I’d like to share how we navigate road tripping as a family of five! Our youngest turned 14 this year so we are officially parents to THREE TEENAGERS. I will share my master list and then go into detail for each item listed. I know a lot of this maybe seem obvious, maybe you are already a seasoned family road tripper but I hope these tips will help anyway! I will be referencing this list each time we plan a trip. I end up writing this list every single time we get ready for a trip so this will help future me for sure.

Master List:

Customized First Aid Kit

• Weekly pill box with pain killers, Dramamine, and any other pills that your family needs separated by each of the compartments. This can be hazardous if you have little ones that can get into it since the meds aren’t in childproof containers so this trick might not be good until your kids are older. You also have to know which pills are what so labeling each section with a sharpie can help if there are any that look too similar. If this is something you are able to deal with it saves so much space! You won’t have to buy separate travel sized meds.
• Bandaids of all sizes.
• Ointment for cuts.
• Q-Tips
• Lactaid
• Anti-Diarrhea medicine. We call this a Brown Light Emergency. If only we had a brown flashing light to put on top of the car so everyone on the road would know to get out of our way! The police would be like oh ok, they are speeding so that no one has an accident INSIDE their car. No pulling over, no tickets given. Isn’t that a genius idea?
• Motion sickness pressure point wrist bands.
• Mini toothbrushes with toothpaste on them.
• Dental floss

Phone Charging chords

Phone chargers are obvious – but also, think about any other device that might have a different kind of plug/chord (Switch, iPad, Kindle, laptop, GoPro, Cameras, C-Pap). Put these in the car the night before and make sure each person has one available to them for the whole trip! This might mean doing some preliminary shopping for extra long chords if there are no outlets in the second or third row. Or having to buy a multi plug adapter. Or get a portable Milwaulkee charging port and make sure to charge enough batteries the night before AND MAKE SURE TO GRAB THEM in the morning while loading up!

Plastic Grocery Bags

Stuff these in all of the car door pockets if you have them or under each persons seat. They come in handy for random trash we end up with. If it’s a long trip you can take out the trash at every stop, throwing away fast food bags, candy wrappers, chip bags, etc in the gas station trash bins leaving your car clutter, and trash free! They can also double as a barf bag if necessary. Pro beach tip: plastic grocery bags make it easier to put wetsuits on littler bodies. Cover the hand or foot in the bag, slide the wetsuit arm/leg over and it slides on so easily! You can pull the bag out and use it for the next limb.

Windshield Sun Shade

Since we are talking about SUMMER road trips I am assuming we are all going to places that will be HOT. If you don’t already have a shade for your car, a summer road trip is a great time to get one. Make sure to put that thing up if you go into a restaurant or parking your car in the outside hotel parking lot. They also come in handy for extra privacy if someone needs to change in the car for one reason or another! Have you seen those changing curtains for hatchback cars? They use strong magnets to drape over and around the back when the hatch is open, perfect for changing out in the open. We need one!!!!

State and National Park Passes

Most of the time these are physical passes that are printed out or given to you as a plastic card or plastic rearview mirror hanger. You don’t want to have to end up paying entry into our National or State parks if you have already purchased a year pass and forgot it in your nightstand! They are usually good for your car, meaning everyone who fits in the car gets in with the pass. If you end up getting one, put it in a safe place in your car the night before you leave! (Click here for National Park Pass information)

Designated Snack Bag Location

So this one has been a tradition in our family since forever. Whoever sits in the third row has the closest access to the snack bag/cooler that we put right behind their seat and they become the SNACK MONGER. That way anyone in the car can request a snack and get it without stopping! The snack monger takes their job very seriously and they usually enjoy it. So when you are packing your car, if you plan on taking anything that requires a cooler, make sure you leave a spot open next to the snack mongers seat so you can get it loaded into the car right before you leave.

Disposable Vomit Bags

This one has it’s own spot on the list. You don’t want someone spewing all over themselves and the seat in front of them before you are able to pull the car over. Sometimes it happens too quickly! A plastic grocery bag might be too far out of reach, or worse – it could have holes at the bottom. These disposable bags are small and liquid proof. You can find them online, probably at drugstores of if you are lucky and know someone who works at a hospital or clinic they can probably swipe a few of these for you. Again, this is more for the older kids who are able to grab the bag and barf INTO IT. I know when they are little it just happens and it gets everywhere and well, you are out of luck. Unless you packed your storage tote well enough.

Storage Tote Bin

• Clorox Wipes (For vomit, spilled Frappuccinos and sodas, nacho cheese on the console, etc.)
• A roll of toilet paper. You never know with those random gas station stops or the super busy fast food stops! There is NEVER any TP at the scary bathroom behind the gas station that you have to make Dad go with you to keep watch at night.
• Cottonelle wipes in case that anti-diarrhea medicine isn’t working.
• Bug spray
• Sunscreen
• Antibacterial hand sanitizer
• Wet Ones hand wipes (vomit, soda, nacho cheese, dirty feet, no soap in the scary bathroom)
• A roll of paper towels (do I have to say vomit and frapps again?)
• Extra plastic grocery bags. You can put shoes or clothes that are wet/muddy/barfy/soda-y/frappuccino-y in them to keep the grossness off of your duffle bags and other stuff.
• One or two (or more, depending on how big your storage is) lightweight towels. These can be for heavy duty clean ups, or if someone gets cold (we blast the AC), or you need an impromptu picnic blanket, or to cover a rest stop picnic table, or your leather seat got too hot and your thighs need saving, or someone decided to jump into some water at a stop and now they are soaking wet, or the hotel room doesn’t have enough towels for a family of five or you don’t want your teenagers teal hair to stain the white hotel towels. The possibilities are endless. These have always come in handy for us, mostly for the hotel towel situation. I know we can ask for more but sometimes when we arrive late we just don’t want to deal with that.

Final Thoughts and Suggestions

You can keep the customized first aid kit in the storage bin or in your center console if it fits. I like having it next to me so I can easily hand out Tylenol for a headache or Claritin for someone having an allergy attack from those grassy cow pastures.

All of these things should be put in the car the NIGHT BEFORE! You can also have your kids put their bags of things they want to keep close to them in the car the night before so they won’t have to scramble in the morning before you leave. When my kids were smaller I wrote each of them a list of things they needed to pack, they loved the guidance and I loved that they felt accomplished from gathering everything themselves.

Good luck on your next road trip! If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below.

Sincerely Yours,
Jen