Road Trip, What To Take?

Hi, I'm planning a road trip across Europe in my car (AWD Estate/Wagon) over the summer. I'm going with a few friends and we're each taking our own cars (Top gear style), we're planning to visit a few cities where we'll have a hotel for a couple nights but for the most part we'll be sleeping rough. I was thinking of either sleeping in the back of my car as there's loads of room with the seats down or getting a small tent. We've decided that we're going to spend some of the trip doing a bit of mountaineering and various other outdoor teamwork exercises, nothing too extreme though as we are novices.

We'll be taking some supplies with us but curious to hear what others would take, which is where you all come in. If you were going on a road trip that may also be an off road adventure, what would you take with you? (tools, medical supplies etc)

 

Water - 1 gallon for each day I planned to be between cities plus an extra gallon
Food - non-perishable food items that can be either eaten cold or made with just water (example: oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, peanut butter, wraps)
Cooking - If I was going to be with the car the whole time, I'd take an immersion water heater and a metal travel coffee mug. I'd also have plenty of ziploc bags to cook and eat in. Also, if you're going to be traveling away from the vehicles, you might need some way to keep wildlife out of your food such as a rope to hang a bear bag or something similar. My road trips have been in the US so I'm not familiar with european wildlife but here we'd worry about bears, mice, squirrels, etc. Those will be attracted to anything that smells even remotely like food so you want to keep that stuff out of reach and away from where you're sleeping if it's not enclosed in the car.

Hygiene - toothbrush and paste, hairbrush & ties, small bottle of Dr. Bronners or similar product for hair/bathing/clothes washing, deodorant, and a razor. A pack each of clorox wipes, baby wipes, and make-up remover wipes. I don't wear makeup but they're fantastic for cleaning your face when there's no sink in sight. If you might have to potty in the great outdoors, take a spade to dig the hole at least 6 inches deep. Toilet paper might be good too if you don't want to chance leaves but remember to pack it out. Do not bury it because animals will dig it up.

Sleeping - King size sheet because I'm weird about hotel sheets and like my own soft sheet to wrap myself in or a sleeping bag liner for the same purpose
sleeping bag or blanket for the car and a pillow. I might take a hammock and tarp if I thought there would be trees to use. I wouldn't take a tent because I'm not a fan of sleeping on the ground. I'd rather sleep in the car. I might take a gravity chair if I had space because if the weather is clear, they're nice for sleeping under the stars.

First Aid - If I was going to be within a day or so drive of the nearest city, I'd stick with basic first aid - saline solution to wash wounds, alcohol pads, bandaids, gauze pads, duct tape, wound seal, vetbond, and basic over the counter medications.

Clothes - I'd take my macabi for outdoors (you could substitute hiking pants or shorts), a pair of dress pants for the cities, three tank tops, underwear, a fleece sweatshirt for cool nights outdoors, and a sweater for evenings in the city if it might be cool. For shoes I'd take my vibram five fingers and a pair of sandals. If you were using normal sneakers, you'd probably want socks. I would do laundry in cities when I got the chance rather than try to carry clothes for an extended trip.

The important planning thing to consider is the length of time between cities/resupply opportunities. You don't need enough clothes for the trip, you need enough for between laundry opportunities. You don't need a month worth of food if the next grocery store is only 2 days away. If you forgot something at the start of the trip, chances are pretty good that you'll be able to find it in the next town.

 

I've been on a few road trips. Road trips that go well over 24 hours so I would suggest taking a cooler full of premade food, such as sandwiches and other little snacks. I would also recommend taking bottled waters inside of the cooler as well.

 

Thanks for the tips, not too worried about my car as i'm a trained mechanic and my car's never had any issues (i'll still be taking parts though). Didn't think about spare wheels so I'll definitely be looking into that. One of my friends has got a fridge in his boot so he'll be carrying food and drink. Should have mentioned in the original post that we're planning to do about 3 nights rough and then 2 nights in a city hotel, with 1 or 2 longer rough stints of up to 7 days. Think we're ok clothes and hygiene wise, the provisional route we've planned has us going though towns and villages so even on the longer stints we should be able to keep clean.

I'll definitely be taking all these tips on board, thanks again.

 

My husband and I drove across the U.S. last year, and in addition to the items that others have already recommended, we made sure to bring paper maps and a flashing triangle light for setting up on the road in an emergency. The maps were extremely useful when the GPS took us off the main road and then suddenly stopped working, and the triangle came in handy when we had a breakdown during a storm with low visibility. The flashing light (placed roughly 30 feet from the car) warned other drivers to watch out and slow down while we were broken down.

Another thing that comes to my mind for your situation is a set of two way radios, one for each vehicle. Cell phone service can be spotty in remote areas, so having a back up way to communicate is important. And make sure to bring spare chargers (that can be used in the car) and batteries.

It sounds like it will be a fun experience!

 

Warning triangles are compulsory in some European countries, got 2 for each car. Also got amber emergency beacons that I keep in my car as I do sometimes stop to help people that have broken down on the motorway. Good thought with the radios, got some laying around somewhere, didn't think about communication between vehicles to be honest.

 

The most important thing is money, food and medicine. Money to buy anything you need along the way. Food and water is essential in case you were in a highway where stores are not available and medicine for fever and diarrhea.

 

Money is the most important thing, along with your papers and identification. You can't really get home if you spend it all on the trip, and you can't get anywhere without identification. Researching the crime rate and the do's and don'ts for each country is also necessary, as a simple gesture in one place can mean an insult in the next. Getting a GPS and keeping in touch with your family will always help; you need to tell them your location, where and when can they expect the next call, etc. Always be on your guard for thieves and pickpockets because most target tourists and foreigners who do not know the layout of the place.