Cell phone, credit card, and Twizzlers. Everything else is a bonus.
We usually have a small cooler to keep cold drinks, some fruit, etc. Emergency gear is nice, but if you’re going to be in range of AAA, a membership card is probably more useful to you. If you’re taking turns driving and expect the other person to occasionally get some sleep we have a pillow and blanket.
WOW what great ideas/suggestions. I’m making a list of all this great stuff. Duh and adding a pen and notebook to it.
Where do you get paper maps nowadays? I’ve asked at gas stations and connivence stores a couple of times and they look at you like you’re nuts.
I always take my well worn ancient St. Christopher statue. He is only about 2 inches tall and lives in my charging cord case along with my Easy Pass.
St. Christoper is the Patron Saint of Travelers and I don’t feel right traveling in my car without him.
Get one with an air compressor if you can. The more likely and often you use it the more likely you will keep it charged.
Unless it is a really old tire leaking through the sidewall it is probably just a leaky stem valve. If the tires aren’t due for replacement I’d have a tech at a tire store check that first; replacing it is basically just a 30 minute cost of labor.
I personally hate convenience stores, and try to make gas stops as quick and contactless as possible. I prefer to stop and rest or eat at scenic viewpoints so I carry everything I would anticipate needing include means to make coffee or tea, food, seating, work surface, emergency shelter, et cetera. I also prefer a 12v refrigerator with a battery pack to keep it running when I’m not driving (I have a 20 liter Iceco and a Ecoflow River power station but there are plenty of good options) in lieu of a cooler for multi-day trips to avoid having to procure ice and drain water but that’s just for convenience.
Paper maps are still printed and sold even if gas stations don’t find it worthwhile to stock them:
https://www.mapshop.com/travel-maps/folding-travel-maps-united-states/
Stranger
I assume the same, which is why I’m happy to have the pump to have a quick top-up here and there.
Has anyone suggested downloading maps for your phone, yet? Maps take a lot of space, so i usually do it “trip tik” style, downloading corridors around the roads i plan to travel on. I think the key word is “offline”, if you want to Google how to do it on your phone.
I thiiiiiink you can still get them for free from the AAA: AAA Road Trip Planning
I’ve also seen them at truck stops like Love’s, I think.
But you can also just download offline maps in Google Maps. That way you can still use GPS navigation even if you don’t have a cell signal.
RE: Paper Maps:
I still get free updated paper maps through my local Triple A office since I am a member.
I also see them at Visitor’s Centers and usually grab an updated one if mine is out of date.
I have also seen them for sale at bookstores.
I believe you can also order them online from Amazon.
The classic Rand Mcnally Road Atlas is still being sold ( for $35 according to google).
It’s a simple booklet, one page for every state .
Easy peasy. You can see your whole day’s driving on one page in one easy glance. Cant do that on a phone screen.
One page… for each state?! Doesn’t that miss all but the biggest roads, then?
I mean, I remember them from childhood, but I thought each state was broken out into several areas, especially the big cities?
Yeah, that hardly seems like enough detail to be helpful if anything goes wrong.
Interstates, US and state highways and freeways, county highways (for the most part). They’ll typically have breakouts for larger cities showing major streets in the city center but not enough detail to generally locate specific addresses. If you need that level of detail you can get city maps, and states still publish county maps (which you can often just download for free from a portal).
The US Forest Service provides road maps of federal lands as well as OHV maps that are good for navigating in BLM lands and National Forests, and USGS has a portal for topo maps for the country going down to at least 1:24k scale.
I love paper maps, especially for trip planning and SAR operations because you can get a sense of the entire area versus endless scrolling on a mobile device. However, a phone or GPS unit is definitely more convenient for real-time navigation.
Stranger
Big states and big cities got a couple pages each. But the R-M was designed for long haul travel on the interstates and most significant second tier roads. It was not a comprehensive map of every paved road in the USA.
That’s Google Maps on your phone.
It’s been too long, I guess. I still remember having to ask gas stations for directions to the nearest mapped highway every so often.
But I thought they were bigger than just one page a state. Maybe we had the regional or state ones with more detail?
Again, a lot depends upon where you’re driving. My concerns are different going to Denver, than my road trip to Las Cruces NM.
If you are going all-by-car, it’s generally better to have more than you need than less IMHO. Especially if you’re going the scenic routes - there’s a route for my upcoming NM trip that is faster and more beautiful, but I never take it because for nearly 250 miles of it, there’s NOTHING but two-three sub-1000 person wide spots in the road. And commensurate traffic if something DOES go wrong. YMMV of course.
Also, never forget seasonality. What I keep in my car (normally 24/7) varies between summer and winter. What I always have in the car includes a sealed container with a reasonably comprehensive first aid kit, an emergency light blanket, a mylar “tent”, a mylar blanket, a heavy-ish pullover, 3 liters of water, a 3600 SOS calorie bar, reflectors, a 100 hr candle, a big combo power bank-flashlight-weather radio, another powerbank with flashlight and compressor, tire nails, tire glue, tools to use them, and (since my car doesn’t have a spare) a jack and wrench to that equipment other than the crappy fix-a-flat.
During winter, there’s another full size wool blanket, an additional flannel shirt, gloves, 2 pair socks, chemical handwarmers, collapsible shovel, grit/sand, and a micro camp stove.
Sadly, I’m in the process of deciding what to slightly downsize, since the new Prius PHEV has decidedly less space than the old Rav4.
Though it being a PHEV, it’s capable of running a LOT of stuff off the traction battery for a long while depending on temps, and of course, auto-running the ICE when needed to top off the TB or assist with climate control in a real emergency.
As for Rand McNally, the one I took out of the old car (c. 2007) had one page state maps, and normally 1-2 pages of large-ish cities or important regions in each state as appropriate. And/or get a Road Atlas for the specific state(s) you’re travelling through for more details.
Oh, and this may seem silly, but if you have an old spare cell phone or another cellular enabled device in the house, it’s worthwhile to consider bringing it. If you drop your phone while on the road, being able to swap your SIM/eSIM to the new unit on the go is quite nice. Especially if you’re using said device to help navigate.
If I’m going to Las Cruces I’m definitely taking two guns, and maybe grenades. Definitely Level 3 body armor.
Stranger
Yes yes. I know your reasons for your distrust, and not going to gainsay them, but I’m going to visit my folks. And no, I’m not going to bring a pistol, CCW reciprocity or no. If nothing else, because I don’t trust our oversight-free state and federal LEO to not freak out if I accurately mention I have one in the car when pulled over for any reason.
Though that brings up a point for road trip. IF, for some reason, you WANT to bring a firearm with you on your road-trip, for the FSM’s sakes, CHECK the laws of the states you’re visiting. Do NOT assume reciprocity or the same permissiveness of carry (on body or in vehicle) and storage.
Extreme edge case, but, juuuust in case.
I was (mostly) being facetious but you make good points about traveling with and transporting firearms across state lines. All National Parks, Monuments, et cetera, prohibit firearms carry and some federal lands have restrictions, so check both state laws and federal lands/facilities on your route that you may pass through. In general, you can’t carry a firearm in a vehicle in a way that is immediately accessible to the driver unless it is an open carry state, so it’s generally not a very useful thing to do unless you have some other use for it.
Las Cruces is still the only city in which someone has tried to carjack me, and I’m glad that I don’t have to go there anymore.
Stranger
For a road trip that involves many different hotel stops…
Along with your gadgets: a power strip and heavy duty ziplock baggies to store the cables/chargers/whatever for each device (“so-and-so’s phone charger” in Sharpie and so on).
A travel router is handy if you are nerdy–it lets you easily hook all of your devices up to the same janky hotel wifi in a safe manner.
I always bring my own pillow and blanket. I can’t stand feeling hot and uncomfortable because hotels have fluffy feather pillows and down comforters that just heat up in still air.
And to make the trip to the room easier: a laundry basket to carry all of the smaller loose items.