Gear

Road to Joy

Five Essentials for Road Trip Season

And so, here we are. The season in which you hop in a car and steer it toward an endless patch of soul-liberating asphalt just before saying, “Dammit, I forgot the... truffle-cheddar pretzels.” So don’t forget the truffle-cheddar pretzels. Or the rest of these road-tripping essentials...

THE MAPS

Navigating Like It’s 1989

You Require: A worthy home for the road atlas you’ll consult anytime you feel like marveling at the complexity of the Interstate Highway System. Or if your GPS fails.
You’ll Receive: A hand-glazed roll-up leather case with the definitive US atlas and a detachable magnifying glass. Almost makes you wish Google Maps didn’t exist. (Almost.)

THE SNACKS

A Full Road Trip’s Worth of Pretzels

You Require: Something savory. Something salty. Something... that isn’t corn nuts from a truck stop in Nebraska.
You’ll Receive: A shipment of the finest pretzels made in New York City, with flavors like truffle cheddar, garlic parsley and feta olive. (Note: state troopers are known to bend certain laws for feta olive.)

THE LUGGAGE

A Lust-Inducing Leather Suitcase

You Require: Something that looks good in the backseat of a cherry-red 1964 Mustang (or, you know, another vehicle). And that doesn’t mind holding your socks.
You’ll Receive: A hand-stitched, navy suitcase made with vegetable-tanned Italian leather and lined with British wool. Because your socks have high standards.

THE COPILOT

An Activity Tracker for Your Car

You Require: A seamless way to track gas mileage, engine health and... where you parked your car.
You’ll Receive: This little gadget, which tracks all of that via your car’s diagnostic port, then syncs with your smartphone—and alerts 911 if there’s an emergency. Sadly, it can’t help you with closed rest stops.

THE TUNES

Like GPS for Your Soundtrack

You Require: A playlist capable of scoring a cross-country road trip from Fairbanks to Key West.
You’ll Receive: This Spotify app, which tailors songs to specific locations (like Elvis’s “Viva Las Vegas” for Vegas) and types of places (like “Folsom Prison Blues” for prisons) via your phone’s location. Try to keep “Folsom Prison Blues” to a minimum.