What to Pack for an Island Road Trip

I spent over a month on the road in Puerto Rico working on my book, The Dining Traveler Guide to Puerto Rico. Italo (the photographer on the project) and I roamed the island on a tiny car capturing some of our favorite sights. Must admit, there were some long days on the road going from location to location and packing and unpacking.  Based on our experience, I came up with a list of what to pack for an island road trip. From mosquito repellent to full bellies, this is what kept us sane on the road:

Dining Traveler Tips: What to Pack for an Island Road Trip

PACK Gear:  Given the nature of our trip, I dusted off my huge backpack that I haven’t used since I don’t remember when.  I got a PACK Gear Organizing System which worked perfectly with my backpack. Also found that even large backpacks are a bit easier to load in a car than suitcases. Instead of digging into the bottom of my pack, it allows me to place everything into the pockets of the organizer.  All you have to do is pull out the organizer out of the backpack and hang it in the closet to grab your clothing items. What surprised me the most was that I was able to fit four weeks’ worth of clothing in the PACK Gear Organizing System.  If you want to give your backpack a second chance like I did, head to PACK Gear website and use the code Dining15 for a 15% discount on your order.  I’m taking mine to Okinawa next for my six week trip. Looking for a fashionable backpack? Check out this comprehensive leather backpack guide.

Snacks:  Sometimes we get so wrapped up on what to pack on an island road trip that we forget some of the most important things: snacks!!! As much as I love my frituras (fried Puerto Rican roadside food), I tried my best to be mindful about what we were munching on while we were on the road.  We stopped at a lot of fruit stands and stocked up on local bananas, papayas, and fresh coconut water. Dining Traveler Tip: pack zip lock bags to keep your fruits fresh after cutting (many roadside stands will cut the fruit for you).

Another option for healthy snacks are protein bars.  I recently tried Promax protein bars (The Original Promax Lemon Bar) and I must say – they were pretty yummy.  While other protein bars have a chalky aftertaste, these bars have a nice lemony flavor and fill you up until the next stop. None of Promax’s products have any artificial sweeteners, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, maltitol, or gelatin, and they’re all gluten-free, kosher, and vegetarian. Given that you can check all of these boxes when it comes to Promax bars, they work well when you’re on a road trip with people who have different dietary needs.  When the desire to bite into a meaty empanada started to take over, these bars came to the rescue!

Phone Chargers:  As we all know, an active GPS sucks the life out of your cell phone.  I’ve had the worst luck with car chargers but my dual USB port charger from Insignia at Best Buy has worked out great. At first I was taken by the $24.99 price tag for something so small, but so far, it has worked out great (I’ve had it for almost a year).  I also like the fact that it has a dual USB since I am Android and my road companion had an iPhone.  Another item I found handy was the power bank that Italo brought. He can charge his phone up to 6 times!  He picked his up at a market in Hong Kong but I found a similar one on Amazon for $23.99.

Toiletries on the Go:  What to pack on an island road trip when one has to stay in 12 different places?  When Squeeze Pod sent me a sampler of their goodies, I was intrigued. I decided to pack them along to give them a try.  Given that our lodging consisted of staying with friends and AirBnB, it was great to have consistent toiletries on the road.  My favorite items are the moisturizing lotion (love the lemony smell) and the natural toilet odor eliminator.  My only wish is that the lotion pods were slightly bigger since I had to use two for my body.

Hello, Mosquito:  Upon arriving to Puerto Rico, we were delivered the news of the Zika virus. The thought that our big production can take a halt due to illness made us run to the drug store immediately and buy insect repellent. When figuring out what to pack for an island road trip, I highly recommend making insect repellent a main item on your list.  We were old school and went with regular OFF!, it worked pretty well for us.  However, I am curious about organic mosquito repellents. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Anti-bacterial gel:  I couldn’t help but to pet a wild horse that approached our car in Vieques.  I may have petted a few stray dogs as well… I highly recommend packing a small anti-bacterial gel to keep in your car.  Being on tropical island with lots of flora and fauna, it’s best to keep this handy.

Toilet Paper:  Nature may call when you are on the road and the last thing you need is a bathroom with no TP. I learned this from my Marine days in the field, one just never knows…. One of the first things I did was buy a roll and keep it in the car.  It came handy for a few coffee spills in the car….

Compact Beach Towel:  This is the last thing I would have thought of when thinking on what to pack for an island road trip.  I learned about this gem from my road partner. He had this super compact microfiber towel he carried on his backpack.  He said he had it for years and couldn’t remember where he got it from.  I did a little investigation on Amazon in order to get one and discovered turkish bath towels. They are just as compact as the microfiber but with beautiful colors and prints. Sold.

Reusable Water Bottle:  It’s amazing on how much money you can save by having a reusable water bottle. Not only are you saving money but helping the environment.  In Puerto Rico, tap water is suitable for drinking so we filled up before hitting the road and most casual restaurants allowed us to fill up when getting back on the road.  If you want to take an extra step of precaution, check out filtered water bottles like Bobble.  I forgot to bring mine to Puerto Rico but it works pretty well, also, I don’t see any change in the flavor of the water.

Dining Traveler Tips:  When considering what to pack for an island road trip, check out what’s the shopping situation at your destination.  For example, Puerto Rico being part of the US, access to products such as OFF! and anti-bacterial gels are quite easy, we didn’t have to deal with packing those items before arrival.  This comes in handy if traveling with a carry-on or limited space.

Do you love tropical road trips? What are you tips on what to pack for an island road trip?

Disclaimer: some of these items featured on “What to Pack for an Island Road Trip” were gifted to me (Promax, Squeeze Pod, and PACK Gear) by the brands, but as always, opinions are my own.  Dining Traveler makes a good guinea pig for products you may be interested in trying out!