The Ultimate Summer Road Trip Essentials

The Ultimate Summer Road Trip Essentials

Summer is fast approaching. A road trip is a perfect way to kickstart an amazing adventure-filled summer. The beauty of going on a road trip is that you have the freedom and room to pack more things than in your usual carry-on. That means you have direct control over how comfortable your trip would be and, consequently, enjoy your trip more. 

When packing for a road trip, we usually divide our packing list into several categories—gadgets and gears, clothes, snacks, toiletries, and safety equipment.

 

 

Gadgets and Gear

Let's start the list with the quintessential object that everyone must have nowadays, whether you're on a road trip or not—a smartphone. 

A smartphone is now an important gadget to bring on any road trip because of 1) Online/Offline Navigation Systems—Google Maps and Google Translate should be installed at all times (especially in traveling internationally). This just makes traveling and locating things way more convenient; 2) Communication—Apps like WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts are important for staying in touch with friends and family.

Other gear that is included in our essentials are portable Wi-Fi devices, cameras, and charging devices (power banks and portable solar chargers).

 

Clothes

If there's one thing that we always pack (aside from the usual), it's our swimsuits and towels. We bring them no matter where we travel because we never know when we'll run across a fantastic hidden hot spring or a beautiful hotel pool.

The most important thing is to pack comfy clothing for your trip. You don't have to bring or wear anything that's not comfortable. Being uncomfortable during a long car ride is a particular form of torture. The following items are also essential on any road trip: shirts, pants, underwear, and pajamas.

 

Snacks

Sometimes, road trips take hours, and you pass by places where there are no stores for miles. Thus, packing snacks is necessary if you want to survive! We also realize that some foods are better suited to road trips than others over the years. We try to avoid anything incredibly stinky or messy and aim for healthier snacks. 

We do stop for food occasionally, but it's nice to have some snacks in the car when you feel like munching on something but don't want to stop.

We also bring with us a cooler, and if there's one (pro) tip we can give, use ice packs to keep the drinks cool. Ice cubes are great, but they're a lot messier in the long run. You can also freeze the beverages but just be careful because they might explode when left unattended.

 

Toiletries

No road trip packing list would be complete without mentioning toiletries. For us, we include prescription medicines (for emergencies and if access to a medical facility is impossible) and the "real" toiletries—shampoo, soap, personal care products, lotions, sanitizers, and toilet paper.

 

Safety Gear

A cross-country road trip packing list wouldn't be complete without a section on what to bring to stay safe and prepared. Our must-have gear for road safety includes a car safety kit, a first-aid kit, spare tire, tire jack and other related tools, flashlights, and, of course, a candle and lighter. 

 

How to Pack

Packing everything in one convenient location is art in and of itself. The list above may be short but make no mistake, this can easily cost you a lot of luggage space when not packed correctly. 

Thankfully, we have the best gear you can rely on when packing for a road trip—the RUK Pack Limitless Duffle. Boasting a 40L capacity, this is the perfect buddy to bring when going on a road trip. It also has a separate XL insulated meal storage so you can bring entire meals with you and keep them warm at that. It also has USB charging ports, so you don't have to bring out your power banks every time you need to juice up your device. The best part is that it has a dedicated compartment for your laundry—moisture sealed to keep the undesirables away from the clean ones.

To know more about the Limitless Duffle and how it can up the ante for your next road trip, click this link.