Packing Lists for Road Trips

Road trips are a different animal. You can pull over. You can spread out. You also cannot rely on a seatback screen, and four kids in one car will find every unfinished game.

Road-trip cards

We keep a small stack of cards in the front console — prompts, I-spy, and “your turn to pick the next stop for ten minutes.” They are not fancy. They are the difference between a long drive and a long drive that still feels like a family.

• Road-trip cards (I-spy, license plates, “would you rather”)
• The same snack kit we fly with, plus one extra bag of something salty
• Water bottles for everyone, filled before you leave the driveway
• A blanket that can become a picnic layer
• Travel journals and a pen that will not explode in a hot car
• Window stickers and fidgets, same as the plane
• A printed scavenger hunt for the state you're driving through

The rest of the packing is clothes and patience. We will add our exact card set here as this edit grows.