Road trips are one of my favorite ways to travel. Over the years we’ve driven thousands of miles as a family—from quick New England weekend getaways to longer adventures through Canada and across the U.S.—and I’ve learned that packing the right things can make the difference between a fun trip and one where everyone is asking, “Are we there yet?”

The good news is that you don’t need to pack everything you own. A few well-chosen road trip essentials will keep everyone comfortable, entertained, and prepared for whatever happens along the way.

I’ve put together this list of the items I actually use on our family road trips. Some are things you’ll use every time you travel, while others are the little extras that have saved us more than once. Whether you’re heading out for a weekend getaway or a cross-country adventure, these road trip essentials will help make your journey a little smoother.

 

What Do You Actually Need for a Successful Road Trip?

Packing for a road trip doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In my experience, there are five things every successful road trip needs:

Safety Essentials

Before anything else, make sure you’re prepared for unexpected situations. A first-aid kit, flashlight, emergency supplies, and a few basic car essentials can give you peace of mind if something doesn’t go according to plan.

Comfort Items

When you’re spending hours in the car, little things make a big difference. Comfortable pillows, blankets, reusable water bottles, and easy access to snacks can make the drive much more enjoyable for everyone.

Entertainment

Keeping passengers entertained—especially kids and teens—is one of the biggest challenges on a long drive. Download audiobooks, podcasts, movies, playlists, or road trip games before you leave home so you’re not relying on cell service.

Food and Drinks

Packing a cooler with drinks, healthy snacks, and a few treats will save both money and unnecessary stops. It also means you’re prepared if you end up driving through areas with limited food options.

A Flexible Plan

This one doesn’t fit in your suitcase, but it may be the most important essential of all. Some of our favorite road trip memories happened because we stopped at an unexpected roadside attraction, found a great local restaurant, or took a scenic detour. Leave a little room in your schedule for those unplanned moments—they’re often the best part of the trip.

 

Read on for why you need each one and find some of my family’s favorites.

Before You Leave

Packing your car is only half the battle. Spending 20 minutes getting everything ready before you leave can save you hours of frustration later. Before every road trip, I try to take care of these five things first.

Check Your Car

Make sure your tires are properly inflated (including the spare), top off your windshield washer fluid, and check that your oil change isn’t overdue. A quick walk around the car can help you catch small problems before they become big ones.

Download Offline Maps

GPS works wonderfully—until it doesn’t. If you’re driving through mountains or rural areas, download offline maps before you leave so you can still navigate if you lose cell service.

Charge Your Electronics

There’s nothing worse than realizing everyone’s devices are dead an hour into the trip. Charge phones, tablets, cameras, and portable power banks the night before.

Download Entertainment

Don’t count on cell service. Download audiobooks, podcasts, playlists, movies, and TV shows before you leave home so everyone has something to do, even in areas without reception.

Tell Someone Your Route

If you’re heading somewhere remote, let a friend or family member know your general route and when you expect to arrive. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but it’s an easy safety precaution to take.

Driver’s License, Registration, Insurance and Roadside Assistance

These are not exciting road trip essentials, but they are the things you absolutely do not want to discover you left at home after you have already been pulled over or broken down.

Before we leave, I make sure the driver’s license, vehicle registration and current insurance information are all in the car. I also keep the roadside-assistance phone number and membership information somewhere easy to find. Do not rely entirely on an app because you may need that information in an area without reliable cell service.

If you are driving a rental car, keep the rental agreement and emergency contact information with you. International road trips may also require a passport, additional insurance or an International Driving Permit, depending on the destination.

I also keep a little cash in the car for tolls, parking or places where a card or phone payment does not work. You may never need it, but that is true of half the things in a good emergency kit.

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Navigation and Safety Road Trip Essentials

GPS

Gone are the days when you had to pore over maps before a long road trip. Whether your GPS is on your phone or a separate device, a GPS makes your life so much easier. My favorite GPS app is Waze, an app that takes input from other drivers to help you calculate the fastest route.

 

Map

I have been in the unfortunate situation where my GPS couldn’t find a signal or my phone didn’t have service, and I was really glad I had a map. This is especially important when you are driving in remote areas as the chance of the GPS not working is greater.

 

Jumper cables

These are a must in any safety kit. A dead battery means a prolonged trip and grumpy kids. I recommend this portable one in case your battery dies in a remote location. It works just as well as the regular kind and you aren’t dependent on a good Samaritan passing by.

 

Spare tire

This should come standard with your car today, but check out the tire before a long road trip. We found that we had a spare with a hole in it!

Ice scraper and snow broom

Don’t get stuck with only your credit card to scrape ice off your windshield! This one is great because it extends to get the tops of our van.

 

First Aid Kit

This is a smart thing to keep in your car all the time. A compact first aid kit should be able to keep you and your passengers well and safe on your trip. If you are road trip packing for a cross country trip you might want to beef up your first aid kit a little bit.

 

Roadside Emergency Kit

Jumper cables and a spare tire are a good start, but they are not a complete roadside emergency kit. I also recommend keeping a portable tire inflator, tire-pressure gauge, flashlight, reflective warning triangles, work gloves, duct tape and a small basic tool kit in the trunk.

A portable inflator can sometimes get enough air into a slow leak to help you reach a safe location or repair shop. Reflective triangles make your car easier for other drivers to see if you are stopped along the road, especially at night.

Hopefully, most of this equipment will sit untouched for years. That is completely fine. These are the road trip essentials you pack because the one time you need them, you will be incredibly glad they are there.

Road Trip Essentials for Comfort

After safety concerns, this is the most important part of road trip packing. These are the things that make the journey fun instead of just a way of transportation. If you are going on a cross country road trip you will probably want most of these items.

Travel pillows

These are another road trip essential! Especially with kids. If you have been following me for any length of time you will know that this is my favorite travel pillow.

Sunglasses

Don’t let the sun get to your beautiful peepers! I would recommend having a pair that just lives in your car so you never forget them.

Blanket

Whatever you love to sleep with or something comfortable if you disagree on the car temperature. Honestly, without one I would be an icicle by the time we reached our destination. Actually, bring a few, because my husband freezes everyone out.

 

Water bottles

What normally happens on our road trips is my husband brings his filled water bottle and the rest of us forget ours and drink all of his water! So get the size you need.

We have been loving the Owala water bottles because they never leak.

 

Sunscreen

I make sure to wear sunscreen ever since I read an article that said that the left side of our faces are generally more aged then the right side because of the sun coming in while we are driving. Most car windows don’t protect you from UV rays. I keep it in the car so we have it at all times. My favorite one, Australian Gold, is a mineral sunscreen that works well under makeup and doesn’t sting your eyes.

 

Medicine and Bathroom Supplies

Someone always ends up with a headache, allergies, an upset stomach, or car sickness when you are nowhere near a store. I keep a small bag with our prescription medications, pain relievers, allergy medicine, and anything else we commonly need.

I also throw in tissues, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and a few resealable bags. You hope every rest stop will be clean and fully stocked, but we all know that is not always what happens!

Keep the bag where you can reach it easily. It will not do you much good underneath six suitcases in the trunk.

Entertainment

Great playlist

We love Spotify! This app allows us each to make our own playlist of our favorite songs. We swap out playlists during the trip to keep everyone happy and to find new songs to love. If music isn’t your thing you could also download some great road trip podcasts to keep you entertained.

 

Audio books

This is one of our favorite ways to stay entertained on a road trip! We pick books the whole family will enjoy and while away the hours listening to some great books. Some of our favorites include: the Harry Potter Books, the Chronicles of Narnia, Michael Vey, and Anne of Green Gables.  For more of our favorite road trip books check out our post here. We use Audible to get two new books each month.

 

Noise-cancelling headphones

These are essential for keeping the peace after you have passed hour 2 or 3 on the road. The kids can watch their movies or listen to their music quietly.  My teenagers are big fans of Beats headphones, but for the smaller kids I recommend these Mpow ones. They are much less expensive so you don’t need to worry about little fingers breaking them.

 

Tablets and Handheld Gaming Devices

For a longer road trip, phones, tablets and handheld gaming systems can be lifesavers. We download movies, shows and games before leaving home so we are not dependent on cell service or trying to stream everything with a weak signal.

Make sure each child has headphones and that every device is fully charged before the trip. I also recommend checking that downloaded shows actually play without an internet connection. Finding out they need to reconnect or verify an account after you lose service is not a fun surprise.

We do not use electronics for the entire drive, but I have absolutely no guilt about bringing them out when everyone has been sitting in the car for hours.

 

Phone Chargers, Car Adapter and Phone Mount

There is nothing like getting an hour into a road trip and realizing someone’s phone is already almost dead. We bring charging cables for every device, a multi-port car adapter and at least one fully charged portable power bank.

A secure phone mount is also essential if you use your phone for navigation. It keeps the map where the driver can see it without holding the phone or constantly looking down. Make sure the mount fits your phone and dashboard before the trip instead of trying to figure it out after you leave.

Before we pull out of the driveway, I check that every cable actually works and that the power bank is charged. Somehow, there is always at least one cord in our house that looks perfectly fine but charges absolutely nothing.

 

Travel Games and Activities

Travel games are especially helpful when everyone needs a break from screens. We keep a small bag of games and activities within easy reach instead of packing them in the trunk.

Scavenger hunts, trivia games, magnetic games and road trip bingo are all easy to play in the car. I especially like games that the driver can participate in without needing to look away from the road.

For younger kids, coloring books, reusable sticker books or a small surprise activity can break up a long driving day. I sometimes hold back a new activity until everyone starts getting restless. The novelty alone can buy you another peaceful stretch of driving.

You can find more ideas in my guide to the best travel games for all ages.

 

Cooler with snacks

If you are going on a longer road trip, you will want to bring some snacks. This cooler is fabulous because it keeps cool while plugged into your car’s 12V DC. You won’t waste space keeping things cool with ice.

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Guide books

I love to read the history of the place we are going to visit from a guide book. It helps all of us have a little bit more background and understanding of a new place. I also make sure that we have everything planned as well as it can be.

 

Books

If you don’t get car sick, a great book to read sure passes the time. I also like reading books that take place in our destination! That way we have a good overview of the places we visit.

 

Garbage bag

You will need one or two of these if you have a particularly long road trip so you don’t have trash all over the car. I learned long ago that if you don’t give your kids somewhere easy to throw things, they will throw them on the ground. I also learned that most garbage bags for cars are pretty worthless.

These ones are actually really great and hang right in front of your kids so that it is easy to throw things away. Plus they have water bottle holders and a package for the wet wipes you are sure to need. (see above!)

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Road Trip Essentials for Kids

Here is an entire post dedicated to Road Trips with Kids!

Car sick bags

Car sick bags are the greatest invention!  They have saved us numerous times. We keep them in the glove compartment for easy access. They don’t leak and are easy to tie off and throw out.

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Easily accessible change of clothes

You don’t want to have to haul the big suitcase out of the trunk if your kids spill things all over or if you stop for a break and it’s chilly. I always pack one change of clothes for everyone is a small bag and place it within easy reach.

 

My Road Trip Essentials I Never Leave Home Without

After years of family road trips, I’ve realized that everyone has their own “must-have” items. These are the things I always make room for before we pull out of the driveway.

A great audiobook. Nothing makes the miles disappear faster than a story the whole family gets invested in. Some of our best road trip memories involve everyone sitting quietly, completely hooked on the same audiobook.

My iPad loaded with movies. On longer driving days, especially cross-country trips, having a few downloaded movies is worth its weight in gold. Just make sure you download them before you leave home!

A surprise activity for the kids. I love bringing out a new game, coloring book, or small activity every couple of hours. It gives everyone something new to look forward to and breaks up those long stretches between stops.

My J-Pillow. I’ve tried a lot of travel pillows over the years, and I always come back to my J-Pillow. It fits perfectly against the window and I find I can sleep for hours comfortably.

A cozy blanket. Someone is always cold in the car—usually me! A  blanket is perfect for naps, chilly air conditioning, or even an impromptu picnic at a scenic overlook.

Something to keep my hands busy. I love bringing a knitting project along. It helps me relax during long stretches on the road, and it’s a productive way to pass the time when someone else is driving. If knitting isn’t your thing, a puzzle book, cross-stitch project, or even a journal works just as well.

A cold Diet Coke. Call it my road trip tradition. There’s just something about sipping an ice-cold Diet Coke while watching the scenery roll by that makes the trip officially feel like vacation has started.

Road Trip Essentials FAQ

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What are road trip essentials?

Road trip essentials are the must-have items you should keep in your car before a long drive. These typically include safety items like jumper cables and a first aid kit, navigation tools, chargers, water, snacks, and comfort items such as travel pillows and blankets.

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What should I keep in my car for a long road trip?

For a long road trip, keep emergency supplies (spare tire, jumper cables, first aid kit), navigation tools (GPS and a paper map), phone chargers, water bottles, snacks, wet wipes, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a trash bag. Comfort items like blankets and travel pillows also make a big difference on longer drives.

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What are the most important road trip must-haves?

The most important road trip must-haves are safety-related: a spare tire, jumper cables or a portable jump starter, a first aid kit, and a reliable navigation system. After safety, hydration, chargers, and basic comfort items are the next priorities.

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What should you not forget on a road trip?

Don’t forget phone chargers, water, snacks, important documents, and emergency supplies. Many road trip issues can be avoided simply by checking your spare tire, packing basic safety gear, and making sure your devices are fully charged before leaving.

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How do I prepare my car for a road trip?

Before a road trip, check your tire pressure (including the spare), test your battery, top off fluids, confirm your insurance and registration are current, and pack emergency essentials. A quick vehicle check can prevent delays and unnecessary stress on the road.

 

 

 

 

Last update on 2026-10-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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