Road trip checklist

No matter the duration of your road trip, packing up your vehicle can be a stressful job and the longer your trip, the more overwhelming it can feel. Fear not, we've provided an extensive list of road trip essentials for you. 

After 2 long-term trips (over 6 months) in Europe, these are things that are on our road trip checklist. On our first trip, we definitely had a few items that we didn’t need to pack; a toaster, a portable espresso maker, a yoga mat and many more. 

We’ve created this list to take the pressure off and so you feel more prepared for your own road trip. Make sure you read to the end for our free downloadable road trip packing list!

 

Road trip packing list

We’ll start with some of the more boring but very necessary logistical items on your road trip checklist. 

Documents for your vehicle 

1. Get your vehicle MOT done or check when it expires
2. Service your vehicle
3. Buy breakdown cover
4. Buy insurance or check whether your current insurance will cover you in Europe for the duration of your trip
5. Get a green card alongside your insurance if you plan to travel to any countries outside of the EU

 

Road trip essentials for your vehicle

Some of these items, you hopefully won’t need to use, however, it’s important to carry them to meet legal requirements or incase of emergency. 

1. Vehicle documents (driving licence, vehicle log book V5C, vehicle manual, copy of your vehicle insurance and breakdown cover)
2. UK sticker
3. Headlight beam converters
4. Roadside emergency kit (This generally includes spare bulbs, a reflective jacket and a warning triangle. It may vary slightly from country to country so make sure you check the specific kit required for the country you’re visiting)
5. Spare tyre or tyre repair kit (if you haven’t changed a tyre before, it could be a good idea to practice this before you leave, then if you need to do it in an emergency it will hopefully be less stressful!)
6. Jump leads (also learn how to use them!)
7. Basic tools

 

Personal documents

Make sure you leave these in a safe space in your vehicle but also somewhere that you can easily access if you need them. 

1. Passport (a lot of countries require you to have at least 3 months left on your passport before it expires so it’s always worth checking this before you go)
2. Photocopy of passport
3. Driving licence
4. GHIC card (this is free to apply for and allows you state healthcare in Europe at a reduced cost or sometimes for free)
5. Travel insurance (a printed copy)
6. Spare bank card (it’s also really helpful being with a bank that doesn’t charge large fees to withdraw cash in other countries and you don’t have to notify when you’re leaving your home country, for example Monzo or Starling, which we have used both)
7. Cash (in the currency of the country you’re travelling to)

 

Safety items 

1. First aid kit
2. Fire extinguisher
3. Fire blanket
4. Carbon monoxide alarm 
5. Medication (pain killers, allergy tablets etc)
6. Mosquito spray

 

Pets

If you don’t have a pet, you can skip past these ones!

1. Make sure you have either an EU passport or an animal health certificate
2. Check your pet has had all the jabs they need (all EU countries require rabies vaccinations)
3. Give your dog flea and tick treatment and bring enough for the time you’re away (though you can also just get this at vets abroad, Sandy uses a flea collar)
4. If you plan to leave the EU, research whether the country requires a rabies antibody titre test to enter the country. 

 

Road trip essentials for your pet

1. Flea shampoo and comb
2. Multiple collars/ harness
3. Multiple leads ( (we have a couple of short leads, a 10m lead and one we can attach to the van)
4. Collapsible water bowl 
5. Toys
6. Towel fleece (great for after soggy walks or swims so they don’t make the van wet)
7. Seat belt so they can be strapped in when driving

  

Our must-haves!

After 537 days on the road, these are some of the items that we rely on the most and have come to realise how useful they are to have on a road trip. 

1. Wedges/levellers, for a flat night sleep
2. Spare cooking system that uses different fuel to your main one incase you can’t find what you need
3. Torch/headlight
4. Camping shower
5. Mosquito nets over the door 
6. Fly swatter
7. Multiple USB fans
8. Dustpan and brush
9. Magnetic hooks (so useful for lots of things, ours keep our mosquito nets in place and we use them to hang up towels to dry on the van)
10. Tea bags (or if there’s something you know you can only get at home, stock up!)

 

Personal items 

We’re not going to tell you all the things to pack as we’re sure you have your own things you need but here are some things we like to bring.

1. As well as your everyday clothes bring; a warm hat, a sun hat, raincoat, sunglasses, warm socks 
2. Beach towel and a shower towel (we find it useful to have both)
3. Hiking shoes, sliders/sandals, wetsuit shoes
4. A laundry bag (it’s easy to forget you need somewhere to put dirty stuff too)
5. Rucksack (whether it’s for sightseeing or hiking it’s good to have a sturdy bag)
6. Hobby items (for Harry this is his fishing rod, for Rach this is her kindle and crochet stuff, don’t forget to bring stuff you enjoy doing in your spare time too)
7. Cards/board games for rainy days and evenings
8. Spare bedding
9. Camping chairs
10. Toiletries (hand sanitiser is a must!), if you have items you particularly like then stock up 

 

Useful bits 

These are miscellaneous items that we find useful to have on a road trip, we might not use them everyday but we need them at some point. 

1. Something you can use for a washing line, and pegs 
2. Bbq grill if you want to cook on a fire 
3. Fire lighters 
4. Lighter
5. Wine bottle opener and bottle opener
6. Kitchen utensils (scissors, peeler, can opener, grater, scales or measuring jug)
7. Outdoor light/lantern
8. Tupperware boxes (especially if you want to keep your leftovers)
9. Reusable shopping bags 
10. Washing up sponge with handle (we love these because you hardly use any washing up liquid)
11. Packing cubes to organise your belongings
12. Flask

 

Technology 

1. Multiple charger cables 
2. Solar charger (useful if you don’t have a hook up for electric)
3. Portable chargers
4. SatNav (we personally find it useful to have something as well as Google maps for navigation)
5. Battery powered fairy lights (good if you are ever low on electric)
6. Headphones
7. Adaptors (you never know when you might want to charge items outside of the van and European plug sockets are different to the UK)
8. WiFi dongle 

 

 

Free Downloadable Road Trip Packing List

This isn’t an extensive road trip packing list, we are sure there are personal items of your own that you want to bring, and you can decide exactly what clothing is necessary for your trip. However, this is a good overview of road trip essential and things we have found useful over the years of travelling in our campervan. 

Find our free downloadable PDF of this packing list. Designed so that you can easily print it off without using too much ink. 

Download our free Road Trip Packing List

Happy roadtripping.