Top Ten Things to Bring on a Road Trip

What's better than hitting the open road for a fun vacation? The freedom of unexplored territory and a bunch of destinations along with a few essentials is more mentally invigorating than any tropical beach. If you have a sense of adventure, a love for nature, a curiosity about the unknown (to you) and a great car or rental, the road is yours.

I've been on 5 big road trips in my lifetime, one that was six weeks, one that was 3 1/2 weeks, a two week cross country trip, and a couple of ten day trips. From those trips, I've compiled my favorite things to bring on a road trip which I'll share with you here. Not all of these items are necessities, but they'll improve the quality of your trip.

A cooler will provide you with the freedom to avoid fast food and convenience stores along your trip, and will get you through some of the rural areas of the country. I've been on six week trips without a cooler, and believe me, the cost of going out to eat surpasses every other expense if you aren't careful! Yes, more than the hotels and gas. Plan out your stops in the bigger cities and make a break for the grocery store to pick up some essentials. You'll need a few good ice packs, and a fridge in the room your staying in to refreeze the ice packs (and keep your food from spoiling). It's especially useful when your traveling across the midwest and southwestern states where there is absolutely nothing for hours and hours of driving.

It's easy to forget about taking care of your skin while your on a road trip, and burns can happen without you even noticing. Some of the cheaper sunscreens can make your skin very irritable, so I'd avoid those, speaking from personal experience. Neutrogena makes a pretty good one that doesn't go on greasy and seems to hydrate as well as deflect ultraviolet rays. This is especially helpful if you're going to be taking the southern route, where the sun will be out most of the time.

Don't forget, even when you're in the car, you'll be cooking in the sun. Those rays will burn you easily. Over many days, you can get a pretty bad burn, from wherever the sun is casting its rays on your bare skin. To counter this, a good sunscreen is a must, but also, long sleeve clothing, if possible, sunglasses, tinted windows, and use of your windshield sun visor can help.

When I traveled across the country the first two times, I didn't have a digital camera. I came home to regret it when I realized how much the price of developing the film would be! It cost us nearly $500 to develop around 25 rolls of film from our favorite developer, and most of those photos are now sitting collecting dust. Now, if I ever want to make use of those photos, I'll probably have to buy a scanner and take the time to scan each photo one by one. Nearly everyone has a digital camera nowadays, but what you should really consider getting for a road trip are few things:

1. An extra battery and charger.
2. A case for your camera.
3. A memory card (or two) for your camera.

I had some near catastrophic events for my camera involving yup, you guessed it, luggage almost crushing the camera lens, or at least scratching it. A case is really a must. I recently had the displeasure of forgetting my camera battery for my digital camera on a weekend trip. The main reason I was headed to this area was to take photos during the fall foliage peak. I went to the store to buy a battery and charger, but no place carried the charger or battery for the model camera. I wound up buying a brand new camera for my wife, lucky her, and using that for the trip. The moral of this story is to buy a backup, and take it with you! You may have to order it online if the model isn't a hugely popular one, which is what I did.

Should you just rely on your cellphone or tablet to take photos?

No, and here's why. The quality is never the same. If you're going on a trip across country, don't make the mistake of just relying on a phone to take photos. The resolution can come out poor, it doesn't focus as well, it doesn't have the options of a typical digital camera, and you could run out of room on your phone for your photos. Digital cameras are cheap enough, so splurge a little it on this.

When you're on a long road trip, you need tunes. Great music can make your trip much better, and without it, it can make it miserable. I can't imagine not having any music besides the radio for my road trips, I wouldn't have even gone if that were the case. On my first road trip, we had a huge pile of CD's to take with us, switching between the local radio stations and this big collection of discs. The last big road trip we went on we discovered satellite radio and we were hooked. Not only did we never lose a signal in the U.S. that I can remember, but the signal was uninterrupted. I could listen to the same talk show or station across 8 states in one day and not have to search around for the program. We also received crystal clear reception in the middle of the desert of Monument Valley, an area that's more remote than any other destination that I can immediately think of. If we had switched to the regular radio dial, we would have heard 1 or 2 stations, kind of fuzzy. We also brought our iPod transmitter, but now they have iPods that I believe can be docked directly into your car without any extra equipment. Between those two technologies, we didn't rely on any CD's or on public radio whatsoever.

Now, in 2018 and beyond, your music can be as easy as turning on your phone. That's what most of us are doing, though you can always invest in a cheap MP3/MP4 player that will cost only around $10-15. Or, you can rely on your phone to connect to Pandora, Spotify, etc., and just plug that into your car. However, you will still hit dead areas with no cell signal that you'll want a backup like hard copy CDs or an MP3 player.

Iphones, Androids, and other internet cellphone services are great for vacations. For email communication, you can quickly respond while on the road (pulled over, of course!) without taking a heavy laptop. While on the road, there are places that do not receive a signal, but nowadays, many areas have coverage that's increasing over time. When you're stuck in the middle of the desert or on top of a mountain with a flat tire, these are must-have tools to call for roadside aid.

Alternatively, you can use an iPad with 3G to connect wherever there's cellphone coverage. You will definitely want some sort of internet connected device, but that goes without saying nowadays, but you may want to bring TWO devices as a backup to the first one if/when the battery runs down while on the road.

Cash or credit? When on a road trip, you may want to consider using cash over credit for a number of reasons. First off, you're on vacation.. do you really want to worry about identity theft while you're on vacation? On the other hand, it's not a good idea to be carrying around a big wad of cash. And, there's traveler's checks, too. Traveler's checks (or cheques) can be purchased at travel agencies like AAA and through American Express. What I've found also works well is to carry just a few major credit cards, one of each major company. Leave the rest at home, you shouldn't need them. Contain your purchases to as few cards as possible, so you can monitor any suspicious activity, but use at least two to spread the balance out. Nowadays, your credit line can be shut down for overusing your card outside of where you normally travel. Calling your credit card company to fix the situation is a big inconvenience to go through on vacation, but understandable in the modern days of credit card fraud.

Okay, why would you need both a GPS and spiral bound road map? Because, technology does fail, number one, and number two, you'll need it in your hotel room. There will come a point when you'll want to read the map in your hotel to plan out your next day's events, and a GPS isn't going to do that for you. To gauge the distance between two areas, have a good time estimate, and to see what else is around in that area, get a spiral bound road atlas. I say spiral bound because from personal experience, if they aren't spiral bound, they'll become tattered and ruined by the end of the trip. The spiral bound map books are also smaller and easier to store away during your trip.

Even if you don't wear sunglasses normally, they're a good investment to protect your eyes. Traveling in the high noon summertime sun can put heavy strain on the eyes and can provide big distractions while on the road. Road glare can also put damage on your eyes and easily cause an accident, so just be smart and carry a pair of polarized sunglasses. Also, when I'm traveling, I like to have a hard case for them, too. That way if I accidentally throw a suitcase on my sunglasses in the backseat, they'll still be fine.

There are too many things to pass up that are off the main road, and there are many hiking opportunities that we passed on because we were in sneakers. You may not think that there's a big difference between the two, but a hike a few miles down a rocky path in sneakers can be brutal on your feet, whereas with hiking boots you would barely be fazed. I invested in some great hiking boots on eBay for the next trip and I was shocked at how cheap I could get them. They were a Land Rover brand, and I have no idea if they're related to the car, but these boots are awesome for hiking, and it made me want to hike more! They also give you more protection further up your leg, so brush won't be scratching your legs, and you have plenty of ankle support to prevent injury. You'll use them more than you think.

• Suitcase or large travel bag - you'll need it to organize your clothes, securely store away electronics, IDs, passports, and souvenirs and keys.
• Credit cards - traveling around the country (or other countries), you'll want a multitude of ways to pay. It's easy to lose a card, for theft to occur, or for a credit card company to shut you off for what may look like a stolen card. You'll want a backup, so bring more than one. Also, if you can help it, don't use a debit card. Credit cards will offer more insurance than a debit, so why put yourself through the headache?
• Cash - Some cash is a good idea to carry, but not too much. Some places only accept cash, or maybe that gas station seems a little too sketchy to pay with your credit card.
• Snacks - Have a variety of dry snacks stowed away in your vehicle in case you need them. Think high protein!
• Cellphone charger - Don't forget this one! Your entire trip will be consumed by finding a charger if you don't bring this along.