Out traveling the country? Did you know that there are things you’re forgetting on your road trip that can save your butt in a pinch? If you didn’t, this ultimate road trip essentials checklist is perfect for you.
My mom is moving to Florida and we’re helping her make the move. While I’m sad that she’s leaving me up here in the cold New England weather, I’m also enthused for her to get out of here, too. Life is short, so she’s got to get out there while the getting is good!
So, that means, I’m going on a road trip pretty soon. And yes, I’m very excited. But planning this trip also made me realize that when you’re traveling in your vehicle, either alone or with others, you’ve got to be prepared.
So how about it? Are you looking for the ultimate road trip packing list?
Table of Adventures
Things to Do Before Going On A Road Trip
First things first, you’ll want to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row before you leave for a long-haul road trip. Whether it’s cross country or over a few state lines, your car needs to go through a check-up to ensure the durability of your vehicle. If you’re a gearhead, you can, of course, do these yourself, but in that case, you probably wouldn’t need me! For the non-mechanics, swing by your local service shop and have them check off the following things:
- Change your oil. Or, at least, have them check it. For a short road trip, you don’t need to change your oil every time, but for a longer trip, you’ll want to. Even if you’re a thousand miles ahead of schedule, you won’t want to swing by a place when you’re out cruising on the highway. Plus, you’ll be putting your car through stress, so you might as well treat it well. Better to be safe than sorry.
- Check all other fluids. This includes your coolant, windshield wiper fluid, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid. Can’t imagine you want to forget any of those – enough said really.
- Check air filters. No matter the season, you’re going to want to have your air filters cleaned and in perfect working order. You don’t want to be out in a desert with no air conditioning and you don’t want to be out in a snowy mountain range with no heat. So, make sure they check them and replace any that have gotten caked up with dirt.
- Verify the tire pressure is correct in all tires. I know that this one can be an eye roll for those of us with newer vehicles, simply because the car usually tells you when to fill it up. But, do it anyway. Correct tire pressure saves you gas, and incorrect pressure can make your tires wear down faster than expected. Checking now reduces your chances of having the light come on when you’re 50-100+ miles away from a gas station.
- Clean out your vehicle. I don’t go on road trips alone, but no one’s going to be riding shotgun if your car is filled up with garbage.
- Replace your windshield wipers (if needed) and Rain-X your windows. There is nothing worse than driving into a bad thunderstorm, far away from the comforts of home, and your windshield wipers are doing a shoddy job. Make sure your wipers are in tip-top shape and spray some Rain-X on your windows if you haven’t in a while. Keep the bottle in your trunk for when it seems like it’s starting to wear off.
- Check your tires for dry rot. Dry rot is cracking that happens around the side rim of your tires. It can mess up your handling and, at its most severe, it can make your tire literally fall apart on the road. Super dangerous! So make sure your tires are looking fit and healthy and replace them if they’ve gotten worn.
- Check your spare tire. Your spare tire has probably never seen the day of light since you bought the car, so make sure it is filled with air and that it’s also in good shape.
- Call your bank and let them know that you’re taking a trip across state and country lines. You should do that at least 24-48 hours before departure so that your bank can monitor your account with that information on hand. That way they also don’t freeze your debit card when you go to buy gas somewhere.
Road Trip Needs List (Can’t Leave the House Without)
If there’s anything you do while you’re going on your zoom-zoom adventure, it’s to make sure you are prepared by having the following items. Don’t be caught out without them.
- License and Registration. Self-explanatory, I think, right? Good.
- Recent car insurance. My boyfriend and I constantly forget to update the copy of our car insurance that’s in the glove compartment. It’s ridiculous. Don’t be like us. Make sure it’s the recent copy.
- Emergency Road Kit. This includes everything from road flares to reflective triangles to a flashlight. You really would be surprised by all the things that can go awry on a trip. Don’t take that chance.
Cross Country Road Trip Checklist
The list below is in no particular order. I wanted to make sure that everything was here that I feel is essential for me to enjoy driving. I think a lot of people would agree with me on most of these, but maybe they sometimes forget the little things.
Well, this is the list for you! It’s important to know what to pick and choose for the length of your trip. There are things on this list that would be overkill for a ten-hour trip, but they’re necessary for a two or three-week trip.
Keep in mind the terrain and travel conditions as well for the relevant items – if you forget the snow shovel on your summer drive to Miami, that’s fine, but if you leave it behind when you’re driving to Boston for Valentine’s Day, you might be setting yourself up for a really cold weekend!
- Good Music
In a bid to keep your sanity, you’re going to want some kind of playlist on your road trip journey. There isn’t anything worse than sitting in a car with nothing to listen to for hours upon hours. Especially on flat plains or deserts that go on for miles.
I would opt for a paid music provider such as Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, or the like. Whatever gives you joy and keeps interruptions like radio ads at bay. You can curate your playlists beforehand with general music, audiobooks, catching up on daily news, or using it to listen to podcasts to keep time moving fast.
Do yourself a favor and download a few songs or audiobooks to your phone. Like, store them on your phone, not on iCloud or Google Drive, etc. There are times when cell tower connection is shoddy and that entire playlist you were jamming out to is going to stop when you lose signal.
Sure, there will be times when you’d just like a little bit of peace as you trek through the country. That’s also awesome, and the United States has some breathtaking places, but, I promise you, you’ll be grateful for a playlist or two of some good tunes when you hit your 3rd hour of rolling plains.
- Extra USB Phone Cables + Charging Blocks
As an iPhone user, I only carry lightning cables. The same can be said of my boyfriend, an Android user, with his USB-C cables. So, no matter what you do, don’t forget to bring a spare cable for everyone in the car – you never know who may need it.
- Air Pump, Spare Tire, Tire Jack + Jumper Cables (Car Specific Items)
You truly never know what’s going to happen on the trip. It can be easy going for hours or even days, and then you blow a tire on mile 124 of 300 on your trek through Nowhere Canyon on the way to Somewheresville.
So before you end up spending multiple hours waiting in the sweltering sun or pouring rain for a tow truck, make sure you have a spare tire (one that’s in good shape!), a tire jack, and the knowledge to change your tires. If you don’t know, grab your favorite dad and learn before the trip!
If you don’t have a full blow-out and you just hit a nail or something, you can limp your way a few dozen miles just by patching the tire with a can of Fix-A-Flat and an air pump to help you inflate the tire. It’s not perfect and you should go to the next service station for a permanent fix, but it will give you an extra 40-50 miles to get there.
Lastly, flat tires aren’t the only thing that can ruin a car trip. A dead battery in the middle of nowhere will suuuck. Thankfully, unless you have a serious problem with your alternator (the thing that keeps your car battery charged while you’re driving), a dead battery isn’t something that’s just going to happen to you.
You’re going to find out when your car doesn’t start, hopefully when you’re in a parking lot of a hotel or some other place where you can get help. And you can usually find someone to give you a jump, but you’re going to need the cables first.
There are plenty of jumper cable videos to show you how to put them on, but they’re essential to get you juiced up and back on the road.
- Car Fluids
Unlike #3, which a lot of people would remember, carrying some extra fluid is not something most people think about. You don’t need to haul around a jug of windshield wiper fluid, but carrying an extra liter of oil and maybe some coolant can be a life-saver, especially if you run into an issue.
If your car starts to leak oil (or coolant for that matter), you should immediately take it to the shop, right? Right. But the problem is, if you’re in the middle of Kansas, that shop might be quite a bit away, and if all your oil leaks out before you get there, your car will die before you get there.
So throwing these in your trunk in case of such an emergency will give you a bit of extra time to get to the shop. You spring a leak, you find a place to go, and if you can’t make it there and the oil levels start to drop low, you pull over, add some more, then keep going.
- Food + Water
It’s important not to think solely of bringing snacks with you on your trip. Chips and such are great, but you’ll probably go through them pretty quick. Another idea is to grab a cooler, throw some sandwiches in it for the first day or two of the trip to help stretch the snacky snacks out.
Also think about items that will last for a while, even outside of a cooler, like jerky and dried fruit. Trail mix also works. Think “high energy, low maintenance.”
Also, don’t forget water. A case or two of water will reduce the number of times you need to stop just to get a drink.
- Reusable Water Bottles
Now, if you’re environmentally conscious, you can swap out those water bottles for gallon jugs of water, and then you can just refill your reusable water bottles over and over again. These are probably a must-bring item anyway since you’re not just going to be driving somewhere, then driving home – you’re going to want to stop!
You’re going to want to hike up that mountain or run around that new city, and your trusty water bottle is going to go with you on all those adventures.
Plus you won’t then need to clean your car out of the dozens of empty water bottles that otherwise fill up your back seat. And you can refill the gallon jugs when you get to a rest stop, for a completely zero-waste hydration solution.
- Travel Mug
Sometimes bringing something that reminds you of home while you’re traveling can make the adventure feel a bit better. Bringing along a travel mug that you can get filled up with hot or cold drinks can keep you just that little bit saner.
Obviously, you have your water bottle, but you’re going to want a container that can keep your coffee (or whatever) hotter (or colder) for longer to help you get through those long stretches of road.
- Multiple Credit/Debit Cards
There are a couple of reasons why you want to bring an extra card with you for your travels. The first is that banks nowadays have gotten very good at screening out fraud – sometimes too good. While calling your bank to tell them you’re traveling is a good way to keep them from accidentally turning off your card, it isn’t foolproof.
My boyfriend and I regularly go to New York to visit his family, and a few weekends ago his debit card got fraud locked due to a bank error and it took until Tuesday for them to fix the error.
On a road trip, that could be a nightmare! So keep an extra credit card or debit card on you in case of a bank mistake.
I’d also say… keep it in the glove compartment of your car, not in your wallet. If you accidentally lose your wallet somewhere, having at least some way to pay for expenses is going to be a lifesaver.
Also, for you AmEx users: the swagger of an AmEx is fantastic, but they are not accepted as widely as Visa or Mastercard. Just remember that and plan accordingly, especially if you’re heading through a rural area.
- Plenty of Cash
In the age of digital transactions, we tend to forget that there are some establishments where cash is the law of the land. So bring a few bills for emergencies and for those times when the place you’ve stopped to eat only takes cash.
Now, with Apple Pay and Cash App, this is becoming less and less of a thing, and cash also has risks. Cash can be stolen and it is gone, unlike a debit card where you can just call your card company and stop any fraudulent purchases. It’s a trade-off, but at least $20, up to about $100 is usually good. If you’re in a place with a lot of ATMs, you can get by with less, but if you’re traveling through backwoods, you probably want a bit more.
- Toilet Paper
You may think that this isn’t essential, since oooobviously you will always be able to find a toilet no matter where you go, right? Eh, not necessarily.
There are stretches of the USA (and certainly other countries as well) where there are not too many rest stops, and your only option is going to be a gas station toilet or a roadside McDonald’s, or something like that.
If you’re a germaphobe, you are not going to be in your element, so you might like the other option if all you need to do is take a quick pee break. And that option involves the side of the road, some cover, and a roll of toilet paper saving your literal behind.
- Blanket + Pillow
I’m one of those people who gets a little chilly when the air conditioning is on for a long time, but I don’t want to shut it off, because then I get hot. I sleep with a blanket on and the fan going.
So of course I’m concerned about getting stranded or, even if everything is going great, just being comfortable when I’m traveling. If you’ve got to pull over and take a quick, much-needed nap, or if you are just feeling cold, you’ll want some comfort and warmth. So bring a little blanket and a pillow in the car with you, just to make sure you’re comfortable. If you have a copilot, bring an extra!
- First Aid Kit
You don’t ever want to think that something will happen to you while you’re simply driving. After all, you can just stop somewhere if something happens. But, having a first aid kit in your glove box will help a lot with minor scrapes, burns, and little cuts.
That way you don’t waste time and unnecessary money for little injuries, but you can still make sure they get treated right away.
I’ll also include sunburn here: keep a small container of aloe in case you sunburn – especially if you’re fair-skinned! Even darker skin tones need sunblock, but my boyfriend is the whitest of whites, he’s like a human Tide stick, and when we go on a road trip his ‘driving arm’ will be lobster-colored if we don’t take precautions.
- Important Phone Numbers
Better to be over-prepared than to be standing at the reception desk of your hotel, trying to Google an important telephone number. One super important number to keep is AAA (which, if you have it, can get you discounts on hotels and other purchases).
Also, your emergency contacts and other important numbers should all be written on an index card, in case your phone breaks, gets lost, etc. With that information on hand, you can use the phone at your hotel or the local police station without feeling too flustered.
- Kleenex, Wet Wipes + Paper Towels
I have been on many-a road trip without something to blow my nose into and it’s been, quite frankly, crappy. Paper towels can help clean up any spills or to place over your lap when enjoying a little snack, but they’re a bit rough on your nose, so you’ll want both.
- Hand Sanitizer
After the couple of years we have had, just bring it. Don’t even second guess yourself at this point. Make sure to have the large one for your car, for everyone to share, and the small one in your backpack, purse, etc for when you’re out and about and have nowhere to wash up.
- Energy Drinks
Putting this on the list for those people who enjoy having their Monster, Red Bull, or anything caffeine-laden to get them through the day. If you like your energy drinks, keep extras in the car for when your energy level wanes so you’re not actin’ a fool on the road.
- Flashlight
And make sure it’s LED. Just sayin’. Stash away some extra batteries while you’re at it, too.
- An Itinerary, including rest stops
There are exceptions to this: if you’re doing a long, meandering summer road trip, or you’re camping instead of staying at hotels, you can just sort of wing it. But if you’ve got places to go and people to see, you’re going to want to at least plan a skeleton of your days.
If you’re driving to Disney World from New York, you are not going to do that 16+ drive without breaks, so plan where you’re going to stop.
Knowing where you get your next break can reduce the monotony of the long hours in the car, and if you have a more open schedule you can check out some of the sights along the way.
- Headphones
Yes. Headphones. If you aren’t the driver the entire way, having headphones can be a mental lifesaver. I’m too much of an extrovert to be alone on long-haul trips, however, I still enjoy my alone time.
You and your copilot might argue about the music, or directions, or any little thing; you put on your headphones and you crawl into yourself for a few minutes and watch the scenery pass by. I promise you that having this is essential.
Also, my boyfriend likes to listen to Johnny Cash when he drives through deserts. I respect it, but I don’t necessarily want to join him for that.
- A Camera
You’re going to be driving through beautiful areas and stopping at the world’s largest everything, so, bring your cameras. Most phones have pretty decent cameras in them now, but if you own a DSLR or a polaroid, this is when you wanna break it out because these are memories you’re going to want to cherish forever.
- Map
Yes, you downloaded programs like Waze or Google Maps to alleviate some stress. However, many things can go awry on the road – dead zones, dead batteries, etc. Get yourself a paper map. AAA will even give them to you for free. If something happens and you can’t get internet access, you can still find your way to safety.
- Cooler
This can come in handy if you’re traveling with a large group and trying to save money. Fill it up with some ice, and pack it with some of that water you have. Add cold item foods like deli meat, mayo, cheese, so that you can make quick sandwiches.
It gets pretty expensive buying food at every stop, so this investment will keep more money in your wallet for other things.
- Gas App
You’ll be happy you downloaded this. It can check for various gas prices as you make your way along and help you to save a lot of money.
- Pain Killers
Do not drive on pain medication. That said, you will be stiff when you get to your hotel room, and if you’re the copilot for a few hours and that killer headache won’t go away, having a bottle of Tylenol or Advil with the first aid kit can mean the difference between an okay day and a miserable one.
- Shopping Bags
Stash some shopping bags away in the glove compartment or along the door storage areas and use them as trash bags as you make your way. That way as you’re driving and munching on snacks, you have a place to put all your wrappers and your car stays relatively clean.
Plus, if you grab some reusable shopping bags along with you, you’ll be doing the environment a favor, too.
- Toiletry Bag
I left this until late because at first, I said “No one is going to forget this.” Then I remembered the multiple times my boyfriend did, so I’m adding it here!
This is especially important for the road trippers who are roughin’ it. After all, most hotel rooms will give you small sizes of shampoo, toothpaste, etc to help you be more comfortable. If you’re camping, however, you don’t have those amenities, and you need all your dental stuff, as well as your deodorant, lotion, tampons, liners, and so on.
Otherwise, you’re going to start feeling grimey by the time you finally make it back to a shower. Don’t forget the wipes! Wet wipes are awesome.
- Walkie Talkies
OK, so, not essential, but it can be really fun if you’re driving in a caravan. Plus, it keeps you off your phone, which is illegal while driving. Being able to radio everyone that you’re pulling off at the next rest stop instead of calling every one individually creates less of a headache in addition to being fun.
On the last road trip I was on we did this and it was the best thing we purchased. We got our money out of the walkie-talkies, plus we were able to use them when we were camping with no cell service. Make sure you stay stocked up on batteries or that you can recharge your sets when you make it to wherever you’re staying.
- Car Games
This is a little more of a planning process than necessarily something you need to ‘bring’. There are plenty of free activities you can do to stay entertained with your traveling companions. Games like I Spy, the license plate game, word association games, and so on are all free and don’t require too much prep if any. Sure, there are ‘I Spy’ checklists you can print out, but knowing that you are going to play this game on a trip from point A to point B is all the prep you need to do.
A somewhat more adult game to play is ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ which combines pranking your sleepy friends and a road trip game. When someone in the car falls asleep, you wait five minutes, then everyone awake takes turns making up a story of what happened when the person was asleep.
You can Google the complete rules, but it’s best for a long road trip where people are going to be falling asleep multiple times. Car karaoke, the movie game, road trip scavenger hunts, 20 Questions, ‘Marry, F*ck, Kill’; all of these are great ways to pass the time with your friends.
If you have a few bucks to invest in entertainment for the trip, Mad Libs, Battleship, or travel chess sets can also be super fun. The trick is you need a game that uses pegs or magnets so the pieces don’t get thrown all over the place, or that relies on writing or conversation.
- Quarters (and maybe Pennies)
You never know where you’ll need change. Most tolling roads in metro areas now allow you to drive through without stopping. They use your E-Z Pass (or some local variation) or they charge your account via your license plate and they just mail you the bill.
However, there are still some exceptions and you might need some loose change to throw into the bin.
You might run into parking meters as well, particularly if you’re going to an attraction in a town or city. You never know what the parking situation is going to be like in some small town you haven’t been to yet.
Yet another reason to keep some quarters? If you collect souvenir pressed pennies. These are the pennies that you put into those novelty crank machines, along with some amount of quarters (usually it’s 50 cents or $1), and then you flatten the pennies and press on some design.
It’s a cool way to build a collection of memories from the trips you’ve made!
- Power Inverter
Need to charge your electronics while on the road or out camping? Cool. Grab a power inverter so that you can do work while on the road. This will safely let you run multiple AC devices, even if you have an older model car that doesn’t have one built-in.
- Spare Towel
Imagine you’re driving around and it’s super hot and you need a body of water to jump into. Aha, you found it! But … your towel is at the bottom of your suitcase. No swimming for you.
Or, you could just have a spare towel rolled up in your trunk for this exact purpose. Another option is to take this spare towel and throw it in the cooler. Let it get nice and cold, then wring out the excess moisture and lay it over your shoulders to keep nice and cool when the AC is off and the windows are open during your summer trip.
- Foldable Snow Shovel + Ice Scraper
‘Cause I can’t imagine you’d like being stuck in the snow no matter where you are. The ice scraper is usually more of an issue with patience (I’m guilty).
Of course, you can often get by with the defrost option to melt the snow off your windshield, but the scraper certainly speeds up the process and, with deep snow, it can take quite a while to melt it all away.
The snow shovel, however, can potentially be a lifesaver if you get smacked with a blizzard while out and about. Up in New England or the Midwest, a bad blizzard is not something you can drive through… you risk getting stranded or getting into an accident.
Your best bet is to pull off into a gas station where you’ll at least have shelter, but having the shovel will mean that, at the very least, you’re not going to be indefinitely plowed in when they finally do make their rounds.
- Book
As a passenger, reading a book can be soothing. It depends if I’m in the front or the backseat if I can feasibly read, as I get motion sickness headaches. Since I know I’m not the only one, I’m going to give you an invaluable tip right now: if you get motion sickness, look at the horizon. It’s the fastest way to recenter your balance.
Because of that, audiobooks are usually what I go for. Then you only need to worry about falling asleep while it’s still going, haha!
- Lip Balm
I don’t go anywhere without my lip balm. It doesn’t matter what you say to me, I’ll always have enough lip balm to make it for a few months in my car. And when you’re in a dry environment like your car you’ll be happy you had it.
The only issue I run into is that it can melt in hot areas, so if you’re traveling during the warmer months, or through warmer areas, make sure it is all upright when you leave the car, otherwise you’ll have melted wax all over the place.
Conclusion to Ultimate Road Trip Packing List
Whether you’re going 8 hours down the road or making an entire month of it, making sure you’re all set for your road trip is so important. Don’t be caught unawares while trying to have fun, otherwise, you’re going to be remembering this trip for all the wrong reasons. Have loads of fun and don’t forget to take photos!