3 Road Trip Essentials

Not every road trip requires an RV. Although, there are undeniably benefits to cruising a Winnebago across the country. Style points being one of them.  While these essentials won’t completely convert your vehicle into a mobile adventure wagon, throwing these pieces of gear into your trunk is a surefire way to make your trip go a lot smoother. 

1) Cooler

Every road tripper needs a cooler. How else are you expected to keep your brews chilled? But seriously, unless you want to live off of canned beans and dehydrated meals, a cooler will make all the difference. Consider it your mobile fridge, a portable icebox, your portal to fresh produce. 

Active Junky Recommendations: 

Yeti Tundra 

Yeti Tundra 50 Cooler If you’ve got a big trunk and a big budget, the Yeti Tundra is your best bet. With models ranging from 35L (picnic size) to 350L (back of a yacht size), the Tundra line has something for every road tripper. After testing the 50L, we recommend something in the 35-65L range—depending on how much space you have and how often you’ll be able to resupply. If you’re traveling by yourself or are going to be taking shorter day trips, consider the Yeti Roadie (LINK), which is a 20L more portable option. Whichever size you pick, combine this heavy-duty, insulated behemoth with Yeti’s ice packs (LINK) to avoid having melting ice ruin your perishables.

Stanley Adventure Cooler

Stanley Adventure Cooler When the Yeti pricetag gets hard to swallow – or you just don’t see yourself needing to keep things cold longer than a few days – Stanley makes a great option. Up to 30QTs stays cool for up to 4 days with this Stanley; plus it’s half the price of a similarly sized Yeti. Fans of the Stanley brand will appreciate the green and gray styling, as it’s reminiscent of their famous thermoses. 

2) Stove

Stoves are essential. From early morning coffee to sautéing up a tasty dinner, a quality camp stove will go a long way to make your trip better. While we’re huge fans of backpacking stoves, they have their purpose and cross-country road trips don’t exactly fit the bill. 2-burner camp stoves will exponentially increase what you can cook and how you can cook it. 

Active Junky Recommendations:   

Jetboil Genesis

Jetboil Genesis Base Camp System A new award-winning system from Jetboil, the Genesis is a compact, two-burner propane stove with customizable accessories. This incredibly intuitive, collapsible stove comes with a windscreen, pan and pot, so you can simmer your way to a quality meal in a myriad of conditions. You can also attach a snaking hose to power your Jetboil. By adding a third heating element, you’re primed for the dream breakfast scenario: eggs on burner one, bacon on burner two and coffee in the Jetboil French Press. They don’t call it the basecamp system for nothing: this baby is perfect for car camping or prolonged missions into the backcountry (if you have a snowmobile, packhorse, sled, etc.).

Primus Onja

Primus Onja 2 Burner Stove: Origami elegance Starting at: $132.96 A relatively cheap two-burner stove, the Primus Onja has a few features that make it a worthy road trip stove. First off, the Onja runs on canister fuel, which is pretty rare for a two-burner stove. While there are pros and cons to every fuel type, the obvious benefit to using canister fuel is that you are using, most likely, the same type of fuel as your backpacking stove, saving from having multiple fuel types rattling around in your trunk. Secondly, the Onja folds up to a sleek and stashable size. Thirdly, it comes with a snazzy little cutting board, which is one of those necessities that road trippers often forget. Don’t resort to chopping veggies on the hood of your car or the base of your skis—and consider the Onja. 

3) Portable Power Solution

Unless you’re driving, you don’t want to be draining your car battery by charging all of your electronics. Solar panels and portable batteries solve this problem, as you can charge up when you’re on the go. For quick trips, a small battery with a USB output should do the trick. On longer missions, especially if you’ve got a camera or laptop to charge, you’ll want something bigger with an AC output. 

Looking for portable power products? Check out this article for 5 Active Junky Power Recommendations.