Summer is around and school vacation is knocking the door. Every one is excited for much awaited holidays to enjoy family outings and road trips.

Who doesn’t like to Travel?  Travel is an opportunity to explore more.  Travel may come to some in form of Vacation travel or as office work travel.  Either one can be frustrating and time consuming if not properly planned.  Apart from dealing with traffic over the Vacation, Eating healthy meals/ snacks or stretching, exercise can also be challenging. With adequate planning and packing important things help you stay on track and enjoy your road trips.

“The journey not the arrival matters.”

T.S. Eliot

Here are the Road Trip Essentials that we pack and carry on our every trip on road for safer and relaxed journey.

Top 25 Essentials You Need To Pack For A Family Road Trip

1. Emergency Road Side Assistance Tool Kit

This is MUST to have for any road trips. 

2.  First Aid Survival kit

This is another must to have for any road trip when traveling with children and family.  Be sure to get one that has varying sizes of band-aids too!  I like it because it is small, lightweight and has everything you might need.

3. GPS device

4. Wipes with Vitamin E and Aloe

5. Sunscreen

6. Hand Sanitizer and Roll of Paper Towels – With Children this is must to have to clean and wipe your hands.

7. Sunglasses

Sunglasses are our favorite as they help to keep protect eyes and helps them to be cool in day’s heat or from reflection of bright snow.

8. Travel Pillow

9. Small Blanket(s)

Blankets are good to have to cover the legs and relax while traveling especially for children’s.

10.  Umbrella

Travel Umbrella is a lightweight and windproof.  We always have one in the doors as it occupy less space and fits with another water bottle holder.

10. Phone Chargers

I have a separate charger for my iphone which is always plugged in car and helps me to get my phone’s battery charged while traveling. This Charger cord is 6 ft long and works for iPhone and Ipad.

11. Towel

Just in case you need to clean your seats to wipe off the drink spills or the seat is too hot to sit on after leaving in the sun. Always good to stuff one in the car!

12. Cash/change

Most Roads now require “Good to go” or EZ Pass for tolls/HOV lanes or you will receive a bill in the mail.  It is always good to have some change and dollar bills in a ziplock in the glove box.

13. Bottled Water. Bring Plenty of Water with you.  

You can keep sealed packed bottles of water in your cooler or you can fill your Stainless-steel Travel Water Bottle.  I love this eco friendly bottles.

  I always use BPA free bottle/ stainless-steel bottles while traveling. I also carry small Glass Vial of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to mix in water.  For more information on Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar, check my post on “Natural Remedies for PCOS and Hypothyroidism”.

14. Road Trip Playlist

This is the new thing that we did tried and happy to use on our road trips.  You can download thousands of songs from  Amazon Music on your smartphone.

15. Kindle or Fire Tablet

Need not to say they are Great for reading, games, and streaming videos and Keeps the kids busy.

16. Head Phones /Ear buds

We always carry these one for each.  That way everyone could listen to whatever they want.

17. Cooler

We always carry both of our Soft Cooler and Rolling Cooler.   Soft Cooler is good to have in front of car for sandwiches and drinks.  Rolling Cooler in trunk of the car.

18. Camera

Capturing photos is the best way to make the trip memorable for years.  Many of use our cell phone camera for photos but if you want to have amazing photos of mountains, rivers, waterfalls or just your family and kids, this camera is the best.  It is on my Wishlist.

19. Back Pack

We always have our Back Pack in our car. In case we come across any water falls or scenic hiking trails , we don’t miss any chance to explore.

20. Travel Journal

I am kinda person that loves to note down things that we did on our trips, like places we visit, things we saw, what happened during our trips. I like to keep a slim journal that fits in my bag.

21. Hiking Boots

Hiking Boots/shoes makes alot of difference not only for hiking but for short walk in woods, river bed or rocky terrain. Hiking boots are light weight and waterproof. Last year we got good hiking shoes/boots for us.

22. Rain Jackets

We always have our rain jackets in our car. They are light weight, fold’s up easily , fits easily in back pack and does not get wrinkles.

23. Road Trip Snacks

Remember to pack healthy snacks

Healthy snacks such as fruits or guacamole or hummus with carrots, celery sticks, broccoli, hard boiled eggs can be packed in insulated bag and kept in a cooler Pack if traveling by road. For lighter snacks, Protein rich bars or Gluten free crackers. Nuts and seeds are good option to carry in hand bag or Back Pack.

24. Road Atlas

I know every one now a days use Garmin GPS or Google Map on smart phone but it is always smart to have Road Atlas. Some times GPS does not give us the route that we want to take. Also It comes a lot of handy when phone battery goes dead or GPS gets crazy or jammed.

25. Bring your Medicines or Supplements. Always remember to pack your prescription medicines and Vitamins Supplements for journey and keep them handy in your purse/bag.  Taking medicines and supplements on regular time will prevent fluctuations to sugar level.

Travel is a new experience that can transport you out of your everyday routine to create memories with the ones you love.

Brian Chesky

Things to Pack Before Traveling

1. Packing Cubes

I find Packing cubes very easy to keep things and clothing organized while on travel.

2. Remember to pack for your breakfast. Its good idea to carry a small blender with you so that you can enjoy your fresh smoothies if your luggage limit allows that.  Also, you can carry your Organic Oats, Cinnamon, Chia seeds, Healthy Protein Bar nuts, dried fruits , and pack it in a sandwich resealable bags.  One can check local stores for fresh fruits and veggies options on reaching the destination

3. Bring your Instant Pot. If you are a vegetarian person like me, you can carry Instant Pot to make your own healthy food.  Sometimes I find it difficult to have vegetarian food option So better to cook in Instant pot and enjoy hot soups, meals.  I always carry my 3 QT Instant pot with me in my car. You can pack your spice and ingredients in small resealable bags.

4. Bring your Heating Pads. If you suffer from back pains or cramps, heating pads are best to carry along.  And if your luggage is more and you cannot accommodate heating pad, you can carry Thermacare Heat wraps.

 5. Bring/Wear your good pair of Shoes and Clothing. Traveling is always time consuming so make sure to wear your comfortable attire in which You can easily stretch and feel relax.

6. Pack your Chemical free daily use Cosmetics . Remember to pack your moisturizer, Lipbalm, Sulphate and Paraben free shampoo in Silicone Travel Bottles.

7. Pack and keep back up for your Sanitary Menstrual needs. With PCOS, some women have heavy bleeding so carry your Menstrual cup, tampons. You don’t want to miss the chance to enjoy the activities like biking, hiking, dancing and more. Don’t let your accidental cycle ruin your trip. If you are on tampons, make sure you are using Unbleached and Organic Tampons.

8. Bring/Carry all Pain Relievers – Remember to pack your Pain Relievers to get relief from your cramps and pain. I am not good fan of popping this pill, but it’s better to have one instead of ruining your important day.  You can also carry your routine use Essential Oils like Lavender oil and Ginger Oil that helps you relax, alleviates Stress, ease your pain and discomfort .  Check post on Uses of Essential Oils in PCOS.

Stay Hydrated. Drink enough water before starting your Travel. We often forget to drink water when packing or getting ready to start for travel day.  It is important to stay hydrated by drinking water.  

Workout Exercise.  Get some exercise workout done before travel if possible.   Wear comfortable shoes so that you can walk around.  While traveling in Car, take a break after every 2-3 hours either at gas station or at Rest area and have a small walk to relax your muscles and stretch your body.  While sitting, one can practice deep breathing.  There are many benefits of deep breathing.  When at destination hotel or resort, you can take some time out for either Yoga, swimming, Dancing, Low impact exercise, walking with family, friends.

Prepare Plan for return. Before leaving for the vacation or trip, always make a list of to do things, it may be grocery shopping for next week meal plan on return.  This will help you stay on your routine.

All set for your travel.

Stay Healthy. Happy Traveling.

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