Nothing serves as a better reminder that it’s summer than the open road, be it a flat stretch of highway dropping off into the horizon or a winding two-lane route speckled by sunlight peeking through trees. When the temperature rises and the stench of the city becomes too much, friends with wheels suddenly become our closest pals. So as to avoid the role of ungrateful mooch, here’s a guide to being the life of the, ah, cramped two-door hatchback.

Music can make or break any road trip, and although we can’t help you surround yourself with people who share your specialized taste in driving tunes, at least you’ll be set gear-wise. MP3 CD players can play regular record-store issue in addition to data CDs that store up to 10 hours of music. Even the top-of-the-line iRiver SlimX iMP-400 can be had for less than $200, and Amazon.com also hawks the SlimX’s more reasonably priced cousin, the ChromeX iMP-150, with a car kit included ($79.99).

Staving off hunger can be a big challenge while on the road, especially with a new fast-food restaurant advertised on each passing rest-stop sign. Make a trip to Whole Foods before hitting the highway and pick up some of its bulk-bin trail mixes ($5.19–$6.19/pound), or fashion your own from the vast selection of dry goods, including almonds ($5.49/pound), pumpkin seeds ($3.99/pound), Monukka raisins ($2.19/pound), and peanuts ($2.39/pound). Trail mix is surprisingly filling, and it saves precious time otherwise lost stopping for alternatives that can be less kind to the traveling stomach.

Keep the conversation interesting — and the driver awake — with Would You Rather...? (Plume; $9.95). Sold by Amazon.com, this pocket-size book by Justin Heimberg and David Gomberg borders on the ridiculous, but in the contained realm of the car, it somehow finds its place. Debate the more palatable of two fates, such as having "living eyebrows that crawl about your face" versus leaving "a trail of paprika wherever you go." The book inevitably becomes a springboard for hypothesizing your own, more demented dilemmas.

Car trouble can be the quickest killjoy; no one likes getting stuck on the shoulder with a flat during the witching hour. An American Automobile Association membership ($45), available online, ensures roadside assistance along with discounts on all things travel-related. Brookstone sells a Roadside Auto Emergency kit ($80) that features 10 essential items, including jumper cables and a first-aid kit.

Road trips won’t get very far without a map, and one with a spiral binding won’t saddle the navigator with the task of map folding. Barnes & Noble sells maps by local publishers Arrow and Universal ($12.95–$21.95) that cover all of Massachusetts and up into New Hampshire and the lakes region. B&N also publishes its own Roadmaster line of spiral-bound maps ($10.95; large print, $17.95) that covers the rest of the country, plus Canada and Mexico. That’s right — Canada and Mexico. Did we mention that each disc you bring for that MP3 CD player holds 10 hours of music? Hit the road already.

Where to find it:

• American Automobile Association, www.aaa.com.

• Barnes & Noble, various locations; www.bn.com.

• Brookstone, 100 CambridgeSide Place, CambridgeSide Galleria, Cambridge, (617) 621-6959; 100 Huntington Avenue, Boston, (617) 267-4308; www.brookstone.com.

• Whole Foods Market, various locations.

• www.amazon.com.