I have been taking road trips for almost 5 years and have posted several posts about road trip essentials, and must haves that you need to pack. If you have a road trip lover in your life, then there are a lot of things that you can buy them to make their road trip better. Here are 10 items that you can put in a road trip gift basket for those folks who are close to your hear.
Road Trip Gift Basket
There are 4 big topics that you need to cover to make any road trip a success. Anyone that goes on a road trip needs to think about food, gas, safety, and lodging. I am going to try to put a few items from each of these categories for all of the items that I pick out.
Laundry Soap
I know. Its a weird way to start this list off but laundry soap is super useful in a bunch of ways. First off, if this is going to be a long trip then people will want to wash their clothes. You can stop at a laundry mat, wash in any sink, and even wash at some of the places that you find lodging. I would suggest buying those single serve laundry packets that you can find at Target or Walmart.
A First Aid Kit
There are a bunch of little cuts and bruises that can happen on a road trip. A slip here or a bump there can always be right around the corner. I always make sure that my first aid kit has band-aids in different sizes, something for an allergic reaction, something for pain (like Tylenol), and an ace bandage. If you want, you can also put in some gauze. I happen to also have a small bottle or peroxide or rubbing alcohol to clean out any cuts.
Snacks That Won’t Melt
There are a lot of snacks that work well on a road trip. The best snacks are the ones that won’t melt and end up getting everywhere when you open up the package. If you are looking for some ideas then you can go with popcorn, pretzels, cheez-its, cookies, and dried fruit.
A Cooler or Insulated Tumbler
I always take 1-2 tumblers with me. I have also taken full sized coolers with me but I found that they take up too much space and can be a pain in the butt to keep getting ice to keep things cool. Instead, I use insulated tumblers. This way if I stop at a convenience store or fast food place, I can dump my drink into my tumbler and it will stay cold longer. You can often get these for less than $15 dollars.
Zip Lock Bags
Then it comes to going on a road trip, ziplocks are something that I never go on the road without. They can serve several purposes. Basically, you can pack your snacks in them, you can put your dirty clothes in them if you get the big ones, and they can even serve as trash bags. If you are making a road trip gift basket then you want to give them a variety of sizes so that they can serve a variety or purposes.
Flashlight
These can get pricey and a lot of people will skip out on buying them. It would be a nice gift if you buy them a quality flashlight and put it in their road trip gift basket. Just imagine your friend looking for something in their car or being out at night and using your flashlight for their benefit. An image that pulls at the heart strings.
Gas Card
I don’t suggest that you give flat out money unless that is something that the person has asked for. As you can imagine, there is a lot of gas that goes into taking a road trip. If you want to give a super useful gift then I suggest you give a gas card for one of the major gas stations. It would be super helpful to whoever is trying to fill up their tank.
A Rain Coat
I don’t know how big you are making the road trip gift basket but I would definitely put in one of those cheap rain ponchos. Sometimes the weather can be unpredictable but this way the person on the road trip can be prepared.
A Travel Blanket
This is one of the things that could end up being useless but you don’t have to get an expensive one. A blanket can be useful for a person who likes to hike. They may want to lay it down and sit on it for a break. Maybe their airbnb doesn’t have enough blankets and they want an extra one. You never know.
A Gift Card
There are so many different places that you can give them a gift card to. It can be a fast food place to save them money on food. You can give them a Groupon or gift card for an oil change before they hit the road or after. How about a gift card or coupon for various hotels. If it is something that they are going to end up using during their trip then there is probably a way to find a gift card for it. You can even send them a Groupon for an activity in one of the cities that they are going to.
There you have it! 10 different items that you can pack in a road trip gift basket. Check out some of my other packing lists for other ideas. Travel safe my friends!