“You can use it to look under the hood or vehicle,” said Hall. A flashlight (and extra batteries)Ī flashlight can come in handy for many reasons, especially once the sun sets.
And, although you may bring along your own water bottle, you may not always get the opportunity to refill it, or the water you find during your route may not be the best quality, so make sure you have some bottled water with you, too.
Must haves for long car rides full#
“Pack healthy and non-perishable items, like granola bars or nuts, for when you can’t stop for a full meal while traveling,” said Hall. When you hit long expanses of open highway or winding back roads, there won’t always be places to stop and restock, so having protein-heavy snacks and spare water is essential. To maintain your energy, healthy snacks and lots of water are other must-haves. “Always carry a map or atlas as a backup in case you lose GPS or cell signal.” You can also map out your route(s) in advance using a tool like AAA’s TripTik Travel Planner. “Bring along destination information and track your road trip progress on a map,” Julie Hall, an AAA spokesperson, said in an email. When I finally did, I tracked my route with different-colored highlighters. Last fall, I Iearned that the hard way when I had no phone reception while driving across South Dakota and couldn’t find my atlas, let alone a place to buy a new one, for hours. Paper maps or a road atlasĪs much as you may love your phone’s Maps app, you won’t always have reception, so having a physical map or road atlas is critical. Then, make sure you bring these items along when you hit the road. Of course, before packing up your vehicle, you should get it checked out by a mechanic. And many of these trips will be during the spring and summer. Among those surveyed, about half, 53 percent, of traveling families will road trip this year. From getting caught in a sudden snowstorm in West Virginia with a flat tire and a bad spare to having no phone reception (or WiFi hotspot) while driving through South Dakota, I’ve experienced a range of situations I could have been much better prepared for.Īccording to a recent AAA Travel Survey of 1,007 adults living in the continental U.S., AAA found that four in 10 respondents are planning to take a family vacation in 2019. After all, you never know what can - and will - happen on the road, especially if you’ll be going solo. In other words, when it comes to what to bring on a road trip, there are certain things you must have.
But as an experienced road tripper who’s found herself in some challenging situations, I realized it’s best to listen to Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” When it comes to going on a road trip, it may be tempting to just hop in the car and drive… anywhere.
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