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03 — Road Trip / Guide

What to pack for a road trip

A weekend drive and a two-week trip need the same vehicle kit and very different everything else. Here is how the list scales.

By Brijon M.Last updated How we pick
Duffel bags and supplies being loaded into a car trunk

The short answer

The vehicle kit is the same whatever the trip length: spare, jack, inflator, jump starter, fluids, water. What scales is clothing, food and laundry planning. Season changes the list far more than length does, especially for winter driving.

01 — Scaling

What scales with trip length, and what does not

Most of a road trip kit is fixed. The vehicle items, the cooler, the chargers, the sleep setup and the first aid kit are identical for three days or three weeks. Only a few categories grow, and knowing which saves a lot of unnecessary packing.

CategoryWeekendA weekTwo weeks or more
Vehicle kitSameSameSame, plus spare fluids
Sleep setupSameSameSame
ClothingOne changeTwo changesTwo changes plus a laundry plan
FoodBuy as you goResupply stops in the planResupply plus a dry food store
LaundryNoneOne stop, or hand washA real plan -- laundromats
PowerA power bankA power bankA power bank plus car charging discipline
EntertainmentA playlistDownloaded mediaDownloaded media and a book
AdminNothingReservations printedReservations, permits, insurance on paper

02 — Two or three days

The weekend list

A weekend is where over-packing happens most, because people pack as though there were no shops. There are shops.

  • What you are wearing plus one change, in a soft bag
  • A warm layer and a rain shell, accessible rather than buried
  • A pre-chilled cooler with two or three meals in it
  • Chargers, cables and a power bank
  • The cabin bag and the permanent vehicle kit
  • Toiletries decanted into small bottles
  • Your sleep setup if camping -- see the car camping checklist

03 — A week

What a week adds

The step from a weekend to a week is mostly about planning rather than packing. Almost nothing new goes in the car; what changes is that things which took care of themselves now need thinking about.

  • A second change of clothes, and accepting you will wear things twice. This is normal and nobody notices.
  • A resupply stop in the itinerary, on about day three or four, rather than carrying a week of fresh food.
  • A hand-wash plan: a small bottle of travel detergent and some cord. Washing two items in a sink is faster than finding a laundromat.
  • Spare fluids -- a quart of oil, washer fluid -- because you are now beyond a day's drive from home.
  • Downloaded media. Coverage gaps are long, and streaming will not work where you most want it.
  • Printed reservations and permits. Phones die and coverage fails, usually at a check-in desk.

04 — Long trips

What two weeks or more adds

Long road trips fail on logistics, not equipment. The additions are almost all plans rather than objects.

  • A real laundry plan. Laundromats in the towns you will pass, with quarters or a card. Two weeks of clothing is not a packing solution.
  • A dry food store in a bin: pasta, rice, oats, coffee, tinned goods. It buys you independence from store opening hours and remote-town prices.
  • A vehicle service check before you leave if you are near a service interval. A long trip is a bad time to discover a worn belt.
  • Redundancy on things that end a trip: a spare charging cable, a spare pair of sunglasses, a spare set of keys held by a second person.
  • A rest-day rhythm. Driving every day for two weeks is how trips stop being enjoyable. Plan days where you do not move.
  • Cash. Some remote campgrounds, iron rangers and small-town pumps still need it.

05 — Seasons

Season changes the list more than length does

Hot weather driving

More water than you think, in the car itself rather than only in the cooler -- a breakdown on a hot highway is the scenario it is for. A windshield sunshade, because a parked car reaches temperatures that damage electronics and melt adhesives.

Do not leave anything heat-sensitive in a parked car: phones, power banks, sunscreen, medication and chocolate all suffer. And check coolant level before a trip through hot country, since overheating is the characteristic hot-weather breakdown.

Winter driving

This is the season that genuinely changes the list, and the additions are safety items rather than comfort ones. A blanket or sleeping bag in the cabin, not the trunk. A shovel. An ice scraper and de-icer. Traction aids -- chains or a set of traction mats, and the knowledge of how to fit them.

Also: keep the fuel tank fuller than usual, because a stranded car needs the engine for heat; keep your phone and any power bank warm, since cold cuts battery capacity sharply; and check whether your route has seasonal closures or chain requirements, which are posted by state transport departments and are enforced.

Shoulder season

The trap here is packing for the daytime. Overnight lows at elevation are routinely far below the daytime high, and campground water is often shut off outside peak season. Pack for the forecast low, and check whether the facilities you are counting on are open.

What to buy

The gear we would buy for this

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1

Best for every trip length

NOCO Boost Plus GB40 Jump Starter

Starts a dead car with no second vehicle. The one item that scales to no trip length at all.

The item that belongs in the car for a weekend and for two weeks equally. A dead battery at a remote trailhead with no other vehicles is the scenario cables cannot solve. Keep it charged and keep it in the cabin in winter. See <a href="/road-trip/best-road-trip-gadgets">road trip gadgets</a>.

Specs

  • Lithium jump starter with a stated peak amp rating
  • Reverse-polarity and spark-proof protection
  • USB output so it doubles as a power bank
  • Integrated LED light

Good for

  • Works alone, where sweater cables need another car
  • Protection circuitry makes a reversed connection hard
  • Doubles as a power bank and a work light

Bad at

  • Self-discharges over months -- needs topping up to be useful
  • Cold reduces output, exactly when batteries fail
  • Pricier than cables
2

Best for trips of any length

Anker 737 Power Bank

Enough to keep a group's phones and a laptop going between charging stops.

A power bank covers a road trip for most people, and the mistake is buying a power station instead when the draw is phones and a laptop. Stations earn their place with continuous loads. See <a href="/road-trip/best-portable-power-stations">power stations</a> for that case.

Specs

  • 24,000mAh rated capacity
  • High-wattage USB-C power delivery in and out
  • Digital display for input, output and remaining charge
  • Multiple ports

Good for

  • Genuinely charges a laptop, which most car chargers cannot
  • Display removes guesswork about what is left
  • Refills quickly from a car USB-C socket while driving

Bad at

  • Heavy and thick -- a brick, not a pocket item
  • No AC outlet
  • Near common airline limits for lithium batteries
3

Best for the drinks cooler

RTIC Soft Pack 30

A second soft cooler for drinks means the food cooler stays shut, which is free retention.

Opening a cooler is the biggest controllable factor in how long its ice lasts. A dedicated drinks cooler absorbs twenty openings a day so the food cooler gets two. See <a href="/road-trip/hard-cooler-vs-soft-cooler">hard versus soft coolers</a>.

Specs

  • Closed-cell foam insulation
  • Waterproof exterior with a sealed zipper
  • Shoulder strap plus side handles
  • Collapses flat when empty

Good for

  • Takes all the frequent openings so the main cooler is barely disturbed
  • Collapses flat for the drive home
  • Carryable to a picnic table or overlook

Bad at

  • Retention measured in a day
  • Heavy on one shoulder when loaded
  • Stiff zipper is the common failure point

Questions

Frequently asked

What should I pack for a weekend road trip?
One change of clothes in a soft bag, a warm layer and a rain shell, a pre-chilled cooler with two or three meals, chargers and a power bank, plus the cabin bag and your permanent vehicle kit. There are shops on the way -- pack for the drive, not for self-sufficiency.
How many clothes for a week-long road trip?
Two changes, and plan to wear things twice. A small bottle of travel detergent and some cord lets you hand-wash two items in a sink, which is faster than finding a laundromat. For two weeks or more, plan actual laundry stops rather than packing more.
What should I pack for a winter road trip?
Add a blanket or sleeping bag in the cabin rather than the trunk, a shovel, an ice scraper and de-icer, and traction aids you know how to fit. Keep the fuel tank fuller than usual, keep batteries warm, and check your route for seasonal closures or chain requirements.
Do I need to pack food for a road trip?
Enough to avoid buying every meal, which is both expensive and slow. A cooler with a few meals plus non-melting snacks in the cabin covers a weekend. For longer trips, plan a resupply stop every three or four days rather than carrying a week of fresh food.
What is the most forgotten road trip item?
Washer fluid, a trash bag for the cabin, and a charging cable rated for the charger's output. All three are cheap, all three are needed within the first day, and all three are discovered missing on a dusty highway rather than in a driveway.

References

Back up a level

This page sits in Road Trip -- car camping and long drives: sleep, power, mounts, snacks.

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