We love road trips. As we work full time, we ensure at least one day over the weekend we spend on the road by either visiting a new place or one that is on our favorite list.
We truly believe in the saying – “It is not the destination it is the journey that matters” and “No road is long with good company”
Most of our trips are impromptu and includes a drive anywhere between an hour to 5 one way. This might sound a lot if you are used to driving a maximum of 4 hours a day. We do not strain ourselves since the purpose of our trip is to enjoy the ride and experience something new, not to accomplish visiting a list of places or cover all attractions.
We enjoy our drive the most as we talk a lot while on the road, feel much closer to each other, and often come up with new ideas on what’s next. We also prefer taking the off beaten path, so we could experience a new landscape, feel the town. Want to check how we do our one-day trip? See below for our typical one-day road trip itinerary.
As we do impromptu trips often, our car is always equipped with some of the essentials for the trip like Picnic Blanket, Water Bottles, our trip Backpack, Trekking Poles, Paper Towels, First Aid Kit, and so on.
Below is our packing list that we use on our trips which comes in handy to have a comfortable trip. You could print a copy of the packing checklist here.
- Get your car ready: Having your car ready for the road trip is the important first step.
Paperwork: Ensure you have your Driver’s License, Car manual, and Vehicle Insurance card. In case you are crossing the border ensure you have the required ID/Passport/Visa.
Emergency Need: Spare tire and tools, Car emergency kit (jumper cables, flashlight, headlamp), Scraper/Shovel. These remain in our car always.
Vehicle Check: Check the oil level, water or deicer, tire pressures, fill gas. - First-aid Kit: Band-Aids, Neosporin (or any antiseptic ointment), bandage wrap, anti-itch cream (like cortisone), pain and fever relievers (like ibuprofen, acetaminophen), antacid tablets. You can check out this kit.
- Medications: If you have prescription medications, take them in their original container. I take mine on my pill organizer.
- For the Trip: Maps/Atlas, Spare Cash, Small notepad and pen, Wallets, Keys, Tickets, Backpack (day pack)
- Electronics: Do not forget your chargers! We use mobile phones for GPS, taking pictures, listening to music, hence car chargers are vital for us. Power banks to charge your gadgets.
- Toiletries: We carry a toiletry bag that always contains Sunscreen, Bug Spray, Lotions, Hand Sanitizer, Wet Wipes, Paper towels, lip balm, few Ziploc bags of various sizes, few trash bags, and some plastic sacs.
- Snacks, Food, and Water: Do not forget to carry your water bottle, snacks, and food, based on dietary needs. Check below for tips on what food to carry on your road trip.
- Clothing: Take an additional set of clothes, swimwear, and towels.
- Outdoor Essentials: Poncho/Umbrella, Hat, Sunglass, Windbreakers (these will come in handy when it’s windy, cold, or just to protect from rain), Blanket (a comfy on the car as well during picnic), flip flops/sliders, trekking poles.
- Entertainment: Games, Playing Cards, Podcasts, Books to keep yourself entertained during the ride.
OUR ONE-DAY ROAD TRIP ITINERARY
This is a sample of our one-day road trip itinerary. Keep your trip plan open so you can enjoy it as you go along. Stop along the way as needed and do not miss out on the experience of checking out the off beaten path.
- We typically start our trip around 6:30 AM
- Take a break for breakfast after 2 to 2.5 hours of drive. (We usually pack our own breakfast)
- Stop along the way as we find something interesting, go for a stroll (Many times we have stopped the vehicle on side roads along a farm or park and go for a walk to have a feel of the town/scenery)
- We spend about 6 to 8 hours at our destination. We have our lunch as we find time in between. If we are in a city or its vicinity, we have our lunch at one of the local restaurants. Otherwise, we pack our own lunch. Packing our own lunch serves better many times when we are in the middle of a hike or exploring a state/national park where no restaurants or dining is available.
- We start to head back home between 6 PM to 9 PM depending on the distance and the season. If it is summer, we are generally out until 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM based on the sunset.
- We make sure to reach home around midnight (once in a while the next day early morning) and go to bed with the most relaxed mindset.
WHAT FOOD TO CARRY ON YOUR ROAD TRIP?
The below details on how we prepare food for our trip and what we carry. This would widely vary based on the season, dietary restrictions, and how long you are on the road.
Breakfast: For breakfast, we generally prepare a bread/croissant sandwich with butter and jelly. Here are other ideas:
- PBJ Sandwich / Egg Sandwich
- Eggs
- Cereal and Milk
- Overnight Oats
- Fruits / Yogurt
Lunch/Dinner: We carry rice and curry for our lunch as it makes us full and is also easy to digest. For dinner, we either carry sandwiches or Roti (Indian Tortilla). Here are other ideas:
- Salad
- Sandwich/Wraps
- Omelette
Snacks: We avoid snacking on candies during our road trip as much as possible. We carry nutrition bars, trail mix, snack mix, and/or fruits. These also come in handy if you are hiking. Other snack ideas:
- Nutrition bars
- Crackers
- Nuts and dried fruit (our favorite is trail mix)
- Chips
- Fruits
- Veggies and Hummus/Other Dressings
- Jelly Sweets/Candy
Drink:
- Water is essential. Keeping yourself hydrated during road trips is most important. We fill our water bottles and/or cans at home and take them along with us.
- We are not into soda and generally avoid drinking it during a road trip.
- We are coffee lovers, so we carry hot milk in our Thermos and Instant coffee powder. We make coffee when and where we need it.
- We also love taking homemade buttermilk drink/lemonade during our summer trips.