Essential 2020 Road Trip Resources

This is the year that road trips replace flights for many families and travelers looking to escape home responsibly. According to a survey from Nissan, 71% of Americans are more comfortable traveling by car than air and 28% are looking to buy or rent a vehicle that is capable of towing in the next few months.

If you are looking to escape this summer, here are road trip resources that you should check out before you start packing and putting the miles on. From towing advice and information on renting an RV to the essential road trip apps, entertainment, and essential accessories for a long trip we have you covered.

RV rental

You can rent an RV that you drive or an RV that you tow from a variety of sources. This could be a good way for you to decide if you want to invest in one long term, allowing you to experience towing, setting up and tearing down. With some of the services, you can even rent the RV with delivery included within a set range, which allows you to camp without towing and setup if you don’t have the right vehicle or don’t want to deal with the full setup process.

Check out RV Share, to rent an RV from another person, similar to an Airbnb style experience. This option often includes delivery up to a set distance and hosts are good about communicating the cleaning process for COVID.

Cruise America offers RV rentals from a Truck Camper up to a Large RV with many different specials and pricing available. You can pick these up locally, or drive close to your camping location and pick up there.

Read: Best Hiking Apps

With Outdoorsy, you can rent a motorhome, travel trailer, campervan, popup trailer, or fifth wheel and then drive to your location. This is another sharing setup, where you are renting from the owner, and Outdoorsy is connecting you to them.

Towing Advice

Are you new to towing? If so, you will want to prepare by learning about towing before you pick up a truck or a camper. Nissan provides a list of trailer towing tips that will help you prepare and successfully tow a camper or other recreational vehicles.

Once you go over those tips, it is a good idea to practice towing with an experienced friend or family member if you are going out alone. It may be even more beneficial to book a site with friends and meet up with them so that you both have help backing into a campsite the first time.

Better Map App

If you’re hitting the road, it’s a good idea to find a better map app than the one on your phone. If you have a lead foot, Waze can help alert you to speed traps, and it is also great at re-routing you around traffic jams.

Apple Maps and Google Maps are much better than they’ve been in the past, but Waze is still a road trip essential in our book.

Audible & Tunes

When I’m on the road, I’m typically listening to an audiobook or signing loudly to music. If you want entertainment while you drive, sign up for a free Audible trial and get a free book for your trip. Form there you can decide if you want to do a monthly subscription and listen to more books. It’s one of my favorite ways to pass time on the road when I am alone.

If you have a copilot, friends or family along, you may want to go with music. If you typically just use free music options, it’s a good idea to upgrade to premium for a road trip. This lets you download music and take more control of the songs you listen to. TIDAL is a nice option with higher quality music and offline options.

Essential Road Trip Accessories

When you hit the road, you will want to make sure that you can stay charged up and on track. I recommend getting a charger that is capable of powering a laptop. If you are working from home this summer, you can almost just as easily work from the road. Check out the Satechi car charger that is capable of powering up to a 16-inch MacBook Pro and most Windows notebooks as well as a phone.

You may also want to pick up the Mophie Powerstation Go, which can charge your gadgets and even jump-start a full-size SUV with half a charge. Bring along a few battery packs and you’ll be good to go.