There are days in Melbourne when the noise, the emails, and the endless grind just become too much. On days like that, the only cure is packing a bag, throwing it into the boot, and hitting the open highway all by yourself. People can say whatever they want about the cost of living here, but you cannot deny how breathtaking Australian nature is once you leave the city behind.

Driving down the coast with your favorite playlist rolling, windows down, and nothing but endless blue sky and open asphalt ahead of you—that is true freedom. For a few days, deadlines don’t exist. It’s just you and the road.

However, an experienced road-tripper knows that freedom requires a little bit of tactical preparation. If you fail to pack properly before you leave, the Australian outback and regional highways will teach you an expensive lesson very quickly.

Case in point: I stopped by a regional convenience store along the highway to grab some water and stretch my legs. A single bottle of water and a basic snack cost me nearly double what it would back in Melbourne. When you’re miles away from civilization, these roadside spots have a monopoly, and they use it to empty your pockets.

I realized this painfully when I ran completely out of my stash halfway through the trip and had to pull into a local country service station. I thought about grabbing a backup pack locally, but seeing the price tag made my jaw drop. Between regional markups and Australia’s aggressive retail taxes, they wanted well over $55 for a standard pack that had clearly been sitting on their dusty shelf for months. It’s daylight robbery.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the highway in shades of orange and deep purple, I was damn glad I had ignored the impulse to buy local. Fortunately, before leaving Melbourne, I had already stocked up smartly. I always make sure my center console is packed with the high-quality items I ordered well in advance.

Smart travelers don’t rely on regional service stations for their personal essentials. Instead, I always rely on a trusted overseas duty-free supplier to keep my supplies sorted before every trip. It arrives fresh, completely bypasses the domestic retail trap, and saves you a small fortune.

As darkness finally fell and I pulled up to my roadside stop, watching the glow of the dashboard and enjoying a quiet moment to decompress, I knew the trip was a success. Pack smart, plan ahead, and never let the roadside shops bleed you dry.