Everything We Need Fits in the Fit: Packing for a Multi-Month Roadtrip

People seem to be mind blown that we are fitting everything in our car. In the car - our little Honda Fit. Who, by the way, is named Norman.

Norman, the Honda Fit, about to drive off the lot in 2015. He had no idea how many adventures we'd go on!

We did not want to deal with rooftop or trailer storage while traveling across the country. Simultaneously, we wanted to be intentional about what we brought on the trip. Learning to live with less is a value of ours, and this was the ultimate test. Plus, as I mentioned in an earlier post, we are paying for a storage unit that houses things we could not part with.

But, packing was a struggle. That’s because we were not just packing for a trip. We needed to pack for a several-month, all-season, multi-activity road trip and move out of our house filled with six years of stuff and determine what stays in a small storage unit. There were entire days when we went to the storage unit a few times, ran to the dump, went to Goodwill, and were visited by Buy Nothing members who were taking things off our hands. It was chaos, absolute chaos, but we made it!

In typical packing fashion, it was all about layers for us. Long and short sleeve shirts, sweaters, light and heavy jackets, plus long-John’s, jeans and leggings. We left some clothing in our storage unit, and broadly, prioritized packing our favorite, multi-use clothing. Here was my packing process:

1. Start with the easy stuff: I think it’s a lot easier to start with easy items you know you’ll need like toiletries, undergarments, and core outfit-makers like jeans.

2. Create outfits as you go: I usually lay out my clothes in outfits, with overlapping items to indicate that I can make multiple outfits out of these 1-2 pieces. This helps me assign “packing value” to clothing. This helps me prioritize what MUST get packed versus lower priority items.

3. Review the itinerary: I have two weddings to go to during this road trip. One is more casual and one will be semi-formal. This made packing really easy because I was able to prioritize a few of my favorite dresses for these events - and justify bringing a set of sandals that are not my Chachos.

4. Test pack: I spent probably three, incredibly stressful hours trying to figure out my packing situation. I used packing cubes, reorganized which clothing goes into what bags, and repacking before I landed on what I actually packed.

5. You can buy! There comes a time during packing that you realize you’re way to stressed out about something really small. The advantage of being an American traveling the US is that you do not have to think twice about where to get the things you need. So, I let go of the idea of packing perfectly. If I need something, I’ll get it. If I never wear something, I’ll pass it along to Goodwill.

Aside from clothing and toiletries, we also packed:

• A kitchen bin: Though many Airbnb’s are well-equipped, it’s never consistent. We did not want to deal with this, so we packed a few of our favorite kitchen items. Our kitchen bin houses our beloved cast iron pan, a cutting board, kitchen essentials (spatulas, wooden spoons), baggies, knives and spices and more.

• A camping bin + “outdoor gear” bags: We spend a lot of time in the outdoors. Alex is a climber and I’m an avid hiker/backpacker. We are only camping a few times on our trip, but we both knew we wanted to bring the gear to explore new places adequately. In our camping bin, we have our backcountry stove, first aid kits, shit kits, maps, sunscreen and of course, a tent. In our outdoor gear bags, we’ve each packed smaller gear like our Spot, binoculars, harness, ropes, helmet, sleeping pads, etc.

• A shoe bin: Less exciting, but practical, we put all our shoes in a plastic storage bin. Since their so challenging to pack elsewhere, this made sure we kept the mess isolated and shoes - for any activity - easy to access.

• Computer bags: As we’re working on the road, we both have pretty packed computer bags with our laptops, iPads, all the cords and some office supplies like pens and mice. “Office in a bag” was the idea.

As I write this, we’re traveling from Los Angeles to Arizona, and I can honestly say that I think I packed what I need. I’ve been happy with my options and so happy about our kitchen bin as our first long stay did not have great kitchen options. At this point in the trip, I am really only regretting not packing a few friends or having room to acquire a kitten. One day.