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 four kids ages two and up? Yeah, I didn’t think I would ever do that either. The thought of getting a root canal without numbing sounded better than driving for 14 hours with four kids… But then we saw the prices of flights, baggage, and a car rental for six 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. 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.

Car Seat Tray
These trays are one of my favorite inventions! I love genius space savers. Cup holder and tray in one? It’s perfect!

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 characters, so everyone gets a unique one. It’s a fun game to see who gets the most of their garbage in their bag. And it’s out of the way and not on the floor! 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?

Visor Tissue Holder and Tissue Refills
Is it even a road trip if someone doesn’t get a nosebleed or have a runny nose and need a million tissues? This visor tissue holder is another amazing space-saving hack. Tissues are within reach every time they’re needed, but out of the way!

Travel Potty Chair
We specifically brought this because Sadie had just been potty trained, and I was not about to 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
With four kids and a 14-hour road trip, we were pretty much 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 many trash cans on a road trip either. It’s like the trash multiplies, I swear! This trash can comes with accessories to secure it in place, so it does not fall over. It was super convenient!

First Aid Kit
Does this one even need explaining? Band-Aids are magic.

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 it.

Mesh Divider/Organizer
At first, I thought this was a divider for dogs… it kinda looks like that. It’s actually another brilliant, space-saving storage car hack! This mesh divider has three 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 that I love anything that will allow me to utilize any of the negative space in the car? If it’s empty, let’s utilize it! And this pocket is no exception!

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

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