Let’s be honest; road trips sound like a lot of fun, but they can be stressful. If you don’t have a plan in place as soon as you get in the car, your stomach will start rumbling, you’ll need to pee every five minutes, you’ll get lost, and you’ll have to deal with bored kids who will do anything they can to have some fun on the road, even if it means to annoy you. But if you do have a plan in place and take advantage of these road trip hacks, you can turn your driving experience into something extraordinary and have an incredible time even before you reached your destination!
Use a Car Table to Catch up on Emails
Some people travel constantly for work, which means that their life is just one long road trip. And while they may love their job, there’s no doubt about the fact that working on the road can be difficult – mostly because a car just isn’t that big! But if you’re looking to catch up on emails while you’re taking a much-deserved road trip break, might we suggest a mini car table?
This table slots around your steering wheel and sits on your lap, giving you space to type and work at your leisure. It’s then easy to remove and slot under the seat when you’re done.
Keep Bags Tidy by Hanging on Carabiners or Hooks
Going on a road trip with family means that you have to deal with a lot of luggage. But if you can’t fit it all in the trunk of the car, you may find that you have to just shove bags underneath the back seats instead. This takes up all-important space, makes the car feel messy, and is generally just overwhelming. You can solve that problem by using carabiners or hooks, though.
By placing these carabiners on the headrest of the front seats, you can then hook the bags onto them and tidy up the car. It also means that they’re easy to reach if you need them.
Cover Drinks With Plastic Wrap
No road trip would be complete without drinks and snacks, but what happens if you don’t have cup holders in your car? Or what if the drive-thru forgets to put a lid on your cup? Well, you don’t have to throw half of your drink out of the window to avoid spills. All you need to do is pop a roll of plastic wrap in the car and cover your cup like a makeshift lid.
This is the easiest way to prevent spills, and you still have the option to poke your straw through the middle of the plastic so you can drink it without taking off the DIY lid.
Create a Road Trip Map for the Children
Kids and cars are a risky combination. While children can normally deal with an hour-long drive from your house to their cousins’ house, they struggle to deal with long highway journeys in the car from one state to another. And if you don’t want a road trip rebellion on your hands, you have to keep them busy! So, why don’t you create a road map for the kids to enjoy in the car?
You can make this out of paper and stick it to the roof of your car, and every so often, they can move the car a little bit closer to the final destination. You’ll never hear “Are we there yet?” again!
Use Cookie Trays as Makeshift Desks
Keeping kids entertaining while you’re on a road trip is one of the most difficult things anyone has ever done. One minute, they want to sleep, but then the next minute, they have a burst of energy, and they start bouncing off the car walls. Of course, that’s not the kind of energy you want in your car, so it might be a good idea to pick up a few cookie trays on your next trip to the grocery store.
What’s so great about these cookie trays is the fact that they can neatly sit on your kids’ laps and double up as a desk for them. Then, they can draw, they can do puzzles, and they can make Play-Doh shapes.
Make Your Own Seatbelt Pillow
If we’re being honest, being the driver is the best option when you’re going on a road trip. Being a passenger can be extremely boring and uncomfortable – especially when you have a seatbelt digging into your ribs and you’re struggling to sleep because you just can’t get comfortable. However, a hack you might want to steal for your next road trip is this DIY seatbelt pillow made from stuffing and some fabric.
This pillow won’t affect the integrity of the seatbelt, but it will make it more comfortable when you’re in the car. You can even lean on it to catch a few winks.
Pack Solar Lights for the Evenings
To some people, a road trip is just a few hours. To others, a road trip is a few days of traveling around the country, stopping off at campsites or motels, and seeing what the area has to offer. But being away from home when the sun sets can be scary sometimes, which is why it’s always a good idea to ensure that you pack at least one type of lighting option for your road trip.
If you don’t have a torch or you’re worried that it’ll run out of battery, a solar light could be a great alternative. This way, it’ll charge while you’re driving, and be ready to use as soon as the sun goes down.
Stop Fighting Over the One Chord to Charge Your Phone – You Can All Charge at Once With Portable Solar Power Chargers
If you’re going on a family road trip, there’s a high chance that everyone in the car is going to be using their phone. The driver might use their phone for Google Maps, the passenger might use their phone to scroll through social media, and the kids in the back of the car will use their phones to watch cartoons, listen to music, and play games. But what happens when you run out of charge?
Instead of fighting over who uses the in-car charger, you could all get a solar-powered battery pack instead. This way, you can all charge your phones through the car window with ease.
Turn an Inflatable Pool Raft Into a Bed
If you’re driving solo, it’s important to remind yourself to take road trip breaks. You need to refuel yourself and your car, and you need to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep. Of course, you could fork out for a motel, but if you just want to take a quick nap and save some money, you could also sleep in your car! You can even make a bed in your car.
If you buy an inflatable pool raft, you can turn the back seats of your car into a bed for your road trip nap. Just remember to pack some pillows and a blanket, too.
Buy a Middle Car Fridge
Is there anything worse than a warm drink on a hot summer’s day when your AC is broken and you’re still 2,000 miles away from your road trip destination? You need to stay hydrated when you’re driving, but warm drinks can put you off. But you’ll be happy to know that a plug-in car refrigerator can actually solve all of those problems. These fridges can be plugged into the car, giving you the chance to keep your drinks cold.
Of course, you don’t just have to use it for drinks. You could also use it to store baby food, dog food, or just some adult snacks that you want to keep cool.