A Writer's Road Trip Bag Essentials

I'm doing quite a bit of traveling this summer and recently came back from a nine-hour road trip to my grandparents' farm. As I've gotten older, I've brought less and less stuff with me for the ride since a good book and portable DVD player are about all I need. So last week I shoved any and all entertainment into my Lands' End tote and set off for my first adventure!

But of course, I wanted to share with you all what a book lover/amateur writer/college student (I wear many hats) brings on car trips, so that for the entire trip, you too can be entertained! (As long as you're not driving. Oh goodness, please not when you're driving.)

Here's what my bag of goodies entailed:

A Book (or two). Not so shockingly, the majority of my time in the car is spent reading. I also love to sit on my grandparents' sun porch and sink into a good book in the afternoon, so enough reading material is a must! This trip I brought Gone Girl (review coming soon!) and Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees. Gone Girl turned out to be enough, but I never want to be caught without a book!

Work. Glamorous, I know :)  The jobs I have this summer can travel, so I brought some along with me for down time.

Notebook, pen, and pencil. A writer never wants to be caught without a notebook! This is my favorite Moleskin that I take with me everywhere. I put a lot of creative writing ideas in it, but also use it to take notes and record blog post ideas. Whatever I want to remember goes in here! The pen and pencil ride around in this bag; you never know when you need a writing utensil.

Gum. The trip from my house to the farm involves a lot of driving through mountains. Gum helps avoid that uncomfortable ear popping which, let's be honest, no one loves.

iPod and Headphones. I don't listen to my iPod a ton since my family tends to listen to CDs in the car, but I like to have it on hand- just in case! My headphones get a little more love, coming out when I want to watch YouTube or listen to music while I work.

Laptop. Because where would I be without it? I work on here, blog, watch YouTube, and practically live inside Word and Gmail.

Tissues. Honestly not sure where they came from. But you never know, right?

iPad. Yeah yeah, I know you can't get internet on an iPad in the car. But I love to play Frozen Free Fall, and would break up my reading or napping with a few rounds.

Camera (and case). I knew I wanted to take some photos while at the farm (like the ones above) and so I needed my camera on hand. I never used to take my point-and-shoot anywhere with me, but now I'm trying to get into the habit of toting it along so that I will actually use it (instead of watching the battery die time after time in my desk drawer).

So there you have it! My family also brings a snack bag on the trip, so I had nuts and Luna bars to dine on (trust me, I eat on car trips ;)). What do you like to bring on car trips?