While preparing for my upcoming road trip to Oklahoma, This article showed up on Digg.com, 10 Road Trip Tech Essentials. While there are some interesting ideas here, the point of a road trip, to me, is not the ability to play video games for 12 hours straight while someone else drives. Much less watch movies. For me, the trip is the experience, the blur of fields and the slow passing of small towns. So here is my list of things that are necessary for a road trip.

1.Internet access - in some form, periodically. Verizon offers wireless service pretty much anywhere your phone works. If you have a data plan, you can still tweet. If you can tweet, you can update just about anything you want to update. If you have a GPS enabled phone, you can let everyone know exactly where you are. All the time. This, makes it easier for your kids to throw those keg parties while you are gone. Hint: When they call to see how you are, they are just making sure they know where you are.

2.Laptop - I use mine for GPS(sometimes). I can also use it to play music, stream Pandora to the car radio, or upload images to flickr.  (disclaimer: I also use it for work, don't tell anyone)

3.Camera(s) – I have a few. I have old film cameras, A DSLR, and I may even get a disposable. I like photos, what can I say.

4.Video Camera – you might be surprised when this comes in handy. I once filmed my wife singing “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On” while driving through Idaho. It adds to the memories, in my opinion.  Maybe I should post that somewhere.

5.Snacks – Jerky, sunflower seeds, candy bars, etc… This seems to get me through the tired early evenings. Doing anything besides staring at the tik tik tik of the white line going by is a blessing. Sunflower seeds seem to help keep me busy.

6.Inverter – for the electronics. The bigger the better. Laptops work fine when they are charged. Smaller inverters can overheat if you are trying to charge them though. They will work fine for phones, etc… My 300w works great for my laptop, OR charging my camera batteries.

7.Safety Kit – Roadside flares or markers, hand cranked flashlight etc… I could probably write a separate article for this one. Battery based chargers for the phone. Tent. Sleeping bags. Etc..

8.Music or podcasts – Music is great, “books on tape”, This American Life, short stories, XM/Sirius Radio. I like music for the road, but I really enjoying listening to podcasts or books. I once drove from LA to OK and listened to a Harry Potter book. It took the ENTIRE trip to listen to it. We would stop to get food or rest and find ourselves engrossed in the book. We would wait for a break in the action to get out of the car.

9.Maps or an Atlas – Just in case technology fails you. It is also an easy way to see what is around. I can’t begin to explain the off the path adventures Krista and I have had by taking a left every once in a while.

10.Good Company – Traveling together requires the ability to spend every waking hour with someone. EVERY hour. You better like the person you are with and know it. If you don’t, you could lose a friend. I once took a trip with someone I enjoyed being around. By the time the trip was done, I had started smoking after 5 years of being smoke free. There was nothing wrong about either one of us. It was the circumstance of the situation and the added bonus of having to spend time every waking hour with someone. I always wish I could apologize for that trip.

While these are essential, the concept here is more about the journey, and less about the destination. The essence of a road trip is the experience. It is the truck stops, the small towns, the diners, the food, and the people. It is seeing what is outside your immediate world.

Put away the video games, and the DVDs. Watch the country pass by and enjoy it. Meet people, talk to them and hear about their lives. Find a campsite, or a hotel, and relax between drives. It is worth it, to me.

Here is my itinerary at mcniece.com, my more personal place.