12 Essential Road Trip Hacks That Are A Lifesaver

Gone are the days when you had to stand in long queues to get your flight or train tickets. Now all you have to do is click the button, and you are good to go. 

Even during those times, road trips were not so much as a fuss; the only thing you had to do was choose a destination and get the directions, and now with the ever-changing technology, taking a road trip has become an easy task.

When did you last take a road trip with your friends or family? 

If it’s been a long time, plan this weekend and make this road trip the best of your life by trying out some of the quirkiest road trip hacks you never thought existed till now. 

Get Your Car Serviced

This is one of the most basic road trip hacks; I am sure everyone has followed it.

Most breakdowns happen during a road trip if your car is not in good condition, so it is best to get your car checked and serviced at least one day before your trip and get it appropriately fuelled so it doesn’t stop mid-way. 

If you are renting a car, take it for a test drive and see the condition of the car, by test driving it yourself, you can figure out whether the car would be able to withstand the long journey or not.

Suggested Read: 10 Tips On How To Survive Long-Haul Flights

Keep A Car Sickness Kit

First things first! We cannot rule out that most people have motion sickness, so it’s best to be prepared for all of it. Even if you or any of your fellow travellers don’t have the problem of motion sickness, you still need to be prepared because mishaps don’t come with a warning. 

It is also essential when travelling with a kid because you never know when the “Oh-Oo” might start, and instead of having no clue, you should be prepared. 

It’s best to make a DIY kit. Inside the kit, some of the essential things should be there, like a disinfecting napkin, an electrolyte drink, napkins, a vomit bag, hand sanitiser, and a trash bag to throw everything that’s covered in vomit. 

This is one of those road trips hacks that should be followed at all costs.

Suggested Read: 7 Tips To Avoid Getting Sick While Travelling

Keep Zip-Lock Bags For Essential Medicines

Remember how you kept your medicines in your purse last time, and you had to search for a good 10 minutes to find the medicine you needed in an emergency case? 

If that hasn’t happened to you yet, ensure that doesn’t happen now because you never know when you might need an emergency dose. 

It’s always best to be prepared, so to avoid the fuss, the smartest thing to do is keep a zip-lock bag and your medicines inside it.  

Doing this saves time and avoids the fuss of searching for medicines when you are already in a panic situation.

It often happens that when you are searching for something when you are anxious, it could be right in front of you, and you still wouldn’t be able to see it. 

Use Bag Clips

We always open the packet of chips and don’t finish the entire packet in one go, and after some time, when you again want to munch on your favourite snack, you realise that the chips have lost their crunch and have become soft. 

To solve this problem, buy bag clips before going on the road trip, and once you are done eating your snack, you can put a clip to keep the snack fresh for a long time. 

Besides, these clips are not just one of the road trip hacks, but can also be used at home to preserve the snack. 

Suggested Read: 13 Offbeat Summer Vacation Destinations For Families In India

Keep Cash

People may not tell you this, but our fathers keep telling us that one should always have cash and that, too, in terms of change. It shouldn’t be a 500 or 2000 rupees note(When a 2000 rupees note existed). Keep a change of 100 rupee notes, and do not rely on just UPI for all the transactions. 

We don’t have to explain why because you already know that, right? 

Your UPI must have definitely betrayed you more than once when you really needed something and had no cash on you, and all of a sudden, your UPI has either reached its daily limit or your bank server is low for some reason. 

You don’t wish to be stuck in that situation, so try one of the cleverest road trip hacks and save yourself from regrets.

Suggested Read: 10 Most Dangerous Places In The World

Take Breaks

Out of all the road trip hacks, this is the most common among all. You probably know this one because it’s essential to take breaks, and most importantly, the driver needs to take breaks to spread his/her legs. 

It’s essential to stop after every two to three hours for pee breaks, meal breaks and so on. 

Breaks are significant because sitting in one place for a long time might make your legs sleep, which is very uncomfortable; you already know what I am talking about, right? 

An Overnight Bag

Packing an overnight bag is one of the road trip hacks you may not need, but you should have because you never know when you might have to stop at night. 

This should be your backup bag in case of any change of plans or vehicle breakdown and you are forced to stay at the nearest hotel or guest house. 

This bag should have all the essentials you may need during the night, including your toothbrush, night suit, lotion and everything you might need at night. 

Bring A Mini Kitchen Kit

Bring a mini kitchen kit with you and ensure that there is a spoon, a knife, a bottle opener, and a fork in this kit. 

So you have no trouble while eating and avoid making a mess in your car. 

You can use the knife to cut fruits, and a bottle opener would be of great help when you wish to take a drink while driving. No, not that drink, just a regular carbonated drink. 

Bringing a mini kitchen kit is one of the smartest road trip hacks that you can go for.

Suggested Read: 20 Best Beaches In Bali

Activity Planning

This is one of the essential road trip hacks if you are travelling with kids. 

You see, kids can’t stay in the same place for a long time, so they need something or the other to keep them entertained and stay put. 

It’s essential to plan activities for your kids if you don’t wish to make this incredible road trip a nightmare. 

Activity planning should be in your road trip hacks list, and ensure to plan way before you start with the journey.

Make A Travel Playlist

One essential part of road trip hacks is to make a travel playlist a few days before the trip because the journey will be long, and you don’t want it to be dull and boring. 

So don’t forget to add your favourite songs to your travel playlist and enjoy the rest of your journey with soothing music. 

Get Carabiners

Carabiners are small hooks that can be used as one of the road trip hacks, for you can put them in your car and hang your essential items like your purse and umbrella instead of keeping them on the seat.  

Carabiners are essential while you are on a road trip because the journey is long, and you should have all the comfort you can get.

Pack Toilet Paper

This may sound like one of the silliest road trip hacks, but you don’t know how toilet paper can be an absolute lifesaver on a road trip. 

You never know when you have to stop in the middle of the road with no restrooms around, and that is exactly when the toilet paper will come to your rescue. 

Conclusion

These road trip hacks are exactly what you need to keep in mind to have a wonderful trip, no matter whether you are travelling with a kid or your friends. 

Road trip hacks are a must when the journey is long, and you want it to be as memorable and smooth as possible. 

So next time you take a road trip, remember these hacks, and you are good to go.