We’re planning another road trip for next month (goal: check off a few more states and capitals!), and so I’ve definitely got packing and traveling on the brain. Everyone does travel a little bit different, but today I thought I’d give you a glimpse into the way we like to travel by sharing my 5 favorite things to pack on a road trip. I’m also excited to share that today’s post is part of a collaboration. (Read on!)
In no particular order, here they are:
Favorite Thing #1: Our Travel Notebook
One process I’ve created for each of our vacations (roadtrip or otherwise), is to compile a simple notebook. I like using the three-prong folders that go on sale around back-to-school shopping season.
In my notebook, I print out everything: air travel confirmations, rental car reservations, hotel reservations, trip itinerary, dog sitter information, stuff we’d like to do and more. Could you access all this information from your phone? Sure, you could. But there are times when it’s far more practical to whip out a notebook and quickly locate what you need at a glance.
As the trip progresses, I’ll tuck in brochures of places we went, postcards, receipts and the like and tuck them in the folders. At the end of the trip, this becomes a nice document of everything we did and when we did it and a great planning tool for future trips. For more information, read about my post on our Travel Notebooks.
Favorite Thing #2: Good, Old Fashioned Atlas
We never leave home for a roadtrip without an atlas! We like the Rand McNally ones (like the one pictured above, from Amazon). These are great for seeing the “big picture” of roads, highways, and points of interest. I also often pass them back to the kids during the trip to help them get a visual of where they are and how much farther we need to drive.
