Photo: iStock

Heading to the cottage, embarking on a camping adventure or just enjoying the scenery slide by - road trip season has officially kicked off!

As a road trip enthusiast myself, I thought that now seemed like a good time to post about five essential items you should have with you on any road trip.

1. A fully stocked car safety kit. For a complete list of things to include in your kit, check out our car safety kit post. You might want to make some adjustments for summer - although hats and mittens may still come in handy, depending on where you're travelling!

2. Paper maps. I learned this tip the hard way when the GPS we'd bought right before our road trip died an hour out of Vancouver and the car charger didn't work. HA ha! When GPS fails and there's no cell service, you'll be REALLY happy you hauled your map book with you.

3. Extra fluids. Bring extra drinking water for everyone and extra coolant, in case your car overheats. Keeping yourself and your car hydrated is key in hot weather.

4. Cash. 99% of my transactions are on my credit or debit cards. But one time in the U.S., the gas station I was at didn't take debit and refused to accept my credit card. You never know when good old paper currency can come in handy. Keep it on you in case your car is stolen.

5. Portable jumpstarter. This particular gadget, the JunoJumpr, would be perfect in a road trip emergency - it charges your cell phone AND jumpstarts your car! Handy if you're somewhere remote and there's no one around to give you a jump.

Bonus item: A towel. Because, as we all learned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a towel is "just about the most massively useful thing any interstellar Hitchhiker can carry."

Think I missed any road trip essentials? Leave them in the comments! Happy road tripping!

- Rose R.