A friend asked me how I planned for packing and to be honest, packing for 31 days on the road seemed a little daunting at first, but I literally only packed everything the night before. I had it planned in my head as to what I needed, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself so the day before, I went through my mental list and just started packing. My boyfriend installed a roof rack on my car so that we could put the car carrier on top for long term storage of extra clothes, some food stuffs, and essentials. Everything else got put in the back seat and “trunk” of my Kia Soul. These little cars are like a clown car. It’s amazing what you can fit inside, but that car carrier was the best thing I ever did to this little work horse! I fit our clothes into two bags each and then made a “3 day bag” of clothes that we could take into our tent or a house (when we stay with friends) rather than lugging everything we own with us (my mom’s genius idea from her own road trip that she’s currently on). Toiletries got put into one bag, and our valuables got put into a backpack.
All of our camping gear and camp stove that we need every night got put into the “trunk” of the car so that I can easily store it and have easy access to set up when we make camp. The cooler is in the middle of the back seat so it’s convenient to reach into when we want something to eat while on the road. We put two cases of water on the floor of the back seat, as well as a couple bags of snacks. The rest of our blankets, pillows, overnight bag, etc. got put on the seats around the cooler. It’s a tight fit, but there’s still room for me to be able to see out the back window and the side windows so nothing is obstructing my view while driving.
We’re day 2 into our trip and it seems to be working well.