Five Road Trip Essentials
One of the greatest traditions and pleasures of the outdoor life is the road trip. Sleeping on the back seat of your car or bivouacking on the side of the road. Or the ultimate road trip luxury of a camper van or RV. What’s important isn’t what you accomplished, it’s how you got there!
Route 66 Road Trip
So if it’s Route 66, the North Coast 500, or a European rock climbing tour; what are the Five Road Trip Essentials? Having just returned from a three week American road trip to the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, I feel inspired to write about my top five road trip essentials.
Sungod Sunglasses
First on the list has to be sunglasses. Is it even a road trip if you’re not wearing your favourite shades? I’ve had Sungod sunglasses for over two years now and they’ve proved durable throughout multiple trips and journeys. Sungod sunglasses are carbon neutral, guaranteed for life and like us they are signed up to 1% for the Planet.
La Sportiva TX4 R
You need shoes that you can comfortably drive in and then leap out of your vehicle and run up some slick rock or splash through puddles and then look cool in the supermarket. The La Sportiva TX4 are a big favourite of the Beyond the Edge team; you can read James’ review here. These new ones are the redesigned version which are easy to resole and come in two lovely retro colours. Comfy, durable and grippy.
Buy here and the Women’s version is here.
La Sportiva TX4 R
Leatherman Charge
Road trips often involve opening tins of food, sawing up kindling for your camp fire, opening beer and cutting fine cheeses. For all these important tasks it’s useful to have some sort of multi tool. I used the Leatherman Charge everyday for three weeks in the US including one memorable occasion repairing a very leaky and smelly RV waste pipe. Utterly essential. Use this code WHITBYALEXEKINS15 for 15% discount at Whitby and Co.
Aeropress Go
Aeropress Go in Bryce Canyon.
Coffee is essential for those on the road mornings and maintaining the buzz on 600 mile road days. Search the internet and you will find a multitude of different coffee making gadgets but extensive research by the the Beyond the Edge team (ie me and Hati) has decided that the Aeropress Go is the best for making coffee on the road. It’s easy to use in a car, at a French aire or perched on a wooden fence in Bryce Canyon.
It’s a fairly simple system; add your favourite coffee and then plunge it into the included cup that also doubles up as a storage container. When your coffee is made it’s very easy to clean up. You can simplify the process by adding a metal filter to replace the supplied paper ones.
Read my Aeropress review here and Hati’s guide to making coffee in the outdoors here.
You can buy the Aeropress Go at our favourite outdoor shop here.
Rab Mythic Ultra
You are going to need a bigger coat! Early morning road side starts can be chilly, so a nice fat puffy jacket is indispensable. I took the Rab Mythic to the US and it was perfect. Instant warmth with a great fit. It was toasty at -10 high up on the Colorado plateau. If you’re up in chilly Scotland in winter on the North Coast 500 it’s going to be damp so maybe choose the Patagonia DAS or DAS Light Hoody.
Read my review of the Rab Mythic Ultra here and buy the men’s direct from here. The Women’s version is here.
Alex
For additional road trip inspiration watch Mountains of Storms; the story of a legendary road trip from California to Patagonia.
Beyond the Edge Ltd is based in the Peak District, easily reached by train from London and within easy travelling distance from Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and other Northern towns and cities.
We are one of the UKs most experienced providers of climbing, walking, scrambling, mountaineering and navigation training courses.
Most of our courses are run in the Peak District National Park which has some of the finest rock climbing, bouldering, walking and hiking in the world.
