Road Trip Essentials for Families and Friends
Road trips are a thing in the Abercrombie house.
We’ve traveled from Manhattan to North Carolina a dozen times, made a two-week cross country trip from NY to California, and most recently, drove from Los Angeles to Texas. We love the adventure, enjoy car time together as a family, and love seeing what America looks like. Since I am born and raised in the Southeast, and also lived in the coastal cities of LA and NYC, I think the regions of the United States feel like separate countries. In lifestyles, values, economics and ideology, the unique differences are striking, and it is a joy to learn more about people and places across the beautiful breadth of our nation. Exposing our kids to these experiences is an important part of our family values.
My favorite cities include New Orleans, Chicago, Portland, Austin, Amarillo, Birmingham, Tacoma, Charleston, Lahaina, Nashville, and Hot-lanta (worst uber drivers in America, but I couldn’t love Atlanta more). I’ve visited and spent time in, 34 of the 50 states, with a desire to visit Maine, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. Now, in case you’re traveling this summer by car, especially with Coronavirus not slowing down in the US (we need to get it together, but that’s another blog)… On to the list of Road Trip Essentials!
SNOBBY WATER
You are 70% water - this matters people! For you, and your car guests, I recommend seriously good alkaline water by the case, in the 1L or 1.5L size. Staying hydrated on a road trip is important, but also challenging with so many drive-thru food runs, coffee stops and altitude/weather changes. Top picks: Eternal Water, Evamor, Essentia, Arrowhead, and Trader Joe’s Alkaline Water + Electrolytes. Sure, it will cost a bit more - worth it to keep your energy up, and please stop drinking Detroit river water, Dasani and Aquafina, which actually strips your hydration because it’s got so much crap in it to make it drinkable.
If you have kids, highly recommend buying a few gallons of water (Arrowhead is the cheapest, and more hydrating option) to keep refilling their water bottles. When you refill gas, that’s a good time to grab sparkling waters, for any nausea, and to avoid keeping a giant cooler in the car.
ROADIE SNACKS
We bought a long car bag from Target for $15.99 - it’s fabulous, probably 2.5 feet long and a foot wide, and it holds snacks in a way that enables us to see them all, for easy grabs at pit stops! It will fit in your trunk (or back of SUV like us), and will bless you tremendously. I suggest a good blend of salt, sweet and healthy options to cover all the emotions of road trips. Chocolate for a pick-me-up, salty chips when you want to strangle your car mates, healthy bars or veggies when you’ve eaten more chick-fil-a biscuits than a human should. Our must-haves: Sweet, Savory & Tart Trek Mix from Trader Joes, Nut and dried fruit Trail Mixes, Chips (Spicy Queso, Sour Cream & Onion, and Salt and Pepper Kettle chips), Bars (cliff, RX, Larabars, Macro, Perfect Bars, and Oatmega), Popcorn (we love pretty much all popcorn) Trader Joe’s chocolate (milk chocolate truffle bar, their version of peanut m&m’s in small packs), fruit (apples and mandarin oranges), veggies (carrots and sugar snap peas). We get junk once a day for the kids (Doritos at a rest stop will stop a tantrum like nothing else), and they must have strawberry bars and fruit squeezers.
DOWNLOAD PODCASTS, AUDIOBOOKS AND PLAYLISTS
In case Wifi goes out, which it will, especially across the more rural or desert areas, like New Mexico and Oklahoma, be ready with content! Holy smokes, we just finished a 9-hour audiobook from Reese Witherspoon’s bookclub, The Guest List - a thriller we couldn’t turn off. It was so good that when we arrived in Texas at Cody’s family home, we turned it on to finish the last 20 minutes! Other favorites: Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers (favorite audio version ever), Henri Nouwen’s, The Way of the Heart. Shameless plug for my FABULOUS audiobook, Rise of the Truth Teller, and my sassy, southern twang comes out, as I share my story, teach scripture and make you laugh. Podcasts: Why Tho (obviously), The Popcast, This Cultural Moment, Jen Hatmaker, Armchair Expert, Dolly Parton’s America (OMG LOVE SO MUCH - I HAVE LISTENED TWICE), My Favorite Murder (Warning RE: Cursing and true crime vibes), Java with Juli, and Carey Nieuwof (Cody loves this one - I tolerate it - LOL!). Some of my other faves didn’t make this list, because my husband is not the target demo, and I also tend to choose episodes from other podcasts that sound interesting because of the interview, or content. Finally, here’s my carefully curated Book Launch Party/Road Trip/Every Party I’ll Ever Host Playlist on Spotify, just for you! And if you’d like a worship playlist, here’s my go-to. (For the kids, we have a few audiobooks they love, and they have tvs on the seat in front of them, so we keep a HUGE stack of DVD’s - a combo of leapfrog learning, tv shows and movies.)
LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS
No, really, just knock them back. As my dear friend LaTrayl used to say to me, “Ashley, you at a 10, and I’ma need you to be at a 5.” Road trips include moments of arguing, “I’m sick of this crap” scenarios, uncontrollable laughter, connection and conversation that is rich and meaningful, sheer exhaustion, and if you have kids, for sure, there will be a few melt downs. As another friend has asked me, “But did you die tho?” Let the kids freak out - it’s a lot for them - their energy is utilized differently, their schedules are off, their food choices are, ahem, a little less than good for them. Chill out. They’ll holler a little, so be present, hold a hand, and move on. Same for you. If you’re having a moment, roll the window down, stop for a stretch, shed some tears, talk it out, sing it out, enjoy your life. You’ll probably yell at someone - not permission to be a jerk - but if it happens, own your selfish meltdown, say sorry and move on. Also, hotels will likely be “meh” for road trips, naps will be “not happening” and you may have to settle for Wendy’s or Taco Bell. But did you die tho? Lower those expectations so you can move from moment to moment, in a place of acceptance and adventure and not perpetual disappointment.
CAR BAGS
Your kids will love them, and you will too! Our dear friend Angela made these for each of our kiddos before we left NYC to move to Cali, and gosh, we’re keeping this habit forever. There were crayons, car crafts, fun snacks, matchbox cars and dinosaurs, and now we just pack a bag each time, with special toys, books and things to keep them occupied. In the adult bags, we pack our kindles, laptops (yes, I try to write on the road!), snacks we want close (chocolate, duh), a small massager that has a car hook-up (forgot it this time and my pregnant behind is SAD ABOUT IT), chapstick/balm (here’s my fav), hand cream, hand oil (dehydration is real, remember?!), GUM (like 100 packs for all of us), chargers, baby wipes in droves and hand sanitizer. Also, face masks! Year of the Coronavirus! That reminds me, clorox wipes, because 1M drive-thrus, so we wipe down everything before we eat it, or hand it to the petri dishes in the back seats. Finally, social media - it’s so fun to document the journey AND it would be a shame if your screen time app told you that you spent six hours on Instagram and Facebook. Put that thing down, and focus on the open road. Breathe deep, reflect on life, engage with others, and take in the scenery.
A FEW CAR THINGS
BORING, but necessary, nonetheless. Be sure to have your car serviced before leaving on a long trip! Oil change, fill up washer fluid, gas it up, check your brakes, get tires rotated, and make sure your insurance and registration, as well as a spare tire, is ready to go. AAA is a life saver too, if you want to consider that for emergencies. Covid has kept the DMV closed in CA far too long, and they are not granting appointments, so we have not been able to update our Texas plates/registration to Cali. I guess, do your best! Keep travel pillows, blankets and stuffies close for sleepy car mates/kids. And a good plastic bag for trash (we prefer that over car trash bags/bins, because our kids are so little, and quite messy - we want it OUT at every gas station). Make a plan for a wash when you return, because there will be crumbs in places you didn’t even know about, bug guts on every inch of your windshield, and unexplainable dirt, even though you did not go off roading.
HAVE FUN
Seriously, enjoy your time, and enjoy each other. What a bonding experience with yourself, with God, and with people you love. The open road is a great time to think about your life, career and relationships, and the person you’re becoming, what might not be working for you anymore, and what you might want a little more of, in order to live a life you actually want to show up for. Now, tell me, what’s been your favorite road trip? What are your essentials when traveling? Any hilarious stories we MUST KNOW NOW?