Documenting a vacation has a lot of benefits, keeping those memories alive will reduce stress for months to come. You may record a trip to share the videos on social media or with your family.
To record a vlog style video while on a road trip, set up a tripod on the dash of your car. Action Cameras are often waterproof and can also be mounted on the outside of your car. If you want to have continuous video of the road while you are driving, consider a dash cam.
There are a lot of reasons to record your trip, some people want to record their drive for safety reasons, dash cams are designed to record for hours whenever your car is in motion.
How do you vlog a road trip?
Depending on your equipment there are many ways to vlog while you are on a road trip.
Vlogging on a road trip is easy with a GoPro or other action camera, your normal vlogging camera, a dash cam, or even with your phone. The key is to select the correct mounts and sound recording equipment. Whatever setup you use, be sure to practice in a safe place before you take it on the road. Sound is a very important thing to consider while in the car.
Try getting a windshield mount for your normal vlog setup, camera, phone or GoPro and then move on to sound.
Get an external mic, the easiest option is a wireless lav mic.
Many travel vloggers rely on GoPros to get the amazing action and drone shots that make the channels so stunning.
Camera Mount
Dash Cam
Dash cams are designed to be installed in a car to record continuously while you drive.
Professional drivers use these to protect themselves legally in the event of a crash. My husband is a truck driver and these are common in that profession.
Dash cams are capable of producing beautiful, high quality footage that would be suitable for travel vlogging.
I found this really great comparison video of a few dash cams and their performance on a road trip.
Dash cams can be had at every price point from $30 to well over $300.
This is the camera you want if you want to set it and forget it. They are mounted to the windshield and the cords can be tucked in around the windshield and it is a slick, permanent installation.
There are added benefits to using a dash cam to record, they have cloud backup, parking mode, collision alerts and they add lots of security to your vehicle.
The cloud connected models can alert you if someone breaks into or hits your car while you are away. Super helpful in a new area.
They are legal to operate while you drive, and they will not be distracting while you get down the road.
Go Pro
When you think about recording while driving, you probably thought about the GoPro, or another action camera like this one on Amazon.
These cameras have endless accessories for you to mount the camera anywhere.
Start with a windshield mount and play around with different positions and modes with the GoPro, I also though this setup with a magnet and sticky pad, to be a really versatile mount setup.
Be sure to use the ultrasmooth mode for recording while driving.
If you are going for some very smooth footage, invest in a gimbal mount. You can attach these mounts to other harnesses or mounts to get smooth interesting footage from lots of angles.
Be careful and practice in a safe area.
This couple shows you their exact setup with a GoPro Hero 8, all the settings and what they use to get high quality sound while recording in the car.
Phone Mounts
I do not drive and record, but I do record lots of videos while sitting in my car.
I record with my phone 90% of the time, and I love this mount on Amazon, it is inexpensive and versatile. It can be used in many situations and it fits my phone pretty well, but I do have to remove my phone case for the phone to fit.
I have also used this mount that suctions to the dash and holds the phone while the phone is in motion.
I do not record myself with my phone while I am driving, I think it could be done safely with a GoPro or a camera with an app that could connect to and control the camera easily. Dashcams are another great way to get footaa
Many states have laws against using your phone while driving, so I am not sure it is worth the risk.
Documenting Road Trip Memories
If you are looking for more creative ways to document your trip and you are not looking for video footage, we have found some other great ways to commemorate a great adventure.
Family Journal
My favorite way to document all our family adventures is with a family journal.
We use a simple Family Book that is just a simple spiral bound notebook.
This is available to anyone who wants to add to the book. I encourage my family to add any memories, things they notice or how they are feeling about day to day life or trips in the book.
I hope that it will become a record of our family history.
We only have 3 writers in our family so this idea will hopefully grow with my family. I dream of my teenage kids sharing their memories and emotions in the family notebook. I’ll check back and let you know how that goes!
Family Collection
If writing is not your thing, start a family collection.
We love to collect little items on our trips, my husband is really into coffee mugs. We have a great one from Cirque that is actually his favorite mug.
If you choose to collect something natural like rocks or flowers, be sure to follow all local laws about removing natural items. Many places do not allow tourists to take rocks, so don’t break the law.
Christmas Album
I am sure you are already taking photos on your family vacation, print those out and give everyone an album at Christmas.
There are a lot of reasons I like this method.
We know that shared memories help build strong families. So Christmas morning can be a great time to remember all the wonderful things you have done as a family.
Spend some time together reflecting on what the year was like, laughing and smiling.
You can go to Walmart.com or walgreens.com and build a photo book right on the site, or you can go low tech and buy a photo album from Dollar Tree and put about 24 photos in the book.
I made these for my kids to look at when I was leaving them with my mom for a few days, just a little reminder of everything we love as a family.
If you want more interesting ideas for documenting family trips, I have 11 more ideas in this post.
Is it legal to record while driving?
There are no specific laws about filming while driving at the time of writing, but there are 24 states that have laws against hand held phone use. So, if you choose to record yourself while driving, do not use your phone.
In my opinion the safest way to record yourself while driving is to mount a camera in a secure way, and press record before you start driving.
I like to record while I am parked. Then I get the road trip vibes without being distracted while driving.
If you are looking to get footage of your travels, invest in a dash cam and record while you drive, I was surprised at the quality of these cameras. They are a great addition to a vlogging setup for a road trip.
If you choose to go with a dash cam be sure to install it in compliance with local laws. Some states, like Alabama, require that it be mounted to the dash not the windshield.
