENTIALS

5. Comfy and Cozy. – scarf or blanket to keep warm, sunglasses, cute water bottle (you want to stay hydrated!)

6. Daily Essentials. – wallet (and this one), money, identification, credit cards, phone

And finally, you’ll want to pack your essential items–think: wallet, money, credit cards, identification–and some other items that make the ride a little more comfortable for the long haul. I always pack a scarf or blanket for when I get cold, and a pillow isn’t a bad idea either. You’ll also want to make sure to bring sunglasses and a cute water bottle that you can fill up wherever you go. It’s super important to stay hydrated when traveling and it’s been a game changer for me to maintain my health and sanity while in a confined space for so long. Hydration is essential.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

I pack everything inside a large, durable tote that I can easily get into while in the passenger seat. It keeps everything in one place, instead of scattered throughout the car (and inevitably under the seats).

And there you have it! Everything you will want to pack for a road trip this break. Did I miss anything? I’d love to know what you pack for a long trip on the road!

Photos by Colleen Kelly, taken at Wonder Press