Going on a road trip is an excellent way to escape your everyday routine. And create fun, lasting memories with your favorite people. There’s something magical about hopping in a car with the knowledge that you can go anywhere and stop wherever you see something worth exploring.
Although traveling by car seems fairly easy, it’s important to pack well for the road. You don’t want a minor inconvenience to spoil the adventure. Here are five essential items to pack for your next road trip.
1. Reusable Water Bottle
If you’re traveling in the summer or crossing large remote areas, it’s crucial to have plenty of water in the car. Dehydration can affect your ability to focus while driving and is a well-known cause of headaches. By buying bottled water you contribute to plastic pollution. So pack a reusable water bottle, which you can easily refill at gas stations for free. Purchase a hydro flask and personalize it with inspirational hydro flask stickers that activate your wanderlust. The hydro flask can keep the water cool for several hours.
2. Portable Charger
You will have to recharge your phone and camera often during your trip. To make sure they don’t run out of battery at the most inconvenient time. If you rely on your phone for navigation apps and have no car adapter, running out of battery can leave you stranded. A portable charger acts as a backup battery. Even if you already have a car adapter, a portable charger is much more convenient; you can take it with you when exploring new sights away from the car. This ensures you’re never without phone battery in case of an emergency.
3. Sunscreen
Although some people think that wearing sunscreen in the car is unnecessary, this cannot be further from the truth. Your car windows are not a barrier for UV rays; these harmful rays travel well through the windows and can burn your skin when driving. Pack sunscreen for the road to avoid weird tan lines and to protect yourself from harmful UV radiation.
4. Favorite Camera
A road trip feels more rewarding if you come home with high-quality photos that help you reminisce about the best moments of your trip. Whether you want to shoot landscapes or take pics of you and your travel companions, you need a good and reliable camera in your pack. Bring special landscape photography lenses to capture the beauty of natural sights. A phone camera can be great for personal shots, but it doesn’t have enough zoom power for landscapes.
5. Small Daypack
Regardless of the length of your trip, bring a small daypack. You can use it for supermarket trips and for carrying water bottles and snacks when exploring sights away from your car. Some ultra-compact daypacks are small enough to fit in your pocket, so you can have one with you at all times just in case you need to carry something.
If you love driving, a road trip is a great way to bring more spontaneity to your life. However, to make the most of each trip and avoid any inconvenience that could ruin your day, pack strategically.
