My husband and I enjoy road tripping with our boys. We’ve taken mini road trips (1-2 days and under 700 miles) from the time our kids were born. Last winter we traveled with our boys for two weeks and logged over 3,000 miles. We all survived had a great time!
Today (May 27) is the unofficial start of summer. While we don’t have anything planned for this summer we are planning another road trip in the near future. We’ve learned quite a bit about how to travel and what works well for our family.
We could not make it through each road trip without definite must-pack items, so that brings me to my list:
What to Pack for a Summer Road Trip:
- Plan your route and have a printed copy handy at all times!
- I use a Google Doc and map out a schedule. We drive between 3 and 9 hours a day, depending on where we plan on stopping and what we will be doing at that stop. Make sure you account for gas, bathroom & snack breaks.
- Binder with printable activity sheets and pens/markers
- Electronics for passengers
- Blankets (thin for summer)
- Car Pillow
- Sunglasses
- Books on CD
- Bottled Water
- Change for toll roads & laundry mats
- Headphones
- Snacks
- Sunscreen
- Medicine Box
- The obvious things – clothes, camera, phone, chargers, insurance cards, etc.
In addition to packing those essentials, do as much driving as you can early in the day or in the evening so as to avoid the hottest time of day.
What are you summer road trip must-haves?
Visit Patrick Hyundai for your new and used car needs.
My mom always packed activity sheets for us! Traveling with five kids to entertain must have been hard on her, but she did it with ease. This list is golden, Thanks Sara
Make sure to include a vehicle breakdown kit: flares, flash lights, reflectors and the like. It helps to be more visible if a breakdown occurs.
Sadly we had to use our kit at one time and were better off having it. It gave us peace of mind as we waited for assistance.