Road Trip Packing Tips
So thi s isn’t purely Disney-planning related, because we like taking road trips to other places. We also went to Disney by road last time, (pre-Blog) and that time in Marla’s Chevy Corsica. We had a lot fewer kids then :). I also moved from Seattle to Chicago by car almost twenty years ago, so I have some experience driving cross country. So these are my road trip packing tips, in case you ever get the itch to hit the open road.
- Separate your trip into three sections – getting there, being there, and going home.
- Break up your "getting there" section into legs (e.g. each stopover)
- Pack one bag for each stopover on the "Getting There" leg. Include all changes of clothes.
- Pack one small bag for swim gear and accessories
- Pack kids toys and comfort items in a separate bag (or one for each of them to carry)
- Pack all of your "being there" clothes into large bags
- Get one of those car-top luggage carriers; put the large bags into the car-top
- Put the stopover small bags into the back of the car or trunk
- Get one of those hitch-receiver platforms
- Put a cooler with either (A) food for the road or (B) Extra items onto the hitch-receiver platform
Now, at each "Stopover", you just open the back of your car or trunk, grab one bag (plus your swimgear), and go to your hotel room. The kids carry their comfort items.
When you get to your destination, you unload the big bags off the roof.
This plan assumes that you can do laundry (or pay someone to) during your trip. Wash your "getting there" clothes, and re-pack them for the return trip.
Whether you wash your "being there" clothes or not depends on the length of your trip, and how much you pack. But of course, at the end of your "destination" trip, you put everything back on top of the car, and have your "getting home" bags in the bag.
The rear hitch platform is, of course, optional depending on whether or not you need more storage (the cooler keeps things from getting wet) or food on the road.
More road trip tips to come…