Road Trips

We LOVE road-tripping through America! Ever since we were a newlywed couple driving from San Francisco to New York, we have loved seeing America from the road.

Here are a few things that can make your road trips a little nicer.

Charger

INIU Portable Cell Phone Charger. A portable cell phone charger can really save the day, especially if you are camping and don’t get much opportunity to charge your phone besides driving around in your car. We always end up battling over who gets to charge their phone. This charger is thin enough to fit in your pocket, can charge most phones batteries 3/4ths full in less than an hour, and can charge about 4 phones.

Cell Phone Holder For Car

If you drive an older car (like us) that doesn’t have a GPS in the dashboard, this cell phone holder is a life-saver as you navigate new places.

We love this so much that we pack one in our travel bag to put in the rental car!

National Park Maps

National Geographic National Park Maps are wonderful and help you understand the park’s layout. Almost every national park will provide you with a park map when you arrive, but it’s nice to have one before your trip to plan your route, and these are really nice.

Tumbler

I received this Yeti Tumbler as a Christmas gift from my wonderful in-laws. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed until I used it. Now, I never leave home without it! My water stays icy for hours. It’s perfect for long drives or just sitting on your desk while working. There’s a lot of variety in water bottles from Yeti. Choose the best water bottle/tumbler for you. It will be a high-quality product that will last for years.

Water Jug

Sursip 1 Gallom, Vacuum Sealed Insulated Travel Water bottle. We finally got rid of the cheap water jug we bought 19 years ago. It leaked and spilled when we poured it, and it didn’t keep drinks cold. All these problems were solved with the Sursip. It was 1/2 the price of its high-end competitors with 1/2 the customer complaints. Ice retention is around 8 hours.

Cooler

Lifetime 48 Quart Cooler. After a lot of research online and asking family and neighbors, we decided on this cooler made by Lifetime. Here is what we like about it. 1. It is incredibly sturdy and well-made. This will most likely be the last cooler we ever own. 2. Up to 9 days of ice retention. So far we’ve seen it last 4 days but are pleased with those results since it was 100 degrees on our last trip. 3. It has a water spout to drain the cooler of melted ice easily. 4. The latches are one-hand release and easy to open and close. 5. It is locally made in the West. Yep, it’s from a company right in Utah. 6. It was 1/3 the cost of its upper-end competitor but had the same features.

We own the 77-quart model (it’s way too big!) but wish we would have got the 48-quart!

Laundry Sheets

Since we only pack 1 bag per person when we travel, I almost always end up doing laundry on the road. These laundry sheets have been perfect. They get the clothes clean and are so light and easy to pack.

Car Games

Interstate Bingo & Auto Bingo Game. Playing this as a kid was a real novelty because I only got to play it on road trips. I love that there are no tiny pieces to get lost in the car.

Mad Libs on the Road. It’s great to create a story as a group and our family has had plenty of laughs filing these out as we drive.

Ultimate Dot to Dot. This is literally hours of entertainment for kids and adults because there are close to a thousand dots per page.

Tile Lock Scrabble. Matt and I play this often; it makes me so mad that he beats me all the time… while he’s driving!

Deal or No Deal. We once had an EPIC game of Deal or No Deal using walkie-talkies between 2 cars. This is a scratch-off version of the game, but you can also download the app to your phone.

Ear Buds

I’ve tried a few of the cheaper brands but I LOVE my Apple Airpods Gen 3. Great sound, great battery life, and I can go on a long run and they never fall out.