How to Pack for a Road Trip [Diagram]

There’s been a resurgence of the American road trip! More and more families are getting out on the road and discovering what new sights they can discover

But before you hit the road here are some tips for how to pack your car for a road trip vacation.

Passenger Seat

This is where the main passenger (usually me) keeps their stuff. I like to pack magazines, my iPad, and my purse in a narrow tote. I’ll also store some lip balm and eye drops in my bag

We’ve always had dual DVD car screens that we bought at Target, but now that our girls received tablets for Christmas. We’ve found that watching movies works well for entertaining kids on long road trips

DVD Players

Food

For kids, I recommend making them each their own snack bag or box so that there are no arguments about who’s had too many of one kind of snack.

This is normally another bag and carries more kids activities and games. We normally have a blanket for each kid in this space too.

Kids Activities

Luggage

Bags and stuff you don’t need to access while driving goes in the back. We often have one hotel stop on our main road trip drive, so we pack one overnight bag with all of our stuff for that hotel night so we don’t have to bring in each person’s luggage.