As you all know we love to travel as a family! It’s the best way to make memories and living in NYC, we happen to be lucky to live close enough to some great cities to take a family road trip to! Whether it’s a long road trip or a shorter one, it’s always a good idea to be prepared for literally anything along the way. These tips and items can apply for any road trip and I’ll make a road trip checklist below for you to save for your next family car trip!
Here is our full list of road trip essentials:
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Where to Begin
Firstly, packing is going to start by how far you are traveling. Obviously, if you are driving an hour away you won’t need nearly as many items as you’ll need on an 8 hour road trip. Another question to start the packing process is: where are you going? I don’t know about you, but when we travel to places like Vermont to ski, we don’t have a ton of extra room in the car due to how large the items we have to pack are. Coats and ski gear take up the entire back of the rental car!
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As we’re in summer now, it’s road trip season and road trip necessities will look a bit different than they might look for long hours in the car in the winter time. A summer road trip is the perfect way to end the season and having a great list of everything to keep in the back seat will ease your mind for the long drive on the open road. Moreover, the basic things that should be in every vehicle are jumper cables, a spare tire in case of a flat tire, all essential car documents in the glove compartment for insurance policy and emergency services.
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The Necessities
Secondly, there are things we need and things we simply want. These are the essential items we need!
An emergency kit for emergency situations is at the top of our list. The last thing we need is a bad situation where we might need a band aid or antibiotic ointment and don’t have it. I like to keep one of these everywhere- in the car, in the kitchen, in the bathrooms, etc. Since cars don’t have that much space, storage options for epic road trips are something to take into consideration.
I found these back of seat organizers where you can put anything you’d like inside and keep it organized and have easy access. So you don’t have to pull over the side of the road to find things. We like to keep extra chargers, cords, snacks and the first aid kit in there. Having snacks, a reusable water bottle, plenty of water and a phone mount or gps mount are things we deem essential for long distances and day trips.
The Extras
Finally, this is where it gets fun! Well, as fun as it can get. The kids love to have ipads to watch movies on while we travel and personally, I love a good book, especially if everyone has headphones in and there’s no music playing so I can focus. For those that enjoy a snooze in the car, ear plugs and a neck pillow sound like a great idea to me! If you can fit a blanket in the car for your trip, there’s nothing better than cozying up with the a/c on. Do everything you need to do in order to remain comfortable on a long road trip. You’ll be sitting for awhile, so make sure you make a list and check it twice-maybe three times to ensure nothing was forgotten!
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*This post was originally published July 26th and has since been updated*
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