8 Essentials to Bring on a Roadtrip
Have you ever been a road trip? If you haven't start making plans to go on one. It's the best feeling to be on the open road heading on an adventure. After all life is all about having adventures, right? I put together a list of things that you'll definitely need for all of those hours you'll be spending in the car.
1. CAR PHONE CHARGER – Do not forget this. A car phone charger is key especially if you’re going to be spending hours and hours upon end in the car. Your phone will undoubtedly start to die when it’s playing endless tunes and searching for service. If possible grab one of those double usb charger so that you can charge two at a time. Also, try to get one of those 2x fast charging types, not sure if it actually charges twice as fast, but hey it's worth trying. Test your equipment before! Our chargers didn't work great and we were left to turn our phones to airplane mode more often than not.
2. QUARTERS FOR TOLLS – You may run across some tolls on your drive. Keep a roll of quarters in your glove box. A helpful tip: $20 worth of quarters fits into a tube of mini m&ms.
3. REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE – Besides the fact that you’ll be saving the Earth by having a reusable water bottle, they are great to have on a road trip. You can fill them up with ice and water at every gas station you stop at. If you like cold water, find one with a larger opening so that you can fill it more easily with ice. Sounds silly, but necessary.
4. SUN SHADES – This one is great for those long car stretches where the sun may be beating on your side of the car. I can tell you that direct sunlight is killer and you’ll get a crazy tan too! Pick up one of those suction cup window shades. You’ll be much more comfortable!
5. TOWEL/BANDANA – This is a great idea for a road trip on a hot day. You can use it shade yourself from the sun. Or you can wet it and wrap it around your neck to keep you cool. This was key on our road trip, especially since the car ac was kaput.
6. SPOTIFY PREMIUM – Pay for the premium service on Spotify so that you have music when you don’t have service and then you can navigate through music freely. The free one is great, but you can’t pick the exact song you want. You’ll want to choose the song.
7. PAPER MAPS – Always stock up on some paper maps. You never know when your cell service is going to fail and you’ll have no access to google maps or waze. Trust me, some places you think you’ll have service, you won’t. I thought I’d have plenty of service across New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, but I barely had any! You can always do the screenshot thing of your google maps, but trust me keep a paper map handy. And by the way, AAA gives out free maps and guides if you have a membership. You literally can have as many as you want.
8. TRASH BAGS - I know this probably sounds obvious, but it could be the first thing you forget. You don't want to be sitting in trash that whole time, do you? If you forget and happen to be staying at a motel/hotel, grab their laundry service bag in the closet. It makes for a perfect trash bag.
If I were to offer any other advice to you roadtrippers, keep your bag of clothes handy. You never know when you’ll need a change of clothes or the temperature drastically changes. Across the states, we drove through temperatures ranging from 38°F to a scorching 112°F. I would also have some sort of catch all basket accessible. You can throw all your snacks, maps and anything else it that you want to be grabbed easily.
Yours Truly // Shannon