Go Backpacking

  • About
  • Travel Tips
    • Accommodations
    • Budgeting & Money
    • Adventure Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Gear & Gadgets
    • Packing Tips
    • Travel Blogging
    • Travel Insurance
    • Trip Planning
    • UNESCO Sites
  • Destinations
    • Africa
      • Botswana
      • Egypt
      • Ethiopia
      • Morocco
      • Rwanda
      • South Africa
      • Tanzania
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Japan
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Europe
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Cuba
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
      • United States
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • French Polynesia
      • New Zealand
    • South America
      • Argentina
      • Bolivia
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
  • Advertise
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Travel Tips
    • Accommodations
    • Budgeting & Money
    • Adventure Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Gear & Gadgets
    • Packing Tips
    • Travel Blogging
    • Travel Insurance
    • Trip Planning
    • UNESCO Sites
  • Destinations
    • Africa
      • Botswana
      • Egypt
      • Ethiopia
      • Morocco
      • Rwanda
      • South Africa
      • Tanzania
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Japan
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Europe
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Cuba
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
      • United States
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • French Polynesia
      • New Zealand
    • South America
      • Argentina
      • Bolivia
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
  • Advertise
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Travel Tips
    • Accommodations
    • Budgeting & Money
    • Adventure Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Gear & Gadgets
    • Packing Tips
    • Travel Blogging
    • Travel Insurance
    • Trip Planning
    • UNESCO Sites
  • Destinations
    • Africa
      • Botswana
      • Egypt
      • Ethiopia
      • Morocco
      • Rwanda
      • South Africa
      • Tanzania
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Japan
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Europe
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Cuba
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
      • United States
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • French Polynesia
      • New Zealand
    • South America
      • Argentina
      • Bolivia
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
  • Advertise
×
Home » Planning

10 Tips for a Successful Road Trip

Modified: Jan 20, 2025 · Published: Jan 9, 2017 by LC Hunter |

Road trips are an excellent way to see a country and create lasting memories. Popular options among travelers include staying in funky motels along Route 66 in the States, driving around the Balkans, or admiring the eerie landscape of New Zealand's North Island from the seat of a campervan. After choosing the route of choice, there are a few other things you'll need to consider for a successful road trip. Here are the top ten.

Empty roads in the Faroe Islands.
Empty roads in the Faroe Islands

Table of Contents

  • Road Trip Tips
    • 1. Good Company
    • 2. A Reliable Vehicle
    • 3. A Playlist
    • 4. Snacks
    • 5. Sufficient Hydration
    • 6. A Map
    • 7. A Sense of Direction
    • 8. Enough Cash for Gas and Food
    • 9. First-Aid Kit
    • 10. Sweaters and Swimsuit

Road Trip Tips

1. Good Company

This is a factor that can make or break a road trip. You'll need to be with people with the same travel style as yourself - whether that be a car full of type A's or the most easy-going folk you've met. So, choose your company wisely. If worst comes to worst, go on your own! There's a reason solo travel hasn't gone out of style.

2. A Reliable Vehicle

The second most important thing to consider is your mode of transport. If you're renting a car, you must ensure everyone can drive it. You don't want to rent a manual only to discover that no one else can drive a stick.

You'll also want to ensure everyone in the car can legally drive it. It may seem like a good idea to agree to a two-week road trip around Ireland with you driving, as you're the only passenger over 25. In reality, it'll be exhausting. Yes, I speak from experience.

If you're driving your own or a friend's car, get it properly checked out by a mechanic before hitting the road. Make sure at least one traveler has some basic knowledge of car maintenance, just in case you need to change the oil or replace a tire at some point in your trip.

Oh, the places you'll stay (photo: Nicolas Henderson)
Oh, the places you'll stay (photo: Nicolas Henderson)

3. A Playlist

Sometimes, you'll run out of things to talk about or refuse to play yet another game of "I Spy." You'll want a kick-butt playlist to fall back on in these moments. Make sure that it's songs that everyone in the car can agree upon.

If one of your travel companions is into heavy metal music, it wouldn't be fair to subject them to Beyonce's Lemonade album in its entirety. And if you can't find a playlist you agree on, it should be the driver's choice of tunes. It's only fair.

4. Snacks

You'll probably be driving for long periods without stopping, so it's a good idea to have snacks to fall back on if anyone gets peckish. Make sure to buy a few healthier options, like nuts and fruits. Sitting in a car seat for eight hours a day doesn't do much to burn body fat.

5. Sufficient Hydration

As with food, opportunities to drink water may be few and far between. It is best to pack a few bottles of water, or even better, fill up a jerry can with water before you go to cut down on plastic waste.

Norway is yet another ideal place for a road trip (photo: TimOve)
Norway is yet another ideal place for a road trip (photo: TimOve)

6. A Map

Here's an opportunity to ditch Google Maps for a few days and hone a rapidly dying skill - map-reading. You should be able to pick up a road map at any gas station, which you can refer to for the trip duration. Bonus - it makes a pretty good souvenir for when you reach your destination.

7. A Sense of Direction

You won't have much luck with that map unless you have a sense of direction to pair with it! If you have no set timeframe for your trip, occasionally following your gut can be fun. This could lead you to the most surprising places.

8. Enough Cash for Gas and Food

Although many of us live in cashless societies these days, this isn't the case for many countries worldwide. As the places you'll be stopping along the road will be most unpredictable, make sure that you have a reasonable amount of cash for emergencies, such as if you're close to running out of, such as when only a service station around doesn't take a card.

9. First-Aid Kit

It's best to be ready for every and any situation that may arise on your journey. Be sure to bring a basic first aid kit. Pack in paracetamol, ibuprofen, bandages, insect repellant, and motion sickness pills, just in case.

10. Sweaters and Swimsuit

If you're covering a long distance on your trip, you should probably prepare for all kinds of weather. Bring a sweater or a jacket to prepare for sudden nighttime temperature drops, even in the middle of summer. Remember to pack a swimsuit in case you happen upon an attractive body of water, particularly if you're road-tripping in Australia or on the West Coast of the United States.

Related Stories

  • Driving through the Himalayas on a motorcycle (photo by Anand Yadav, Unsplash).
    The Best Types of Vehicles for Reaching Remote Destinations
  • Dolly Parton statue in Sevierville, Tennessee, a popular family travel destination (photo licensed from Shutterstock).
    How To Keep Family Travel Simple and Stress-Free
  • Solo hiker (photo by iam_os).
    How To Stay Safe While Backpacking Solo
  • Backpacker (photo by Bernard de Clerk).
    15 Tips for Authentic Travel Without Breaking the Bank
324 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

About LC Hunter

LC is an ex-expat who is currently re-exploring her home country of Australia. Follow her adventures at home and abroad via her blog Birdgehls, where she writes about travel, expat life, gushes on about various animals and bemoans her often futile attempts to go completely green. Or, you can look her up on Facebook.

Comments

  1. halekatie says

    January 09, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    Good list! I did a 3-week road trip up through western USA & into Canada over the summer, and it was so much fun - and definitely good company! We also had a book club arrangement for the trip, so before we went, we read books set in various places along our route, and then we discussed them during the trip when we ran out of other things to talk about. We also stopped in a little second-hand book shop about halfway through the trip, and bought a smut book for about $2, which turned out to be a hilarious addition to the road trip, as we took turns reading chapters aloud on the journey!

    • LC Haughey says

      January 09, 2017 at 4:55 pm

      I like the idea of a book club, will have to remember that one! I bought secondhand books travelling around Ireland a few years ago, none of them were smut books though. Am filled with regret now, when thinking of the laughs we might have had!

  2. Tom Carney says

    January 13, 2017 at 8:23 am

    Excellent list. Additions? How about a notebook/journal? If for nothing else it can be used to record details about photographs taken. Will help jog the memory as the trip fades into history.

    • LC Haughey says

      January 14, 2017 at 12:31 am

      Additions are welcome! Good idea. I love travel journaling, too, for exactly that reason.

Dave at Ahu Ko Te Riku on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile.

Hi, I'm Dave

Editor in Chief

I've been writing about adventure travel on Go Backpacking since 2007. I've visited 68 countries.

Read more about Dave.

Footer

back to top

About

  • About
  • Archive
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

Contact

  • Contact
  • Work With Us
  • Submissions

Copyright © 2025 Go Backpacking

324 shares
  • 324