Whether its 200km or 2000km, road trips are more about the journey than the destination. So it's important to pack essential items to make it more comfortable - that you may not have thought of when planning a regular holiday.
Luckily, musical mastermind, touring veteran, Keir Nuttall is here to help with his road trip pack-list essentials!
Here’s what to pack.
The headtorch is a must for any kind of touring. You have both hands free to rummage in a suitcase in the dark, it doubles as lamp or reading light, and it helps people to see you coming if you’re near traffic.
I love headtorches. I have six of them, in ascending order of brightness. My favourite though, is the Ever Ready with a red “night sight” setting. You can wear this one in a tent and read while your partner and child are sleeping and it will not wake them up, as you can’t see its light with your eyes shut. I proposed to my wife wearing a head torch. It was on the bright setting though, so I think the glare confused her and that made her say ‘yes’.
Gaffer tape fixes everything. My guitar strap is currently held together by gaffer tape, as are my favourite old pair of jeans. You can hang anything you want off a ceiling with gaffer tape, and you can do quick and easy repairs to anything from a saucepan handle (don’t sue me if you burn yourself) to a pair of glasses.
Strap the water onto your back, it’s super easy and it means you won’t shrivel up and blow away in the sun.
I took one to the Burning Man Festival, and when I forgot where I had set my tent up it took me four hours to find it in dusty, dry conditions. Not only did having the water keep me hydrated, the mouthpiece also had a calming effect, maybe it brought back memories of sucking on my mother’s teat when I was a baby. It got me through the whole ordeal.
My Dr. Marten Boots are waterproof, dustproof and broken glass proof. They are great for any tough terrain-based festival. They are super comfortable.
Paired with my crocs for showering/swimming/when my feet need to breathe they are two unstoppable pairs of footwear. I went trekking across Laos in those crocs in 2007 and I still have them and they are going strong. People will mock you though, and if that gets too much, put on the Docs and they will fear you.
I call this duo my ‘sleep insurance kit’. Your goodwill to all other humans and receptiveness to new experiences haemorrhages with lack of sleep. You need to be able to block the entire world from your consciousness.
Put on the sleep mask, the noise cancellers, and play rain sounds into your hermetically sealed sensory bubble (I use the app Rain Rain). You can sleep anywhere, and I have. I slept in the middle of an after-show party once. It requires trust that people will leave you alone though, as you are as vulnerable as a newborn in that condition. Also, you won’t hear a fire alarm.
You are in regional Australia. You need insurance at it may be a while between baristas. No offence regional Australia.
Coffee bags are compact and easy, and will get you a decent brew anywhere you can heat water. The Aeropress is a level up again, but you have to travel with your own coffee. Make sure you gaffer tape the container, or you’ll end up with coffee in your underpants. Which maybe you don’t mind, I’m not here to judge.
You need these, trust me. Nearly nowhere has enough electricity. If you are camping and there is no powered site, you can charge multiple devices when you go to the café to have a bad coffee.