Our 17 Rules For Road Tripping
It was December 2019 when we first conceived of a big print package dedicated to road trips for our May issue. “Summer! Travel! Hooray!” was the vibe, and a list of staff-sourced rules for making the most of a food-driven car journey was the format. Our biggest challenge was how to shoot an ice cream cone in a snowy parking lot and make it look warm outside. Little did we know…well, you know.
Of course, your best bet for staying COVID-free is staying home, but experts say if you need to travel, driving a car is the safest method. So after consulting some epidemiologists, we decided to bring our big print package to life online. We revised our rules accordingly, added important safety measures (Wear a mask anytime you leave your vehicle! Stay six-plus feet away from everyone outside your pod! Stock up on hand sanitizer!), and removed any restaurants that don't offer takeout. The result is an imperfect but hopefully useful guide to road trips—even if you're just daydreaming about all the places you'll go next year. —Hilary Cadigan and Elyse Inamine
Photo by BY FRED + ELLIOTT1/17Brake for Smash Burgers
After the eight-hour journey from New York City to Richmond, Virginia, all I want is a burger and a beer. Thankfully, I-64’s Boulevard Burger & Brew has both (and available for online order ahead of time!). The pitch-perfect smash burger is an ode to Kelly’s, the local burger chain that used to sit here. And with the original 1950s drive-in style building and red-and-white-checked paper under the fries, it doesn’t get more classic American than this. —Bryan Fountain, senior designer
Photograph by Laura Murray. Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova2/17But Don’t Forget Your Veggies
Man cannot survive on Fritos and Popeyes alone. Enter the car-ready crudités: slivers of crunchy raw carrot, jicama, and radish paired with a ranch-esque blend of punchy herbs, pistachios, and nutritional yeast. Pack them in jars that fit into your cup holders (no mess!), then pluck, dunk, and repeat. —Sohla El-Waylly, associate food editor
Photo by Hayden Spears3/17Make Safety a Priority
As essential as a road trip might feel right now, COVID-19 continues to cause very real and lasting damage. So before hitting the road, heed these expert-backed tips for staying as safe as possible while traveling, stopping, staying, and eating your way across the country. —Ali Francis, contributing writer
4/17Queue the Tunes, and the Cheetos
The driver may be in charge of keeping both hands on the wheel, but you, the passenger, are in charge of keeping the music flowing, the directions current, the crowded spaces avoided, and the mood on point. Anticipate needs—like a sneaky outdoor bathroom stop—before they happen, even if that means hand-delivering individual Cheetos into said driver’s mouth. Otherwise you’re demoted to the back. —Sasha Levine, bonappetit.com editor
6/17Listen Up
Long stretch of freeway? Slate’s Slow Burn goes deep on American history, from Watergate to Tupac. Fighting over DJ duties? Radiotopia’s Song Exploder asks artists to break down their most popular songs—with an archive so big there’s something for everybody. Bored out of your mind? Gimlet’s Every Little Thing will entertain and teach you something, like how the Cha Cha Slide became a wedding go-to. Lull in the conversation? WBUR’s Modern Love has a heart-bursting essay just for you. Driving alone? Gimlet’s Reply All feels like hanging with fun friends who happen to be tech experts. —Emma Wartzman, assistant editorial producer
Photo by Laura Murray7/17Pack Your Cooler Like Brad Leone
Of course our resident outdoorsman is also an expert at cooler Jenga. Here’s how he keeps things chill on the road.
A. Delicate items—maybe some ham sandos or a bag of frozen grapes—go on top with items you’ll want quick access to, like that bottle of homemade ’booch.
B. Add smaller ice packs to keep the cold consistent. Whatever you’ve got in the freezer will do. The key is to fill your cooler completely because empty air heats faster.
C. Heavy stuff like cans of soda should be carefully arranged on the bottom of the cooler where they can support lighter stuff without squishing anything.
D. Forget the big bag of melting ice. Instead, line the bottom of your cooler with reusable ice packs—just make sure they’re the hard plastic type that doesn’t rip!
E. Keep it clean! Nothing worse than a nasty cooler. Soap and water should do the trick, but you can scrub out the interior with a little bleach if things get real bad.
*Good gear is key. I’m a Yeti guy. They make the best coolers, like this indestructible Roadie 24 Hard Cooler ($200; yeti.com), which fits in the front seat but holds plenty of fuel for the trip. —Brad Leone, Test Kitchen video host
Photo by KYLE JOHNSON8/17Empanadas Are Worth the U-Turn
One day, returning from a very quaint apple-picking trip with my in-laws in Newburgh, New York, I spotted a gleaming trailer off Route 9W with a tie-dye sign that proclaimed: Empanada Nirvana. “PULL OVER!” I screamed at my husband. There, surrounded by psychedelic pop art (Marilyn Monroe! Snoop Dogg! A skeleton in a patio chair!), was a man named Nelson Pantoja selling what just may be the most excellent empanadas I have ever tasted. We picked a lot of apples that day, but those perfect little half-moons—exteriors golden and crackly, insides bursting with oh-so-tender pernil, spicy komodo dragon sausage, or oozy cream cheese and guava—are all we ever talk about from that trip. —H.C.
Photograph by Laura Murray. Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova9/17Bake Ahead—and Thank Yourself Later
Yes, we’re telling you to bake before your big trip. But we’re telling you to bake these cookies, inspired by a trusted human energy source (trail mix) and crammed with enough toasted nuts, dried fruit, hearty oats, and chocolate to keep everyone in the car sated, away from potentially germy rest stops, and in shockingly good spirits. —S.E.W.
PHOTO BY AUBRIE PICK10/17And Always Say Yes to More Pastries
My mom may never forgive me for blowing up her favorite spot, but Mr. Bread, a family-owned Macanese bakery off Route 1 in San Francisco, serves the breakfast of road trip champions. Before you barrel down America’s prettiest highway, call ahead and order a bright pink pastry box filled with char siu baos, curry beef baos, and the nonnegotiable: eggy Portuguese custard tarts with an extra-flaky crust. Because when you’re on a road trip, there’s no such thing as too many baked goods. Cash only! —MacKenzie Fegan, contributing writer
11/17Keep It Clean
My 13-year-old Yaris sedan doesn’t have many things. Automatic locks? Stellar side-impact ratings? Nope. But you know what it does have? A ridiculous amount of napkins in the glove compartment. (And these days, some masks and hand-sanitizing wipes.) As my friends and I drove up and down California during college summers, I greedily snatched half-inch-thick napkin stacks from In-N-Outs, Jamba Juices, and random banh mi shops. I used to be embarrassed when my mom did this. “You never know when you’ll need it!” she’d say with fists stuffed full. But now—after years of exploding sodas and countless emergency bathroom breaks—I know. —Elyse Inamine, digital restaurant editor
Photo by Laura Murray12/17Stop for Seafood on the Savannah Highway
Cruising along the steamy tree-lined Gullah Geechee Corridor just outside Charleston, South Carolina, I keep my eyes peeled for a squat roadside building painted with fishing scenes in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Ravenel. Why? Because there are few road snacks more satisfying than Ravenel Seafood’s Gullah-style garlic crabs swimming in butter—best enjoyed at one of the outdoor picnic tables, if it’s quiet, or in your parked car. Worth the greasy steering wheel afterwards, I promise. —H.C.
13/17The Kids Are Alright
First, double-check: Do you really need to bring the kids? Are you sure? Well, okay. Here are some strategies for road tripping with small people.
Bring enough snacks to last twice the distance. And your car is a blank canvas, so opt for things that crumble (crackers) rather than ooze (peanut butter). Pro move: Pack a snack and pretend it isn’t for them. Road trips are the only times I get my kids to eat BjornQorn. There are no nutritional-yeast atheists in foxholes.
Keep their ears occupied. I bring volume-limiting headphones and a kid-friendly podcast (try But Why from Vermont Public Radio) or the audio from their favorite movies. We don’t let them watch the screen since that will make them puke.
Whatever you bring for one kid, bring for the other. In regular life my seven-year-old and four-year-old make a sport of liking different things. In the car it’s the opposite. A bag of M&M’s is your Alamo.
Pack surprises. Actually, pack a lot of things. Playgrounds and random Airbnb toys are no-gos right now, so you’ll need a backup plan (or five). Lengths of twine. Rubber bands. Take-out chopsticks. Two identical boxes full of the exact same pieces of Legos…
Gamify good hygiene. It’s hard enough for the adults in the car to remember to wash our hands, wear masks, and sanitize frequently—let alone the kids. Making up songs and offering low-key bribes (remember the M&M’s?) are great ways to make safety FUN.
Do not dignify “Are we there yet?” with an answer. If you’re using GPS, keep it to yourself. Unless you have one minute or less of travel time remaining, your kids just don’t need to know. —Chris Morocco, food director
Photo by Chelsie Craig15/17Stock Up on the Best Snacks, Before You Go
The fruits of the snack aisle are any traveler’s best bud. But these days it’s best to skip the crowds and pack (or cook) ahead. Here are our not-at-all-subjective suggestions.
White Label Yerba Mate Soda, $2 at Mercato: Aliza Abarbanel stocks the car with this fizzy Brooklyn-made yerba mate, which is good for a “gentle-boost” without the jitters.
Regenerative Organic Chile Mango, $5 at Patagonia Provisions: We dub this tropical snack “the car pleaser.” “It’s a favorite that even my kids love but is interesting enough with the chile to hold my interest,” Chris Morocco says.
Homemade Trail Mix: Amanda Shapiro dumps all the nuts, coconut flakes, and raisins or dates in her pantry into a bag, shakes them up with flaky salt, a dash of cinnamon, and “chocolate chips if I'm really going for it,” she adds.
Charms Super Blow Pop, $19 at Amazon: They’re interactive! Long lasting! FUN! Miriam Ross loves these lollipop-gum hybrids for staying awake “on drives lasting more than 45 minutes.”
Oven-Roasted Chickpeas: Emma Wartzman goes—ahem—the extra mile and crisps her own legumes to satiate the “satisfying salty bite” she craves after hours on end in the car.
Peanut Butter-Filled Pretzels, $8 at nuts.com: A true feat of food engineering, according to Sarah Jampel: “The pretzels are hollow, the peanut butter is dehydrated into these delightful chalky pellets, and I identify on an emotional level with their hard outer shell and soft middles,” she says.
Vanilla Granola Butter, $13 at Kween: Ali Francis expects whoever’s riding shotgun to smear this maple-laced, ’nola-inspired spread on a robust cracker for her. “When I am done chewing, I yell, ‘BUTTER UP!’ to let my passenger know I’d like another,” she says.
Dang Thai Rice Chips, $9 at Amazon: These crunchy coconut spheres fill the salty-sweet hole in Alex Pastron’s heart “and don't leave too much chip residue on your fingers, which is an essential car snack qualification.”
16/17Get Fresh
When a used car recently came into my life, so did a lingering smell of, uhhh, sock. The odor had nuance and depth, like a fine French perfume. I needed an odorizer that could counter it with as much distinction. I don't care if you've been traumatized by a Yankee Candle before; air fresheners are necessary in a sock situation, and have come a long way since the cardboard tree. My favorite is the Febreze One A/C vent clip air freshener in bamboo. It’s a subtle and neutral clean scent (because what does bamboo even smell like, nothing??); plus you can unclip it when the sock has dissipated. —Alex Beggs, senior staff writer
Photo by Emma Fishman17/17Pull Up For Peaches
You can’t drive through ye olde Peach State without stopping by (and masking up) at a farmer’s market, and Jaemor Farms & Market, a massive roadside iteration on Old Cornelia Highway, is the perfect pit (heh heh) stop between Atlanta and Asheville. Set on the edge of a 100-year-old farm in the wee town of Alto, this place sells just about every down-home Southern delight you could imagine: fresh Georgia peaches, yes, but also dreamy ice cream, homemade pastries, very good pimento cheese, local honey, and boiled p-nuts, the undisputed king of southern road trip snacks. Trust. —H.C.
