It’s summertime, and the beautiful weather and glistening highways are calling your name. It’s time to grab your friends or your favorite family members and take to the open roads in that quintessentially American pastime—the road trip. Spontaneity is the key, but some basic preparation is still recommended to help you have a smooth trip. Here, we’ve rounded up some of the top road-trip essentials so that when the time comes, you can throw on some comfortable clothes and a pair of sunglasses and hit the road outfitted with everything you’ll need for the adventure of a lifetime.
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You probably already have some tried-and-true luggage. But if you’re looking for something that really says “I’m on a road trip,” these bags will do the trick. For an in-style adventure, the ultra-luxurious Want Les Essentiels makes bags that are recommended by our fashion team as the only way to pack for a trip.
Also bring along this Tory Burch striped backpack, pictured left, which not only fits enough for a day trip out of the car, but will keep you looking good while out and about.
Every road trip has a different vibe. Are you aiming for wholesome family fun? Bonding with a friend? An indie-music-festival jaunt? May Designs lets you customize your journals and planners to fit whatever type of trip you’re planning. If you want a place to stash your souvenir ticket stubs and receipts, a journal with plastic pouches, like the one pictured left from Uncommon Goods, might better suit your trip.
Gabrielle Germaine
Hours upon hours spent in the car is awful for your sleep schedule, not to mention your neck. This hooded pillow should take care of both problems. Just don’t forget to offer to take a turn driving every once in a while.
The only thing more hopeless than Apple Maps is having no map at all. Make sure your smartphone is charged by bringing along a plug-in car charger that’s compatible with your phone, like this one for the iPhone 5.
This cute, little guy will hold your smartphone or GPS navigator in place so you can follow the little blue dot without constantly asking your co-captain for help.
Some sort of back-seat entertainment is a must for keeping kids (and adults) entertained during long stretches on the road. This well-reviewed mount keeps your iPad in place for endless movie viewings. We suggest loading up on DVDs of the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food for on-the-road culinary inspiration.
“Show us pictures, or it didn’t happen,” your friends will say when a bison rams the side of your car. Luckily you have some options here. For a rough-and-tumble trip, the all-purpose Pentax WG-3 camera functions well under just about any condition (and has a National Geographic endorsement, to boot).
Longing to make it appear like you took your road trip in the ’70s? Put on your floppy sun hat and pick up one of Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 8 cameras for some stylized instant pics.
Nothing says road trip like picnicking with a green vista as your backdrop (or, more likely, at a wooden table surrounded by truckers at a rest stop). Regardless of your location, this picnic basket and charming blanket will set the mood.
For a less elaborate affair, use this Volcom cooler disguised as a cool-looking messenger bag.
Staying entertained for miles on end is a seemingly impossible objective on the open road. There are a few favorite vintage car games (think “never have I ever,” the license-plate game, and “would you rather”) that are easily adaptable to passengers of any age group. But to mix it up, try The Pocket Scavenger, which leads you on a semicustomizable hunt for different items throughout your trip and includes space to tell the story behind each find. For the star hunters out there, an astronomy guide teaches you how to read the night sky ... or at least points you toward the North Star if you’re hopelessly lost. And, if you’re traveling with kids, this “road trip in a box” may be a lifesaver.
Here’s where things get fun. First, and most important, make sure your map app is up-to-date. Next, since there are an endless number of travel-oriented apps, we’ve narrowed down a few of the best to preload onto your phone.
Along the Way: This app is a catchall, offering information about featured spots along your route. As a bonus, it’s linked up to Foursquare.
Roadside America: Make sure you don’t miss any of this fine country’s most useless—er, unique—attractions with this app, which maps out all the offbeat tourist spots for you.
iExit: You’ll never be left wondering what you may miss if you pass up the next exit with this handy guide, which shows exactly what’s at the end of that stretch of road.
TVFoodMaps: This app finds all the spots along your route that have been featured on various culinary TV programs.
GasBuddy: Running on empty? GasBuddy locates the cheapest and closest gas station so that you never find yourself sputtering onto the shoulder of the road in need of a lift.
AAA: Any experienced road trippers know not to hit the road without travel insurance lest they get distracted by a Disney sing-along and end up gasless and stranded on a desolate stretch of Interstate 10 between Texas and Louisiana (yes, this actually happened to one Daily Beast staff member).
Evan Vucci
Because nothing says road trip like your feet on the dash and a map spread on your lap, sometimes a smart phone just doesn’t cut it. For those times, there are the “Curious Explorer City Maps” to guide you around the world’s top metropolises, including quirky stops and where to find local soul.
For keeping track of your trail, this Uncommon Goods scratch map is supremely satisfying.
Of course, no road trip can even begin without a good playlist. Be sure to have handy a cable hookup or transmitter for your phone so you can stream tunes from music apps like Spotify or Rdio, which both have massive libraries that can provide hours of listening. On Spotify, check out Refinery29’s “Road Trip Songs” playlist. If you prefer storytelling to music, This American Life: Stories of Hope & Fear is a great compilation of the radio program’s best guests.
Anonymous
If you’re not the carsick type, you’ll want to grab one of these adventure-inspiring books by authors who have burned the rubber just like you (but probably a little more poetically).
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Best American Travel Writing by various authors
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
Mosey hosts custom guides to cities across the globe. Steal an itinerary from a local or make your own.
Fathom offers creative guides to major cities across the globe and interesting, personal blog posts.
Nerdy Day Trips has a user-fueled map detailing thousands of spots to see.
Road Trip USA has 11 classic road trips all plotted out for you from the Oregon Trail to Route 66.
Airbnb is a great place to find a local apartment—or even just a bed—to rent when staying in hotel rooms gets too expensive.
Now get out of here. And don’t forget your sense of adventure.
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