A road trip is an amazingly exciting proposition. We start trip planning months in advance, and just before the voyage, it often tends to get overwhelming. What to pack? Where is my road trip map? What if someone falls sick? What if there are no food shops along the way? Well, you don’t have to worry anymore. With these twelve handy tips and tricks about road journey packing, you will sail through the process. Before you get started, ask yourself a few basic questions. Where are you headed to? What is the overall climate like at your destination? What kind of terrain will you be travelling through? How long do you expect to be on the road? Answer all of these questions as you read through, and you will have made the Road Trip Packing List easier on yourself. The following are road trip essentials that you need to say hello to. Read on…
1. Chargers: Power Up!
The digital age that we currently live in makes charging our gadgets of paramount importance. It is a basic necessity when it comes to road trips as well. If you’re undertaking a long road trip (mobile roaming drains the battery even more), it is a good idea to invest in a power bank. Remember to put chargers for all your devices on your road trip essentials packing list!
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2. A Portable Music Player: Take me home country road
When we’re on the road, nothing is more welcoming than the sound of some good, trippy music. A long lasting music player with good battery life and headphones are great travel essentials for a road trip. Update your playlist first and add a charge-friendly music player to your road trip travel kit. Carry a good pair of headphones to enhance the effect. Pink Floyd + Nature + You = Happiness guaranteed!
You can check out this great list of English travel songs!
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3. Sunglasses: Road Trip Essential you cannot miss out!
One of those Road Trip Essentials you simply can’t leave out. Mostly, no matter what kind of terrain you’re on, sunglasses come to your aid. From shielding your eyes on dusty roads and the unrelenting sun to making you look like you just stepped out of the sets of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, this is one hell of a win-win accessory you need to keep in your road trip essentials list. Make sure you carry a pair that you find comfortable and can carry off with ease.
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4. Camera: Shoot at sight!
Travel frenzy before a trip often makes us miss out on Road trip essentials like this one. Even if you don’t think of photography as a hobby, it is a very good idea to pack a camera. The exotic locales might turn on the click mode in your psyche, and you will return with a bunch of memories to hold on to. Pack all necessary accessories like lens cleaner kits, fold-able tripods, and a charger or fresh battery packs. Do not miss out on that memory card!
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5. Eatables: Om nom nom nom…
It is a great idea to pack some tinned food for the road trip. A road trip tip to never ignore is the need to carry some food on your own. You might or might not find eateries on the highways, and it’s always better to be safe than to be hungry, or worse, sick. Cookies, canned fruits and departmental store muffins are good options when it comes to taking road-trip friendly foods. A bag of tangy candies is a great refreshment idea to keep handy on the roads. If you begin to have a bout of vertigo or motion sickness, these things will help you snap out of it in a blink!
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6. Flip Flops: Happy Feet
These are the greatest travel companions ever and a top priority item for a road trip essentials packing list. If you’re going to a tropical beach town, these are your friends forever. If you’re travelling through a hilly terrain, you can kick back your shoes once in a while and get into a pair of flip flops to rest your feet. We should start calling these travellers’ BFFs!
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7. Sunscreen: Road Trip Essentials That Have Got You Covered
A good sunscreen/sunblock is one of the things that should always be found in your road trip packing list. Besides saving you from an awful tan while you’re on the road, sunscreens also reduce the risk of skin cancer significantly. An over-sized hat is another accessory that makes you look great and helps save you from those God-awful headaches and tan-lines that the Sun God often gives you.
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8. GPS Navigator: X marks the spot
Before you get in the car, this is an item from a road trip essentials checklist that has to be followed to the T. Program maps into your smartphone and save the route before you embark upon your road trip. A GPS system comes in handy when taking trips to unknown destinations. New-age technology narrows the whole process down to each last turn that you’re supposed to take, left and right. The absence of data on highways might render you clueless in case you don’t save your route information beforehand, so make sure you do this little ritual much before the start of your trip.
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9. First Aid Kit: Road Trip Essentials to carry unless you are Wolverine
In the case of an emergency, keep a first-aid kit in road trip essentials list. Arm yourself with Band-Aids, Gauze Pads, Antiseptic Lotions and Cream, a good sized bale of cotton and some quick medicines like Aspirin and other preventive medication. Make sure you pack regular medicines if you have any.
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10. Wet Wipes or Towels: Hitchhikers would agree
Another vital component of a road trip essentials checklist is a pack of wet wipes. On the road, towels are a must when it comes to packing your bag for a road trip. Have some small-sized towels and a box wet-wipes handy. These keep you fresh, keep the grime away and ensure facial hydration throughout the long journey.
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11. Drinking Water: Pure, rare, eternal
In a Road trip checklist, water is something you shouldn’t leave to chance. Make sure you pack a lot of drinking water for the way. Clean drinking water is one thing that you should never compromise on a trip if you want to be in control of your health for the entirety of it. Word of advice: Avoid dhaba water as much as possible!
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12. Change: Show me the money!
Towards the end of the list, a road trip essential that you should never ignore is spare change. Spare change is one of the important things which come to your rescue while crossing the numerous toll plazas while on the road. It also saves you the irritation and frenzy of scrambling for money while driving.
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Road Trip Essentials, as we said earlier, depend largely on your travel destination. Keep it light and simple, and have fun packing. Drive safe! Want to make an addition to this road trip packing list? Share your suggestions with us in the comments section below!
We have some more simple travel tips for you that will help you on your next journey!
