13 Road Trip Essentials

June 25, 2018 Liana Safian

Not many things compare to the feeling of cruising down the open road on a hot summer day. Dark pavement glistening with heat mirages stretching out in front of you indefinitely. Soft white clouds rolling across the land. Windows down and sweet country air blowing across your sweaty back as Tom Petty blasts from the speakers. This is what summer dreams are made of friends.

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Road trips make for some of the best vacations. Tom and I both have fond memories of family road trips during our youth and are already itching to hit the pavement again with Stan the Tan Van. In the last year and a half we’ve traveled tens of thousands of miles crisscrossing the US. We’ve learned a few things (sometimes the hard way) about what you need to make yourself comfortable on the road. Since road trip season is in full swing we’re sharing our list of road trip essentials.

If you’re planning to spend some quality time with mother nature on your road trip, also checkout our top outdoor gear guide. It has our favorite sturdy adventure gear—the most used items that we haven’t figured out how to break yet. If you’re traveling in a van, we have a guide for that too—our van life gear list. While everyone’s full packing list will differ based on specific travel plans, here are the items that we find indispensable on the road.
Whether you’re national park bound, visiting family and friends, or headed to a festival, there are some road trip essentials you don’t want to leave home without. Here are our favorite road trip essentials to make yourself comfortable and have the best adventure.

Road Trip Essentials: The perfect gear for hitting the open road

1. Road Atlas

Scratch that, what I mean is an up-to-date road atlas. Last year we were using a 10+ year old atlas. We thought, How much can roads change in 10 years? It turns out—a lot. After more than a few “scenic route” detours we conceded that it was time for a new atlas. You may consider hitting the open road without one and just using your phone, but unless you have an unlimited data plan and you never lose service, you want to keep a current atlas handy.

2. External Batteries/Chargers

We always travel with external chargers. If you’re visiting national parks you’ll quickly discover that the few outlets available there are a hot commodity. We use these two external batteries a ton. The large one can charge a phone at least three times. The smaller one fits into a backpack or purse easily for emergency charges.

3. Sunglasses

This one seems like a no-brainer, but sunglasses are definitely a priority on road trips. Eye sunburn is real and nasty folks. I’ve been wearing a pair from Sunglass Warehouse for the last few months and they’re some of the most durable glasses I’ve ever had and super budget friendly. They offer 15% off and free shipping on orders over $25. There are tons of fun styles to choose from! Here are some of my favs.

Retail Price:$10.95

Retail Price:$15.95

Retail Price:$11.95

4. Sunscreen

While we’re on the topic of sun protection—this is another invaluable road trip essential. All those hours hanging your arm out the window can leave a nasty burn if you don’t wear sunscreen.

5. Leatherman Multi-tool

We’re big fans of multi-use everything so this is one of the handiest items in our van. We like this one that includes the scissors.

6. Headlamps

We use ours every single day…and not just when we’re pretending to be cavers. These Pelican LED Headlights are our favorite. They have enough lumens to satisfy Tom’s brightness requirements and are really durable (meaning we haven’t figured out how to break them yet).

7. First Aid Kit

This is a must for any type of travel. It’s amazing how many practical things are packed into a little first aid kit. We love this one because it’s so small and compact that it takes up minimal space in your pack.

8. Emergency Kit

When you’re rumbling down dusty country roads (which you should most definitely do on your road trip), you’ll want to have an emergency kit packed…just in case. You know, just in case you back off a dirt road into the ditch and have to be pulled out by a pair of half-drunk bikers and some college kids with a jeep it helps to have your own tow rope.

9. Healthy snacks

It’s so easy to fall into the fast food/gas station food cycle of doom on road trips. Take my word on this one…just say no to gas stations nachos. Instead stock up on nuts, fruit, and vegetables before you leave, and look for local produce stands and markets as you travel around. You’ll get to try the seasonal produce from the area and support local businesses.

10. Ditty Sacks

When you live in a van, organization is key to keeping your sanity. Or at least attempting to keep it. We love nylon drawstring bags because they make it easy to stay orderly no matter what mode of transportation you're using and can be washed.

11. H2O

Staying hydrated on the road, in the heat is important. Avoid buying plastic bottles of water by bringing refillable water bottles and a small refillable water bag. My favorite bottles are metal ones with narrow openings (bumpy roads and wide-mouth bottles don’t mix). Get yourself a collapsible water bag to store extra H2O in so you never run out. This one is easy to pour from and is malleable, so you can fill it in pretty much any sink. It’s also surprisingly durable—ours has withstood daily use for months.
TIP: You may be able to find this even cheaper at a local outdoor store. We picked ours up for 99₵. Yes, no dollar sign needed (well until you add sales tax…oh Oregon, we miss you.)

12. Reusable Grocery Bags

These are so versatile that we always travel with one for each of us. They can be used as a beach bag, shower tote, and of course grocery bag. They’re also perfect for transporting things from your vehicle to your camp or hotel. Personally, I prefer the ones without the cardboard sides so that they can be washed.

13. Catan Game

What road trip essentials list would be complete without a game? We love this portable version of Catan. We actually love it more than the board game because you can get through it in under an hour versus 3+ hours. Normal play on the board game is probably 2 hours but if you’ve ever played a game with Tom, you’ll understand why it takes us 3😉 Either way this dice game is super fun to play around the picnic table and it hardly takes up any space.

Are you planning a road trip this summer? What are your road trip essentials?