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.
Hang an Ipad off the Sun Visor
Once upon a time, cars came with built-in screens and DVD players on the backs of seats, which made road trips a breeze. In today’s modern age, however, DVDs are a thing of the past, and most people just use iPads instead. But what do you do to prevent car sickness? Well, if you don’t want to pull over on the highway and double over by the side of the car, we’d suggest hanging an iPad off the sun visor instead.
This way, you’re not looking down or making yourself sick, but you’re still able to have some entertainment during the road trip. As long as you’re not driving, of course!
Use a Pool Noodle to Stop Losing Things
Road trips are fun until you realize that you’ve dropped your phone down the crack in the car seats while you’re racing down the highway. And if you’ve ever tried to wriggle your hand around there to find something you’ve lost, you’ll know that it’s basically impossible to find it again unless you stop driving, get out of the car, and physically look under the seats. And that’s not what you want when you’re on a time crunch.
However, if you cut foam pool noodles into smaller sections and stick them down the cracks, you can prevent any lost phones, snacks, or keys throughout your road trip. Pretty neat, right?
Save Money With Free Breakfast
How does free breakfast sound? Pretty good, right? Well, anyone who has ever been on a road trip will know that breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. It sets you up for a day of driving and fuels your body before you fuel the car. But instead of wasting your money and heading from your motel to the nearest Starbucks, you might want to choose a hotel with a free breakfast instead.
Although this may often seem like the more expensive option, it’s often cheaper when you think about how much money you’d spend at Starbucks. Plus, you can grab some free snacks for the journey, too.
Place Cupcake Liners in Cup Holders
Driving a rental car for your road trip? Traveling with a bunch of kids? Whatever the case, there’s a high chance that you want to keep your car clean and tidy during your road trip. And while some people think that’s impossible when you’re dealing with drinks, snacks, and sticky fingers, we’re here to tell you that it’s actually pretty easy. All you need to do is grab some cupcake liners from the cupboard!
By placing these cupcake liners into the cupcake holders, you can make sure that the liners protect any crumbs or liquids that try to get into the cup holders. It’s as easy as that.
Change Your Lock Screen in Case You Lose Your Phone
There’s a lot to think about when you’re on a road trip, from filling up with gas to stopping at motels for all-important sleeping breaks. Because of this, you’re bound to forget something along the way – and the last thing people want to lose is their phone. To plan for any eventuality, it’s always a good idea to change the lock screen on your phone to include your name, an alternative phone number, and your address.
That way, a kind stranger may help to return your phone to you if you lose it. Of course, there’s no guarantee that will happen, but you might as well try!
Use a Shower Caddy for Anything From Storing Car Supplies to Carrying Fast Food
Road trips have deadlines, and if you need to get to your destination by a certain deadline, you may not have the option to stop off at the side of the highway and have a proper meal in a diner. Instead, you might have to settle for take-out food and eat it while you’re driving. But anyone who has ever tried to eat takeout while they’re driving will know that it’s messy business – and that’s where a shower caddy can help.
By putting your food into the shower caddy, you can keep it both safe and separated from itself in one handy basket. Plus, everyone in the car can have their own, so there’s no arguments. Alternatively, shower caddies can also be used to keep different equipment organized and ready-for-use in an emergency.
Keep Change in a Gum Cup
Depending on where you’re driving on your road trip, you may encounter tolls. And while some tolls have entered the 21st century and accept cards, there are still some around the world that require change. However, keeping coins safe when you’re in a car can be difficult. One big corner or one quick brake on the highway, and those coins are flying everywhere! A gum cup can help you with that, though.
By placing an empty gum cup in the center console of your car, you can use it as your very own coin purse. Then, when you come to a toll, you’re ready with the cash.
Use a Shoe Organizer to Store Essentials
If you’ve ever tried to go on a road trip with children, you’ll know that packing for a road trip is no mean feat. You have to pack all of the essentials, as well as things that you might not have even considered before. And one of the best ways to ensure that you have these things readily available is to attach a show organizer to the front seats of the car.
This way, you can have things organized and tidied away but still on hand whenever you need them. This is also a great way to store kids toys so they can keep themselves busy during the road trip.
Use a Crib Sheet as a Seat Protector
If you’re heading off on a road trip with kids soon, you may have considered buying a seat protector. After all, if your kids are going to be playing, eating, drinking, and getting bored while sitting in the same seat for hours on end, they’re going to make a mess! But why buy a proper seat cover when you’ve probably already got one at home? In fact, all you need is a crib sheet.
By placing this crib sheet over the seats, you can make your very own protector. And you have the added bonus of being able to take it off and wash it when the road trip is over.