Irene and I leave in a few days on our SouthWest Road Trip (the actual reason we bought the MINI). Anyway, thought I'd ask about your packing tips and ideas.

I'll start with mine:

Let's face it; we all have underwear in our drawer that, well, maybe is, you know, tired. My idea is to bring the old stuff, wear it once and toss it. Two weeks in, no dirty shorts, traveling lite, stop at Sams and pick up a whole new set.

Tee shirts; buy a new souvenir tee every other day, toss the current one and you're good to go.

Jeans; in my youth, I could easily get 3 weeks out of one pair. Don't know if I am up to that now....

So whats your idea?

 

Drinks & Stops

We always used to overpack snacks and drinks... better off packing a very small cooler (bonus points for collapsable - reduces size) for times when you can't stop. We don't pack ice either - the chilled drinks will stay cool in a well insulated cooler just fine.

Travelling can promote dehydration, so you need to drink plenty of fluids, but pick up a couple of drinks every time you fill up the gas tank and don't let trash accumulate in the car - empty it out every stop.

At stops, get as much done as possible - if your copilot needs to use the restroom, stop at a gas station, fill up the gas tank, relieve yourself, do everything you would do at a planned stop, so you can skip one further on in the trip.

Get into a groove - it's like making a stop in the race pits - everyone has a set of responsibilities (who gets the trash, who gets the next round of drinks/snacks, who washes the windows, etc.) and you can actually cut the overall stop time down through efficiency.

 

You know... when I did my X-country road trip it took me almost 3 weeks to make it to LA -- which is where I hit my first and only laundromat. (Right on Sunset -- I felt like a starving wannabe movie star hanging out in the laundromat with my mum )

My point is that I have NO IDEA how I made it 3 weeks without washing anything, and it really wasn't a hardship. LA was the first time I actually thought to do any laundry. And I only had the thought because I had to hit up a Vickie's Secret to replenish the skivvies (which enabled my 3+ week trip home without any further washing! )

I did wear lots of those quick-dry shorts from EMS which can be washed and dried in a hotel sink...

 

The MINI has a HUGE amount of space compared to some other cars. We've done maybe 40K miles cross country in two seat sports car with maybe enough luggage for two gym bags

The secret to packing is simple.

1. If its disposable, you use it and throw it out
2. You can never have enough socks and underwear
3. Hit the laundramat, a lot
4. ALL clothes do double or triple duty. No need for separate cloths for the "evening" and day.
5. If you buy something, something leave the car. Best bet if your going to keep it, mail it home. We mailed lots of stuff home

good luck!

 

Especially in the Southwest where the temperatures can easily exceed 100s for several hours each day. You cannot drink enough water so keep on drinking.

 

I buy a lot of my travel clothes at http://www.travelsmith.com/ I've got some of their khaki pants that will pack in about 1/4 the space as a typical pair of jeans. Using theor "technical" clothes, I can pack a weeks worth of clothes in a small to medium sized duffel bag.

I typically keep an "emergency kit" in a small duffel bag in each of our cars with two changes of clothes, toiletries, a first aid kit, and some other common travel supplies. For a trip on short notice, or if I find myself spending the night somewhere away from home that I hadn't planned on, I'm prepared. For a short planned trip, I may add some clothes, but otherwise I'm all ready to go.

My philosophy for packing used to be along the lines of "if I might need, it, bring it along", and I always ended up with a lot of extra stuff that I never used on a trip. I've pretty much changed to only bringing the essentials, if I need something I've left at home along the way, I can buy it on the trip, but I seldom have to.

-Keith

 

The best advice I ever got regarding what to pack was to take everything at the end of each trip and put it in one of two piles. One pile is for things that I used. The other was for things I did not use. List the things that were used and take them on the next similar trip. Do this each time and the list gets shorter each time until you soon take only what you need. With the excellent advice about disposables given above, you would have to modify the list somewhat to include the things that were used but didn't make it home.

 

My newest travel lite idea!
Bring only one shirt, then change the color in software.


At Henry's Rabbit Ranch. On old Route 66 in Illinois.

 

Excellent idea - whether traveliing in a MINI or day-tripping/small jaunt, or abroad through a foreign country.

Lots of international backpacking/travel sites have very good "travel light" tips, too.

 

Photoshop laundry - you can even "touch up" the spot where you spilled a bit of coffee or taco from the other day!

BTW - How much of route 66 is still "historical" and worthwhile?
I've seen a few websites and TV shows on it, but it's hard to capture the scale of the route as a whole.

My wife and I have been thinking of a long trip down (actuall across, I guess) it one day, but part of the desire to drive 66 is to see some of the road-side points-of-interest, the other is to drive the legendary road.

 

Route 66 is an excellent trip. Actually much of the old highway is still there. Historical sections are well marked. Many old the old "tourest traps" are coming back as well.

That photoshop laundry is going to come in handy, Navajo tacos yesterday!

Our laptop died, but check out the link to blog below.

 

Great BLOG!

Sorry to hear about your laptop, though.

Motor safely!