Road trip hacks?

[bisous]

Leaving this week(!!) for a 10 day road trip. 9 nights, 8 different hotels and 6 people, lol.

Any hacks for packing/car set up that work well for you?

I've seen families pack the days clothes for the whole family into one suitcase or bin vs having each person with their own suitcase. The only tricky thing about this is that we're visiting places that might need things like water shoes, bathing suits and raincoats! So it isn't like I can just grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for each person in the fam.

Another thought I had was bringing in a few of those ikea blue bags to hold muddy/wet shoes to keep gunk out of the car?

Also, each of our hotels will have a mini-fridge and a microwave. Any tips on health(ish) meals that could help us find nourishment for 6 people multiple times a day?

Thanks in advance!

[AnnieW625]

My only suggestion is to have each person pack a backpack and keep the water shoes, swimsuit, and rain jacket in it. Since you have a mini van they should be able to each keep the backpack at their feet. ETA: you could add pjs, and travel size shampoo, conditioner, soap/face wash, and teeth brushing stuff to this bag as well.

If one of your hotels has laundry then only pack for 5 days and make sure that you do laundry half way through the trip. If you don’t mind doing laundry more then you can pare down the number of suitcases and do laundry every 3 days, but tbh when I am on vacation I really don’t want to be doing laundry.

Food wise tbh I wouldn’t see myself using the mini fridge for one night at each place. Keep shelf stable fruit an option like apples, protein bars, and cheese sticks. Maybe have some deli meat. Also the mini fridge freezer might only come in handy for re freezing your blue ice.

I am not a road trip person (like the bulk of this board) so please take this advice with a grain of salt, but that is my .02.

[bisous]

Annie, I think your ideas are great. I will check again re: laundry facilities. I made a spreadsheet checking various amenities and forgot to include that one. It would be awfully nice to have an option midweek to freshen up! I didn't even think about the fact that I'd need to keep my ice chests cold... I usually use blue ice. Maybe for a road trip I'll need to use actual ice instead since that is usually easy enough to find at hotels?

[georgiegirl]

I pack all rain gear in one packing cube that is labeled. Same with other specialty items. My boys like to misplace things, so keeping all “rain shells” and “”water hiking shoes” together is key so I can distribute them as needed.

Definitely research whether your lodging has mini fridges and laundry.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We do a beach bag with all beach things.

We have an overnight bag each (though I have consolidated us into fewer before), like a backpack, that we can easily grab that has a change of clothes, PJs and toiletries. we leave the rest in the car if just staying somewhere for a night.

Everyone has to be responsible for their personal items. Make a checklist if you need to. That all goes in and is kept in their backpack. Books, chargers, electronics, toothbrush/paste, any of their must haves (especially must haves to them- I don't really care what all goes in the backpack so long as they accept full responsibility for it)

Take a soft sided cooler but at some point but accept that you will be buying more than you want to on the road. Food doesn't last forever outside of the fridge unless you have some super amazing cooler. Foot safety matters. So, don't keep lugging questionable food into hotel fridges- at some point it just won't be good anymore. If you have the ability to cook then take some boxes of pasta, jarred sauce and other pantry staples that don't need to be refrigerated. Otherwise, enjoy eating out and also going to new grocery stores.

Long ago I had my kids pack their own snack bags. I would go to the store and buy a bunch of stuff and they would portion it out as they saw fit. So much better for us than one massive snack bag filled with full sizes bags and boxes that have to be passed around. I also didn't supervise it- if they ate it all immediately, too bad. Make sure everyone has water.

I have them bring a pillow and a small blanket for car comfort and they usually brought them into hotels.

We don't take many stops- we just want to get where we are going. You won't find us frolicking at a rest area to stretch our legs. Nope, just keep going.

Rick Riordan audio books are really fun listens. If you haven't done Magnus Chase yet, try that.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Annie, I think your ideas are great. I will check again re: laundry facilities. I made a spreadsheet checking various amenities and forgot to include that one. It would be awfully nice to have an option midweek to freshen up! I didn't even think about the fact that I'd need to keep my ice chests cold... I usually use blue ice. Maybe for a road trip I'll need to use actual ice instead since that is usually easy enough to find at hotels?

If you are trying to transport stuff between your hotels, Ice won't help if you are out all day and keep the cooler in your car.

You have a lot of people in your car and lots of stuff. A bulky cooler is going to be a challenge.

[PunkyBoo]

With a mini fridge and microwave, you really can't rely on it for actual meals. It's fine for keeping snacks overnight while you refill the ice, and reheat any dinner leftovers. (Also many mini fridges don't have a freezer compartment so the blue ice is useless). We found that bringing plastic grocery bags makes ice much easier- fill several of them full of ice and use them as ice packs around your food. Then empty the water from them (and drain the cooler) then use the bags at the ice machines at each stop. Much easier than trying to refill a cooler at the ice machine.
We generally assume the cooler is just for car foods and water bottles (we keep a flat of water bottles in the car, stage in enough for each day into the cooler, and usually have to buy more somewhere during the trip). You can take those instant oatmeal cups (heat water in microwave) or similar for breakfasts in the room (someone usually gets hungry before everyone is ready to head out). Small individual shelf stable milk is good for any little cereal cups or we take a large bag of granola or Kashi go cereal (but then you have to have disposable bowls - we always take a pack of disposable utensils and a roll of paper towels in the car, as well as a few plastic grocery bags to use as trash cans). We like individual guacamole cups & individual hummus cups for car snacks, with a bag of sliced veggies and/or chips/pretzels. Also good are those individual bags of sliced apples.
We are a family of 4 and find it easier if everyone has their own bag (we use big duffels, on some trips the kids can share one and DH and I share one), with each day planned/separated and labeled into packing cubes or Ziploc bags. The "extras" /specialty items go in a separate cube/Ziploc bag. Plan to bring extra Ziploc bags or grocery bags to separate dirty clothes, dirty shoes, and wet items.
We love road trips so let me know if you want more info.

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[doberbrat]

if you're doing laundry onthe road, the detergent sheets are brilliant - no chance of spillage.

Road trips are when we have junk food - Wendy's, waffle house etc. We also keep chocolate in the cooler. Make sure everyone has a water bottle. Get an extra cup of ice at fast food places. Ear plugs are handy for when you dont want to listen to someone else's music. An extra long charging coard so phones/devices can be charged in the middle of the car is handy. We don't tend to stop overnight, but if I think we're going to, then I pack everyone's things in 1 bag. I have a toiletry kit in my purse so we can brush our teeth at a rest stop. Make sure you have extra toothbrushes in case one of the kids drops one.

Keep a few extra grocery bags and large trash bags in the car as well as a couple of old towels. We travel with throw blankets so that everyone can have their preferred temp in the car - we just sit on them till needed. It also helps keep the car seats cleaner.

Keep all electronics out of sight when stopping. Unless you are willing to carry them all, I dont let the kids bring them out of the car. Its too easy to leave stuff behind.

If you're driving overnight, dont let the tank get too empty. With covid, many formerly 24h gas stations now close overnight. On our last trip to NC, we got down to having enough fuel to drive 1 mi b/c dh didnt want to stop too soon.

have fun!

[LD92599]

We did a 14 hour road trip last summer and it was a different hotel each night except for the middle of the trip, where we where in the same hotel for 2-3 nights.
I packed all of us in one bag for the first few nights; another bag for the middle hotel...and then another for the end of the trip.
Stuff we needed for all aspects - chargers, swim gear, toiletries...were in one central bag. This way into each hotel stay was the main bag plus the extra's. It worked out really well. and trying to put each person's outfits into a ziplock so you're not tearing through a suitcase!

[LD92599]

Oh and bring something to throw all the dirty clothes in to keep them separate. I had a completely separate bag for laundry and it was great - the suitcases got lighter and lighter and the laundry bag stayed in the van and got fatter and fatter!