We love the freedom of the open road, and we travel all over the world. Our longest road trip lasted 8 months. We drove from Alaska to Florida, over 26,000 miles. We camped and hiked in the most beautiful places in the USA and Canada. Now we share our road trip experience. What to pack...
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Hi, we are Agnes & Chris! Welcome to The Van Escape! We are travelers, photographers, and bloggers. Our goal is to share travel & photo experience and inspire you to outdoor adventures through America. We love wildlife, off the beaten path places, soaking in hot springs, and van life. We also like cities by night and tasting local food & wine. We give you ready itineraries, hints, and essential tools to prepare you for your unforgettable lifetime journey. We only describe the places we have been, which we know and recommend without hesitation. All photos are also ours. We are so glad you’re here!
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Thank you for these tips. I’ve never gone on a long-distance road trip before, so this article is packed with new information for me, especially regarding things to bring. I would never have thought of some of those. I think I might also get the trunk organizer. Would be really handy.
This is indeed one epic road trip packing list. We always used to do long road trips as a family, but it the frequency kinda reduced with the years. But then because of COVID 19, road trips have become the safest mode of travel, and we did take a few road trips recently, and i realised how important few basic things such as a hands free suction mount for mobile, disposable garbage bags for trash, and sanitiser spray, actually are. While one can do away with these, but having them makes life 10 times easier on the road.
This is really a great list for road tripping. I never thought about the gas can though. I think it’s good to have like one time we must stopped for gas, almost midnight, and it’s not a safe area. To carry a paper map is also very important, especially for the times when GPS is not working right.
This is a helpful list. We usually forgot about car documents but I agree with you that it is very important that we have the contact number of the insurer as well as roadside assistance in case of emergency. Thank you for reminding me to bring an extra set of car keys too. Will definitely add that to my list.
As I read your useful article, I thought back about the big road trip we did in the USA – where we encountered stretches of road with completely no one around. I think back now about how lucky we were and how things could have gone wrong and we could have had a breakdown without the useful things you mentioned to pack! Now we are wiser and would bring a list of usefuls along. Thanks so much for this.
I love road trips and nowadays I prefer road trips only after this pandemic thing. To carry lots of snacks, fresh fruits and water is my first thing to pack during road trip. Car documents are very essential and I mostly keep them a week before when I plan for travel, so that they never get left out. I never carried extra set of key but it looks wise option and will now carry that too.
Oh my God this list will be so useful for me as I am planning a roadtrip for Christmas and would love to make sure that I carry everything I need. I will be using this list to ensure all the things are packed and taken. There are so many things that are so important and one tends to forget them like the important numbers (roadside assistance). My friend had that problem once, he did not have the emergency number and he couldnt get hold of the internet to search, so it was a big struggle for few hours.
Packing right is so essential to getting the best out of a trip like these. I love the minutest details that you have thought of and arranged them. Very useful. Saving for future reference.
Road Trips are in this year (and probably next year too) so this is a fantasticly helpful list! A lot of these are absolutely critical (like car keys) and the type of thing I don’t think through when packing the vehicle. The blanket is also one of my favourite things to ensure I have packed, it comes in handy on the drive, at the hotels, or even in a field!
I’ve been meaning to do the stereotypical USA road trip one of these days, so the practical nature of this post is really useful! Especially with the clear formatting.
Love these tips just as much as I love road tripping! And perfect time as I’m renovating my van to hopefully (fingers-crossed) begin van life!
This is great – I’ve been road tripping a lot since international travel is shut down so this is a handy list to have. Thanks!
MIND BLOWN! What a great detailed and extensive list! We have trouble trying to pack for two weeks with one climate and can’t imagine the amount of things you were able to organize for an eight month drive.
We certainly had to update our road trip pack this year as we took to the road for short local trips. While we were generally not away from civilization, we did not want to have to shop for basic supplies while we were out. We certainly upped our supplies for picnicking along the way.
I believe that it’s crucial having the right documents on you and some emergency stuff when you’re in the outback. However, I tend to buy stuff I need while travelling – especially in the US with their über-offer of….basically everything 😀
I loved some of these suggestions, even though I am not currently doing van life, I found some new practical items. The ice scraper with a brush would be super handy! It’s my first winter in snow right now and we are using like a rubber ice scraper and it doesn’t do the job 100%. he gas stove is also a must. Here is Switzerland, we used it last week to make fondue in the mountains!
Some great considerations here for road trips. I can’t believe you did a trip from Alaska to Florida. I’d love to read about that trip, i’ve seen some of your posts on Alaska but I’m just intrigued. What a mammoth task, you must have needed to prepare for every eventuality.
Thanks for the detailed packing list. Although we have done plenty of long distance road trips, the truth is, we suck at packing! I like how you’ve added little details to creating this checklist…