Road Trip Essentials & Planning Guide
There’s nothing quite like a road trip during the summer months. I took one with my son to visit family on the East Coast last year and a spring break road trip a couple of months ago. While neither was a SUPER long trip (8 1/2 hours to get to the East Coast), it was long enough that I wanted all of us to be as comfortable as possible. It turns out, my 9-year-old is a great road trip partner!
Before we get into the road trip essentials that kept us happy campers, here are few ways to help pass the time with kids and stop the endless asking of “Are we there yet?”:
- I bought several little toys and candy and wrapped up each one, and put them in a little basket. Every hour, I let my son open one. It took his focus from seeing the car ride as a giant 8-hour chunk and helped him just look forward to the passing of each hour. Most things I wrapped up were as little as $1 – tic tacs, fidget poppers, a coloring book and markers I got at the dollar store but I also wrapped up a few bigger items – a Rubix cube, a new Nintendo switch game, and a chapter book. All in all – you can spend as little as $10 on little dollar store items. It’s really more about the fun of knowing they have a package to open each hour.
- Audible or your local library audio app (mine are Hoopla and Libby). I downloaded a couple of children’s books and played them through our Apple CarPlay. This actually kept our son’s interest, and he listened for a good hour while looking out the window. Note: I LOVE my Audible subscription. I use it in tandem with my library audio apps. You can get a free subscription for 30 days, so it’s a great way to try it out for free during your road trip.
- Spot the License Plate: We kept a little notebook to write down all the license plates with different states. It’s a fun way to keep their little eyes up and off of tech. I think we ended up spotting 27 different states including a Hawaii plate!
These are some of the items we’d recommend on any road trip. These all came in super useful for us and hope they do for you too!!
GADGETS
Car Trash Can
Normally I just have an empty Target plastic bag on hand but I discovered this car trash can for our spring break trip. So much less messy than having a plastic bag where trash can easily spill out.
Headrest Hooks
Is your car filled with smaller bags? Get them off the floor and create extra room with these headrest hooks. I liked putting my purse on one so I didn’t have to go digging for it during stops to get gas or stretch our legs.
Car Power Strip
Not much more to say than what a useful gadget a car power strip is. This will come in handy for all the 10 million things that need to be plugged in with a car full of family.
Emergency Road Kit
You never know what might happen, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. This car emergency kit has you covered with everything from first aid kit to tire infator to jumper cables. I would definitely recommend this to anyone roadtripping alone or if you are driving as a solo parent of kids.
Phone Dock
If you have a car that doesn’t have a screen that loads a map or you want to use a different map app than your car’s system supports, use this phone dock to keep you hands-free but on the right path. This particular model is compatible with iPhone, Android and all Smartphones.
COMFORT
Travel Pillow
This travel pillow is genius. It’s small portable and keeps your head supported. It’s great for airplane travel as well. Note: We do like to take one or two full size pillows if we have the room. Full size pillows are great for the people in the back seats.
Hand Sanitizer
While it may not be a “comfort” item, persay, it’s great to have this on hand after pumping gas or using a questionable gas station bathroom. There’s comfort in knowing your hands are germ-free 🙂 I love this one b/c of it’s sleek shape and fits nicely in any purse or console.
Leggings
I don’t know anyone who would want to travel in jeans or anything with an uncomfortable waistband. These are three of our favorites when it comes to super-soft, comfortable leggings that are perfect for hours spent sitting in the car.
Away: The Carry-On Suitcase
I can’t say enough about this Away suitcase. I bought mine about 4 1/2 years ago when I didn’t know the pandemic would be taking away my use of the suitcase for a large chunk of time. But – I’ve gotten a ton of use out of it in the last two years and let me tell you – it’s lightweight, easily cleanable on the outside, great storage space and rolls so nicely.
ENTERTAINMENT
Apple AirPods Pro
Everyone wanting to listen to different things? Make sure each road tripper has a pair of headphones handy so each person can listen to their own stuff (unless you go the Audible route and all listen to a story or podcast together)
Kindle Paperwhite
Depending on how long your road trip is, it can be cumbersome to pack a bunch of heavy books and magazines. The Kindle Paperwhite is a sleek, unobtrusive way to keep your reading material contained to one small device. I normally really like holding a book in my hands, but to keep travel simple – the Kindle Paperwhite is my go-to.
Tablet Headrest Mount
Perfect for anyone in the backseat who wants to watch a show or movie without having to hold a tablet in their hands.
Find & Seek Book
These keep my son occupied for quite awhile. They are fun for adults too!
Speks Fidget Toy
I don’t know what it is about this fidget toy, but it was 100% satisfying and a great way to keep your hands busy, even if you just want to stare out at the world passing you by. While they aren’t exactly cheap, they are worth every penny. I even have my own speaks that I keep in my purse and pull out if I’m bored waiting in a doctor’s office.
SNACKS & FOOD
Soft Sided Cooler
We like to be able to take string cheese, gogurts and other items that are easy to eat in the car but need to stay cool. Plus it’s a place to keep cold drinks so you don’t have to pay $7 for a bottle of water at a rest stop.
Crave Box
These boxes are so great. Instead of going to Target or your local grocery store and having to buy a bunch of bags of different things, Crave Boxes come with curated snacks. Having someone else do the thinking and putting together of snacks that appeal to everyone in the car is a massive time saver when you’re prepping for the trip. It comes with 50 various snack items.
Owala Water Bottle
Owala is our favorite! Don’t get me wrong, a big ol’ Stanley cup is great, but Owala doesn’t spill, they aren’t overly big so they are cumbersome to lift and sip while you’re driving and they come in super fun colors and children sizes.
Car Seat Organizer
We started out just using a little woven basket to dump snacks and water bottles. But when I found this car seat organizer, it allowed me to fit so many other things other than just snacks! I actually now keep this in my car fulltime filled with anythign and everything we need when we are headed anywhere.
Reusable Snack Pouches
We are trying to be more mindful about using less plastic, so these reusable snack pouches are great for storing fruit, beef jerky, and candy like Jolly Ranchers that you don’t want spilling everywhere. When we’re done using the pouches, I just store them in the car seat organizer and wash them out when we get to our destination or wait to wash them we return home.
I hope you find some of these suggestions useful. I would love to hear where you are headed this summer! Maybe it will inspire us to take another road trip ourselves!
Disclaimer: The Betty Edit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. If you purchase something through the links above, I may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. I’m a former digital marketer turned stay-at-home mom looking to make a few extra bucks for coffee runs and new books. I only recommend products I genuinely like, use, or come recommended by trusted friends. Thank you for supporting me!