13 Genius Car Hacks for the Ultimate Road Trip

Have you ever gone on a road trip? How about a 14 hour road trip? What about a 14 hour road trip with 4 kids ages 2 and up? Ya, I did not think I would ever do that either. The thought of getting a root canal without numbing sounded better than driving for 14 hours with 4 kids… BUT then we saw the prices of flights, baggage, and a car rental for 6 people and suddenly the road trip did not sound so bad… I was determined to make this road trip as painless as possible. Which means hacking the car to make it as comfortable as possible. My husband laughed at me with a few of these car hacks. But the kids loved them. It was a 14 hour ride (one way), so obviously it was hard. But I think these things did help on the drive.

Cordless Mini Vacuum
Why is it that your car gets so incredibly disgusting when you are on a road trip? It’s like the kids forget how to eat without making a mess. Even when I have trays, bags and garbage cans all over, they still manage to make a mess. It is so much easier to enjoy the car ride, when you do not have crumbs everywhere. So this mini hand vacuum was perfect for the car. Charge it before you go and/or in the hotel rooms and it lasts all day.

Cup Holder Tray. and Car Seat Tray
These trays are one of my favorite hacks. I love genius space savers. Cup holder and tray in one. Its perfect! Need I say more?

Handy Trash Bags
These trash bags seem so obvious, but so genius! They are sticky so you can put them on the back of the seat so each kid has their own bag. Plus they are each different character so the kids get their own color. Its a fun game to see who gets the most of their garbage in their bag. But it is out of the way and not on the floor! Plus when you are done with it, it seals closed so it does not spill! Brilliant!

Car Seat Gap Storage
Hans did not love this one, because he said it was in his way, but I loved it. It was the perfect extension to the center console area. You can never have too much storage. Am I Right? Would you try this car hacks?

Visor Tissue Holder and Tissue refills.
Is it even a road trip if someone doesn’t get a nose bleed or have a runny nose and need a million tissues? This visor tissue holder is again the perfect space saving hack. Tissues are within reach everytime, but out of the way! Plus, I linked the tissue refills!

Travel Potty Chair
We specifically brought this because Sadie had just been potty trained, and I was not about go reverse all that hard work by not having a potty for her to use when we were inevitably in the middle of nowhere when she needed to go. BUT surprisingly all my kids loved it! You can even get bags to put over it to catch your waste to dispose of if you want. It folds up small and is easy to clean. Maybe not all road trips need this, but we were glad we had it!

Motion Sickness Glasses
Four kids, and a 14 hour road trip… you know we are asking for car sick babies! But not with these glasses. They work like magic and the kids had fun wearing them. Win-Win!

Car Trash Can
You know how I said you can never have too much storage? Well you can never have too much trash cans on a road trip either. Its like the trash multiplies, I swear! So this trash can, with accessories to secure it in place so it does not fall over was super convenient!

First Aid Kit
Do I really need to explain this one! Bandaids are magic… If you did not know that, do you even have kids?

Extension Grabber
This was one of my purchases that Hans thought was unnecessary. haha! But I thought it was fun to hand things all the way to the back of the van with.

Mesh Divider/Organizer
At first I thought this was a divider for dogs… it kinda looks like that. Actually its another brilliant space saving, storage car hacks! This mesh divider has 3 pockets, perfect for storing books, ipads, or other things to keep them off the floor and off the seats!

Seat Side Storage Pocket
And finally the last of my space saving storage car hacks. Can you tell I love anything that will allow me to utilize any of the negative space in the car? If its empty, lets utilize it! And this pocket is no exception!

Well I hope you find one of the many car hacks here that you can use on your next road trip to make it more comfortable. I know several of these are things we plan to use year after year on our annual road trip! What other things do you get to make the ride more comfortable?

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