What We Bring On A Road Trip

There is nothing like the freedom of independent travel, especially when you are interested in getting away from other people. Many of our best travel experiences have been discovering unexpected places between destinations. The right vehicle can also double as accommodation, which gives you even more flexibility to explore interesting leads. We’ve been through a number of 4WDs and vans at home and often rent something that we can sleep in when we travel overseas. Our packing list is constantly evolving, but here are some of our essentials.

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Essential road trip items:

Good (hardcopy) road atlas
Tyre pressure gauge
Spare tire
Roadside assistance service
Working jack
Digging tool (in case you get bogged)
At least 20 litres water storage
Jerrycan (filled with petrol)
Portable stove
Head torch
Books

Goggles
3 x swimsuits
Towel
Runners
Wide brimmed hat
Sunglasses
Long sleeved light weight shirt
Mozi repellent
Jeans
Face wipes
Sun cream

Personal items

How you want to dress is a personal choice, but we try not to distinguish much between what we would wear socially at home vs what we wear on the road. It’s nice to just be yourself, wherever you are in the world. If you normally wear zip-off pants and safari shirts, then keep doing it. If you wear jeans and t-shirts, that is great too. Just because you are travelling does not mean you need a whole new wardrobe of techy gear. We bring a couple of jeans, shorts, bathers, dress/skirt, t-shirts, etc. That said, there are a few things we always bring:

• Jeans - even in a hot climate, at least one pair of jeans is important. They will protect you from mosquitoes at nighttime and will save your skin on a motorbike or scooter.

• Long-sleeve shirt - great for sun and insect protection. Anything with sleeves and a collar. Linen does well in the heat and can handle a couple of wrinkles.

• Merino wool base layer - okay, this is very specific and a little techy, but a wool base layer is the most versatile piece of clothing we own. It’s warm yet breathable, light-weight, compact, fast drying, and doesn’t hold odours. Sheep are so lucky.

• At least three swim suits - it’s nice to always have something dry and a little variety is essential, especially if your trip is well documented.

• Rain coat - if you don’t pack it, you are guaranteed to get rained on.

• Sunglasses and wide brimmed hat - get a good set and take care of them.

• Running shoes - great in pretty much any scenario. Leave your clunky hiking boots at home.

• Head torch - 90% of the time this is the best invention ever. 10% of the time insects are flying into your face.

• Face wipes - use these as a dry bath when times are tough.

• Quality bedding - If you are sleeping in your vehicle, it makes a huge difference to tuck into proper bedding at the end of the day. A nice set of cotton or linen sheets makes every parking place feel luxurious.

• Insulated drink bottle - sometimes you want your drinks hot, sometimes you want them cold.

• Goggles - these aren’t just for swimming laps. There are a lot of cool things to see under water.

• Podcasts, audiobooks, and an offline music library - you won’t always have cellular service, so download when you can. Our favourites are:
  7am - Daily Australian news by the Saturday Paper
  Always Was, Always Will Be Our Stories - Conversations with Indigenous role models and trailblazers.
  The Daily - Daily American news by The New York Times
  Fresh Air - Conversations with prominent people about contemporary arts and issues.
  The High Low - Light-hearted conversations about culture.
  How I Built This - Interviews with the founders of some of the world’s best known companies.
  It’s Been A Minute - Weekly wraps of US news and interviews with cultural figures.
  Pod Save America - American political commentary by a group of former Obama cabinet members.
  Stay Tuned with Preet - Political and news discussions from a legal perspective.
  This American Life - The OG podcast. A series of stories centred around a theme.
  Wild Ideas Worth Living - Conversations about the outdoors with very interesting people.

• Kindle (or similar e-reader) - we read a lot on the road but you don’t want books taking up precious space.This probably the best purchase we have ever made (this is not an ad).

• Telstra phone service - the most reliable network in remote places. Telstra account holders can also get free wifi from a nationwide network of Telstra Hot Spots (this is not an ad). This is an Australian road trip hack.

• Wikicamps App - It’s not a pretty app, but it is one of the best resources for finding campsites.

“Some people like travel with every car gadget they can get, from satellite phones to rapid tire deflators. We like to keep it simple on the road. ”

For the car

Roadside assistance with long distance towing - we use RACV Total Care. None of our cars have been particularly reliable and we should probably be blacklisted for using this service as much as we have. Thank you RACV for countless tows, hotel rooms, rental cars, jumpstarts and battery replacements over the years (not an ad).

Fridge - we did half our trip around Australia with a fridge and it changed our lives. One of the first things that you sacrifice on the road is a health, fresh diet, so everything you can do to keep some of these things on your plate, you should.

At least 20 litres of water storage.

Fly screen on windows, especially if you are sleeping in your car. You don’t to have to choose between being too hot or being eaten alive.

Cash for remote camping site fees, and the odd roadside food stand.

A free-camping app to find free campsite all over the country. There are plenty of them (we use WikiCamps).