9 Must-have Road Trip Travel Items
[Reading time: 5 mins]
9+ must-have items to help you survive a road trip with kids.
Photo from vecteezy.com
Let’s face it— vacationing with kids is not easy, nor is it a cheap endeavor! I personally hate taking road trips, but since having 4 kids, it’s the more affordable way for us to travel. We’ve gone road trippin’ quite a few times now, with our longest trip being our annual [supposed to be] 15.5hr drive to Florida — ahem: or with small kids… an almost 20hr drive done over a span of 2 days.
There are few must-have items that we’ve purchased for our long road trips that have really made all the difference!
01. Stock up on travel games & activities.
If you haven’t come across this great blog post of mine, I have put together a list of our favorite [screen-free] travel games & activities that keep our kids occupied on our long road trips. You can check it out here:
Screen-Free Travel Activities & Toys for Kids
There are so many great ideas to keep the kids entertained, and just remember: you can never buy too many!
02. The Toniebox and the Yoto Player are the new ways for audio entertainment.
Full disclosure, we don’t have either one of these devices yet, but I have many friends that swear by the Toniebox or the Yoto Player. They’re great audio devices made for kids, to listen to music, audiobooks or even podcasts.
03. Use a tablet holder mount so everyone can watch.
If you are using one tablet for multiple kids to share, it can be very hard for all of them to watch a show together or play games on it, if one of them is holding it.
Yet another product I have not personally used, but my friend recommends this tablet holder for the car and I think it’s genius!
Seems like it’s the perfect setup for multiple kids to watch on one screen. You just hook it up on the headrests of the seats in front of them and voila!
04. With how much stuff the kids will have with them, a backseat organizer is key.
Even when you’re not on a road trip, one of the most annoying things to a parent when driving is not being able to reach something your kids dropped on the ground.
It’s not fool-proof, but a car backseat organizer can be very helpful. There are many different ones on the market, but we like this one in particular:
Car Backseat Organizer with Tray
Not only does it have a section for a tablet already, but there is also a small tray to put things on and of course all the additional pockets
05. A lap tray is another great organizer option.
Depending on the ages of your kids, a backseat organizer might be a little hard for your kids to reach. When she was younger, my daughter liked this alternative instead:
This one in particular is great, because it is very portable, there are little pockets to stick things in and there is also a dry erase board as the base.
06. Buy a snack catcher for those little hands.
Snacks are of course a must-have on road trips. And if your kids are anything like mine, they will constantly ask for snacks just because they’re bored.
If you have toddlers, these snack cups are great to have for those little fingers:
When we are eating on the road, these have been a life saver for us. A little cup with a lid that the babies can easily hold and take out their food from.
07. A rooftop cargo carrier is a life saver.
Depending on what kind of car you have and how many people are traveling in it, you may not need this. But for my family, having 6 of us in the car taking up all 3 rows of our minivan, we are still extremely strapped for space. A rooftop cargo carrier has been a Godsend.
We have the Thule brand and are very happy with it. There are a lot of different sizes to chose from:
It saves us so much room in our van and we no longer have to worry about what we can and cannot bring on our road trips. It is definitely worth the cost.
08. Try to keep the trash in check with this travel garbage bag.
I know you might be wondering why you have to buy a special trash can for the car. Why can’t you just have a grocery bag or something similar on the floor? Well, at least from my own experience, my kids can’t reach it if it’s on the floor and so they just continue to throw their trash on the ground!
Instead, buy this sturdy trash can that can be hung from the seat in front of you:
TrashStash Hanging Car Garbage Bag
It’s waterproof and has a push close lid!
09. The best travel invention ever made: the Car Sauce Holder!
Right now you’re probably asking yourself, “whaaat??” And I don’t blame you! Had someone not given us these as part of a stocking stuffer gift, I probably would never have bought one for myself. But let me tell you… these. are. AWESOME!
Just stick the dip clip into the car vent and place your fast food sauce into the container and voila! The best hands-free purchase you can ever make!
For more road trip travel tips, be sure to check out my blog on Road Trip Tips and Tricks!
[Disclaimer: If you click on any of the Amazon links and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. However, all opinions are still my own].
[All photos are taken via amazon.com].
It’s so easy to plan a staycation when you live in or so close to such an amazing city as Chicago. Between the world-class museums, popular tourist attractions, outdoor parks and beaches, broadway theater and so much more, you will never come up short of ideas for the perfect staycation!