What to pack for a road trip: The things I always take with me

Sep 26

When I go on road trips, I tend to do a combination of car camping — parking up in campgrounds and sleeping in my car or a tent — and staying in hotels.

Camping generally requires a bit more gear, but it is also handy to have a few kitchen things even if I stay in places with shared kitchens.

I also do a lot of overnight hikes, so some of the things I use for my road trip set up are also on my backpacking gear list.

Road trip packing list

My checklist for an overnight hike, and my gear list for hiking in New Zealand.

A really comfortable set of clothes for the evening. Especially if I’m camping, I like having a pair of trackpants, a cosy fleece, and thick woollen socks to put on.
- Lululemon Align trackpants and Mons Royale merino track pants
- Patagonia fleece
Slip on sandals — I basically live in my Birkenstocks when I’m on a road trip (or honestly any other time), and I love that I can kick them on and off easily. Highly recommend a pair for travel.

A big container of water — I find having a 10 litre jug can be really handy, so I’m not always looking to top up my drinkbottle during the day.
A headlamp can be handy, especially if you’re also planning on hiking. I used mine around the van quite a bit in the winter months, when the sun sets around 5.30pm. I had fairy lights, but it’s handy to have a lamp for trips to the toilet in the dark.

These things are handy for keeping you car or campervan tidy

Bin bags (and a small bin, but that’s not essential — as long as the bags are durable, they are actually easier to fit into smaller spaces).
Packing Cubes
A laundry bag
A plastic bucket — I mostly use this when I go surfing and need something to drop my wet wetsuit into, but it also comes in handy for muddy boots, wet swimsuits, or anything else I just need to put in a container of some kind until I can deal with it.
Storage things, like ziploc bags and tupperware, are great for helping store food. Tupperwares can come in handy for all sorts, from packing up leftovers to serving as extra bowls, and for making sure nothing leaks.
Reusable shopping bag — for grocery shopping and also keeping together bits and bobs when you need a bag

Blankets and Pillows

Basic cooking supples

Duct Tape

Flashlight

Sunglasses

Cooler

Microfiber Towels

Swiss Army Knife

Bug Spray

Hat

Sunscreen

Laundry Bag

Camera

55) USB Cable

56) Powerbank

Day Pack

What I pack for car camping

Folding table

Folding chair

Camping stove — when I had a campervan I had a larger single burner camp stove, but for my most recent road trip I used the same little stove I take on hiking trips — my MSR Pocket Rocket 2. It also does the job, although cooking in a small pot is trckier.
Opinel knife

Some extras for campervan travel

Electric items like kettles and toasters are less useful than a kettle you can pop on the gas.

These things should be included in your hire, if not they’re cheap and handy to get:

Can opener
Knives
Chopping board
Wooden spoon

Extra things that are handy:

Rubber gloves, if you’re going to be emptying wastewater.
A big container of water, as you typically can’t drink the water from the campervan tanks. One big container of water huge container of water at our first grocery and then used that through the entire trip as our water container.