Hello my beautiful friends! This past weekend my husband and I took a road trip to meet up with his family for my mother-in-laws wedding and we took our drive time as an opportunity to grow closer together, chat about our big future plans and fall in love a little bit more. We are road trip JUNKIES and it has been such a long time since we took one – sans toddler! Here are all of my best road trip hacks to get you through your need cross country drive. Let’s dive into this.


8 ESSENTIAL ROAD TRIP HACKS

Bring a small plastic garbage can with you, and line it with a plastic baggie. Throw extra baggies underneath to refill when you stop at a gas station.

This is seriously a life saver. Instead of having trash free-float around your car, you have a designated spot right off the bat. I used to just use a fast food bag as my trash bag while we drove but after it got full and we threw it out, and we were right back where we started: with no trash bag. I usually either stick this right by my feet or right behind the driver.

Speaking of fast food – make a napkin/utensil bag for each person in your car.

I promise they never give you enough napkins and they never give you sturdy enough utensils when you go through the drive through. Cut the hassle and give everyone their own napkin/utensil baggie. Bonus: their trash can go in the baggie when done and put neatly into the trash can.

Put your snacks in a cardboard box instead of floating around the car!

Not only will it fit nicely on the floor, but you won’t have to worry about a mess on the car carpet if something happens to spill or lose crumbs. Plus easy to see which snacks are where and pass to each person.

Come prepared with a large portable charger for everyone in the car.

We love a prepared car! This is my favorite hack. I have this one personally. I can use it to charge my laptop / iPad while we are driving, and also keep both my husband and I’s phone totally charged during the drive. No sharing a charger or port – every device gets equal attention!

Keep a medicine/first aid bag handy in the glove box.

My husband and I both tend to get headaches while we drive – so we keep Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Excedrin, Tums + Peptobismol all together in a little baggie in the glove box. That way we are never stuck digging around for meds or having make an emergency stop at a gas station.

Full Podcast + Audio Book Downloads

We usually stock up on as many podcasts and audiobooks as we can before hopping in the car. Our trip this weekend was 11 hours one way (22+ hours total) so we needed a LOT of content. A LOT. We spent some time brainstorming content we both like listening to, and downloaded all of it to our devices before we left! We also listen to music – but it’s nice to be able to switch it up.

Carry at least $100 in cash.

You never know when you’ll NEED cash vs card. Sometimes card readers are down and sometimes it’s just nice to pay in cash. I get together a “road trip cash bag” before we leave that has $100 in various bill sizes, and we use it for snacks, food, pit stops, etc. It keeps your credit card bill down and cuts down on the endless spending you tend to do when you are on a road trip. All those little swipes add up!

Don’t forget a blanket + socks!

I keep a blanket + socks behind the passenger seat for when it’s time to get cozy. Adam typically drives and he keeps the car SUPER cold so that he doesn’t get drowsy while driving. That’s fine by me – but I like it warm so I snuggle up with a blanket and cozy socks during the drive.

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I hope you enjoyed today’s road trip hacks! We really do love to road trip and each of these things make our trip just a little bit smoother! What’s your best road trip hack!?

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