Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Italian Road Trip Essentials

Italian Road Trip Essentials

In the hierarchy of travel, I have to say that I enjoy road trips the most. One of the things that I like most about traveling by car, rather than plane or train, is the possibility of random adventures. Who would have thought that on our last road trip to Italy we'd be caught in an avalanche warning at the foot of Mont Blanc, or that a freak blizzard on the Mediterranean Coast would buy us an extra day at a monastery-turned-spa? Road trippin' allows you to pull over, get out, and check out a small town or mountain pass that you wouldn't have the freedom to with other forms of travel. You have the freedom to choose what you want to listen to, how loud you want to sing, what you want to eat and drink, and even the route that you want to embark on. Think this road looks more interesting than the one you planned on? Well then go ahead! Test it out!

Here in the Duggan household, we like to travel light. Dan likes to travel light because it's easier, and I like to travel light because it opens up room in our bags for souvenirs and regional food goodies to bring back with us. Between the two of us we can live out of a backpack for a week, but I want room in that bag to bring home a touristy mug, some pine nut cookies, and a nice bottle of Chianti. Now that we have a teeny tiny co-pilot, our packing list has changed a bit, as there are certain road trip essentials that are necessary for her happiness/our sanity.

This weekend, as you may recall from yesterday's post, we're hitting the road and headed for the Italian Riviera, Cinque Terre and Levanto to be exact. Great timing too, since the good people over at RelayRides recently contacted me to be a part of their Road Trip Essentials Campaign! RelayRides offers peer-to-peer car rentals for your summer road tripping needs, so check them out!

 So what are our must have items before hitting the open road? Here's a little break down passenger by passenger by tiny passenger...

1// Sakura Bloom Ring Sling for easily carrying Oswin around at rest stops 2// "Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears" are my jam right now 3// Lots of Italian rest stop espresso for Mama and Papa 4// To-Go Ware food carrier and bamboo utensils for healthy snacks while on the road 5// Sophie the Giraffe for our teething babe 6// Pain au chocolat from our local boulangerie before hitting the road 7// Pruning shears...because I'm not the only one who likes to take cuttings of fig trees from everywhere I go, right? Right? A newly propagated fig tree is the best souvenir! 8// A Road Atlas, because I'm the worst navigator ever 9// Ray Ban Wayfarers, because they're classic 10// Nikon D5200, otherwise known as Mama's new favorite toy 11// A pretty travel journal from Rifle Paper Co. to record my favorite cups of espresso and Oswin's reaction to her first time in the Mediterranean 12// A 2 liter Hydroflask, because I drink an obscene amount of water when traveling. Why buy water when you've got that much nice and cold in the car? (And it really keeps the water cold, trust me.) 13// My favorite fancy pants scarf 14// A pretty sun hat 

How about you? What are you road trip essentials?

A la prochaine friends...

Honey

1 comment:

  1. love your picks! so jealous of your upcoming drive, xoxo

    ReplyDelete