DIY Emergency Travel Bag for your Vehicle

Our family has traveled thousands of miles in our minivan, so we know a thing or two about being prepared for emergencies on the road. We have had relatively good luck, but we still ensure that anytime we leave the house we have a few basic things in the back just in case of emergency. If you have ever thought about an emergency travel bag for your vehicle, I have some easy things to do to help prepare you for whatever scenario you could possibly face.

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Emergency Travel Bag for your Vehicle

Who should have an emergency travel bag in your vehicle? Everyone! Emergencies can happen to anyone at any age.

• What if you have a flat tire or run out of gas and it takes the roadside service six hours to arrive? It gets worse if you can’t start your vehicle and it starts to snow.
• What if your teenager has car trouble on the interstate in the middle of the night? What if she is in a spot where there is no cell service?
• What if you are traveling with your older grandparent and there is an accident on the interstate and you are unable to move for hours?

Don’t be caught unprepared when a few minutes of planning now could improve the situation.

Questions to help you plan your bag:

• What weather extremes could you face? If it is winter, add a few extra blankets.
• Are there specific medical needs to address? Do you need to pack a walking cane to help someone walk out of a problem? If you get stuck for several hours, do you have backup medicine?
• What will you do for a restroom?
• How many people do you travel with? Are there small childen who would get bored and hungry?

Ideas for what to pack:

• Extra food (granola bars, trail mix)
• Backup medicine
• Flashlight (extra batteries)
• Blanket
• Extra socks
• Tennis Shoes (important if you often wear business or dress shoes)
• Ponchos
• Local maps
• Water
• Emergency Flares
• Hot hands
• Antibacterial Wipes
• Portable Phone charger (I keep the MyCharge Lantern Powerbank ready to go!)

This is just a starting place for your emergency backpack. Take these ideas and then customize them to fit you and your family’s specific needs.

How to Store your Supplies in your vehicle:

Some people use a plastic tote box in the back of their vehicle or in the trunk of their car to store the emergency supplies. This works fine if you have the space but make sure you get one that has a locking top so the items don’t fall out.

I personally prefer to use a backpack to store the emergency supplies in our vehicle. Look for a backpack that will comfortably fit all your basic supplies. You want to use a sturdy backpack with plenty of pockets. The Island Hopper Travel Backpack has plenty of individual pockets and zipper pouches to keep things contained and organized. Not only is this backpack the perfect size to actually store the things I want in my emergency bag, but it is also weather-resistant in case I want to use it when we go for hikes or city adventures in the future.

I love the ‘hidden’ pockets in the Island Hopper Backpack that are perfect for storing anything that I don’t want to be obvious like extra medicines, small cash, and coins or emergency contact numbers.

Look for one with plenty of sectioned-off pockets so you can store your extra tennis shoes separately from the extra food and flashlight.

The opposite side of the bag is sectioned off to hold more supplies.

• Seychelle Water Filter Bottle
• Water bottles
• Sports drink
• Antibacterial wipes
• Cooking pot for boiling water
• Blanket/Poncho (I keep the Kachula Adventure Blanket packed & ready)

This bag has a separate pocket for a laptop or local state map. This is also a great space for any documents that you need to keep flat and protected.

Tip: Keep all your snacks, batteries, and medicines in individual storage bags.

Do you keep an emergency supply bag in your vehicle? What else do you stock in this bag? I’d love to hear! Hopefully, the bag will not be needed but just in case there are unexpected events, let’s be prepared!