Food and water: The bare minimum needed for sustained life. But for sustained life (and sustained sanity!) with kids, you’ll need a bit more. Add into the basic shelter, clothing, toiletries, first aid kit, lighting source and entertainment. Now, you can set out on your merry way and not worry (too much) if trouble strikes while you’re on the road.

Shelter/Covering: Depending on the season, you’ll either need to stay warm or keep cool. Light weight blankets and sheets can do double and even triple duty, to cover up cold bodies, hot seats or keep out a blistering sun, and a rain poncho can keep the interior dry if the windows are open.

Clothing: A spare set of clothes for every family member (and extras for infants or toddlers) will definitely be appreciated. Especially when the kids get cold (or hot) or the baby spits up (or worse) in the car seat. In winter time, an extra set of hats and gloves (and even a pair of boots) will probably not go to waste.

Toiletries: Diapers, wipes, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, ‘cause when you gotta go, you gotta go. Do you really want to have to have your car detailed when you get back home?

First aid kit: Ready made first aid kits can be found in any drugstore. Save some money and make your own; include bandages, alcohol swabs, pain reliever, gauze, disinfectant, ointment, nausea medicine or travel sickness bands, etc.

Light Source: Unless you live in the land of the midnight sun, a fully charged flashlight (check the batteries), glow light stick or emergency candles (not regular candles!) are essential. In a pinch (i.e. your flashlight batteries are dead) you can run your interior lights but bear in mind that they are draining your car battery.

Entertainment: Keep handy a stash of toys or books that the kids don’t know about. A good cheap source is the toy from the kids’ meals that you order for yourself (you really don’t need all those calories in a super size #3 anyway).

Chocolate: Need we mention the obvious?