Entertainment, Health and Lifestyle

Less is More: Four Packing Tips for Your Next Road Trip

The small bus with bags on a roof

When packing for a road trip, it can be tempting to just empty your entire room into the trunk of your car and call it a day. However, this isn’t always a very practical approach to effectively packing for a road trip. In fact, it rarely is. There is a lot to consider when packing for a road trip, and depending on the exact situation you’re in, what you need to pack will differ too.

For example, if you’re taking a road trip to a family wedding out of state, you’re going to almost certainly need all of the appropriate dress clothes for the event. Especially if you’re in the wedding party. On the other hand, if you’re taking a little solo-vacation, or just going camping with your partner, these situations require a different level of packing and preparation.

Having a few simple tips and tricks in your back pocket to help you consolidate, minimize your luggage, and maximize the space in luxury RVs or other road tripping vehicles will help you avoid over-packing, while making sure there’s room for all of the essentials and belongings that are appropriate for the trip.

1.     Knowing Your Vehicle

One of the biggest determinations in how you’ll need to approach packing for your road trip is the vehicle you’re going to be driving itself. If you’re planning on taking a road trip with a smaller vehicle, you’re going to need to spend a lot more time packing wisely. It’s also worth noting that smaller vehicles are typically better designed for shorter road trips, whereas larger vehicles that offer more storage space are a bit easier to pack for long road trip adventures away from home and out of state.

Knowing the ins and outs of your vehicle will also help you make informed packing decisions. For instance, if you know that your trunk has an extra storage space beneath the floor, you can make use of this space when you pack your car. In that same way, if your back-seats fold down and you aren’t planning on bringing along a lot of passengers you can also pack your belongings keeping this in mind, and knowing you have a way to make a little extra space in your trunk if you should need.

2.     Planning the Trip and Logistics

In a similar fashion to knowing the ins and outs of your vehicle, you’re also going to want to make some solid preparations regarding the trip itself. There is a big difference between a 4 hour road trip and a 20 hour road trip. Having an idea of the scope and scale of the trip that you’re planning will help you make important decisions regarding the logistics. For instance, luxury RVs make a much more comfortable 20 hour road trip ride than say a pick-up truck, or an overstuffed SUV.

By learning your route and understanding how much time you’re actually going to be driving during the road trip, you’ll be able to approach packing and planning the trip with a more realistic perspective.

During the planning phases, you should also predetermine a few places to stop and take a break from driving along the way. This is especially the case for longer road trips that sprawl on for hours. You’ll want a  chance every now and again to stretch your legs, use the bathroom, and get a bite to eat.

3.     Making the Most of the Space

When it comes down to it, there’s a lot to consider when packing for a road trip. One of the best pieces of advice, though, is that less-is-more. There are a variety of organizational tools and systems that can turn packing the car for a road trip into a much smoother experience.

If you really want to know how much you can fit in your car, you can always do a mock-pack to see if all the belongings you would want on a road trip will actually fit.

4.     Knowing What’s Essential

At the end of the day, it takes a little bit of decision making to really determine if a belonging, item, or piece of clothing is truly essential to the trip, or if it’s just something we want to have with us. If you’re having trouble fitting everything into your vehicle, you may have to do some reflection on the belongings you’re packing and make some hard decisions on what actually needs to come with you for this trip.

A Few Last Words

Packing luxury RVs or any road tripping vehicle can often be the most stressful part of the entire trip. However, if you take the time to learn your vehicle, invest in a few simple organizational tools, and take the time to pack specifically for the purpose of the trip, you’ll find it easy to play tetris with your trunk and fit everything you want to take with you on the open road.

Support Conservative Daily News with a small donation via Paypal or credit card that will go towards supporting the news and commentary you've come to appreciate.

Hanna Heller

Hanna is the entertainment and lifestyle editor for CDN. Fan of great movies, legendary music, outdoor activities and cool stuff in general, her opinions, as expressed in her articles, are her own and not necessarily shared by anyone .. anywhere .. ever. Follow Hanna on Twitter: @Hanna_CDN

Related Articles

Back to top button