Must have Items in Mom’s Road Trip Survival Bag
on Apr 22, 2016, Updated Jan 13, 2022
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
We all know what to pack in a kid’s road trip bag right? Lots of snacks, more activities than you can shake a stick at, books, and electronics? But what about Mom’s Road Trip Survival Bag?
I take a lot of road trips with my children. Long road trips that require multiple days of driving. And I’ve learned over the years that I also have to pack a road trip survival bag for myself as well or my sanity is left far behind and that’s usually not a good thing. Here’s my list of must have items in a road trip survival bag for mom!
Mom’s Road Trip Survival Bag for Calm Road Trips
The first tip for calm road trips of course, is leaving the children at home. If that’s not possible, the second tip is driving a retired limo with a divider window. 😀 Just Kidding. Sort of. But ok, if you must take the children along when you road trip, you’ll want to make sure you pack for your sanity as well as theirs.
Bare Necessities
Don’t forget the bare necessities. For me, that means I must have a
- Refillable water bottle
- Refillable travel coffee mug
- sunglasses
- my phone
I also make sure I have a travel first aid kit that includes items for me (like ibuprofen, essential oils, and homeopathics) as well as band aids and neosporin for the kids.
Sanity Savers
You’ll also want to make sure you put sanity savers in your road trip survival bag: things to make the ride cleaner and smoother like trash bags, wipes, napkins, and paper towels for those accidents that inevitably happen every single time we go some where. It also means having mini bottles of wine so I can decompress once we reach the hotel on day 1 (remember I take a lot of road trips that involve multiple day journeys).
Finally, I like to make sure I have something a little more intellectual to listen to on the drive than the Chipmunks or whatever movie my kids watch 20 million times in a row. Downloading podcasts or finding books on tape, or even finding the NPR XM Radio station for me to listen to while my kids put on headphones and watch movies really helps save my sanity!
Mom approved snacks
I’m not much for sweet snacks, so my approved snack list tends to focus on salty or protein-rich snacks. I try to eat healthy and prefer that my snacks be healthier too.
- Beef jerky
- Cheese sticks
- Apples or other fruit
- Quick Homemade trail mix with nuts and dried fruit
- Homemade trail mix popcorn
All of these things in my mom’s road trip survival bag help us get to our destinations safely! What do you pack in yours?
I saw this jerky the other day but didn’t grab it. I’ll have to get it the next time I’m there. Mom’s do need their own sanity travel kit. Yours it great. I’ll have to add these snacks and the bottles of wine to my next trip. 🙂
We liked the snacks a lot! And wine is must in my bag. 😉
Lorissa’s Kitchen products are a favorite at my house too, they are certainly perfect for a road trip!
They’re really handy and delicious!
We don’t take too many road trips but I’ve learned that lots of snack options are a live saver with a two year old! She isn’t normally a picky eater but something about that car seat makes her turn up her nose at everything!
Mom’s bag is a like the magic hat! Must have so many unexpected things in it!
I’ve never heard of Lorissa’s Kitchen, I’ll have to see if I can find it. We don’t take many trips to Walmart, so I’ll have to make a trip. These are some great tips, thank you for sharing!
Grabbing the wine bottles reminds me of a Campbell’s Soup ad that the overhead announcer states the schools are closed and Mom grabs a bottle of wine! So funny!
Sounds like we have similar must haves! 🙂 I can’t leave the house to go anywhere, road trip or not, without water, sunglasses adn a travel cup of coffee! You just never know! ;-)I have never heard of Lorissa’s Kitchen before, but it sounds yummy! We love jerky around here.
I totally love the idea of small bottles of wine! Perfect for keeping mom or dad calm too.
[client]