Easy Travel Tips & Hacks

We love to travel, explore our world and take family road trips. We have taken many trips that take us all across the country from California, Montana and Colorado to Maryland, Virginia and everywhere in between. With all 5 of us in the van and different hotel for so many days, we have found some simple tips and hacks that you might not have thought about.

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Pillow cases:

Since many people like to use their own pillows even when they travel, do yourself a favor and use a colored pillow case. Most hotels have white sheets and pillows so a contrasting color will stick out and help ensure that you don’t leave your favorite pillow behind.

OdoBan:

This one just makes sense. Don’t forget to pack your favorite odor eliminator so the hotel won’t stink when people need to use the restroom. There are many different options. You can buy products like poo-pourri that you drop in the toilet or sprays like OdoBan Air Fresheners. that neutralize the air.

Quarters/Laundry Detergent:

When you take an extended road trip, you have two choices when it comes to clothes. You can pack enough clothes to last the entire trip, but that means that everyone has to pack a larger suitcase making it bulkier to carry in the hotel and makes the car more crowded. Or you can pack less and just do laundry once or twice on the trip. We typically go with less luggage and just pack quarters and laundry detergent. It works better for us so we have more room in the van.

Real Life Tip: We always pack a few laundry pods instead of liquid detergent so we don’t have issues with spills or messes.

Pack a Bulk Charger:

With 5 people, we need lots of charging cords at night. With multiple phones, Kindle readers, fitness trackers and portable chargers, there are not typically enough charging stations at each hotel. We have two multiple port chargers and we keep all the cords attached. When we get to the hotel, we pull out the two chargers and instantly we have a full charging station.

Small Plastic Bowls for Snacks:

Packing a few small reusable bowls will help you save money and make it easier to pass our snacks in the vehicle. This allows us to pass out Goldfish, chips, Jelly Bellies or even M&M’S® chocolate candies without making messes and is cheaper because we can buy the larger packages and split them instead of buying individual packaging.

Plastic Bags for Trash:

Keep the vehicle clean and the trash under control by packing plastic grocery bags in your front seat. We keep a trash bag between the seats and empty it at gas stations when the bag gets full

Keep Paper Maps

Most of us rely on our GPS to help us navigate when we are on road trips, but have you have ever been out in a new state and not been able to get a signal? We have! We love our GPS unit, but we never travel through a state without first stopping at a Visitors Center to pick up a new updated map. This helps ensure that we never get lost on the backroads with no idea of how to get to the next destination.

Travel Cot:

Hotels are typically designed for a family of four but we have five in our unit. We have two options. We can either reserve a suite with a pull out couch or bring along our own bedding for the fifth member. A few years ago we purchased a travel cot so we could stay in whatever lodging option is available.

Real life tip: Buy the best travel cot you can afford. They are not all made equal. Check to see how heavy the cot is since you will be toting it up to your hotel room on a regular basis. Also, check the reviews to see if people think it is comfortable.
Travel Cots on Amazon

What are your best travel tips and hacks? Do you have anything that you have learned or discovered when you travel? I’d love to hear!