Fitting in the Car

My dad is a master packer. He can go on a week-long vacation with just a backpack, and he especially loves bags that have many different pockets so every essential item has a dedicated and accessible home. This packing skill extends to the jigsaw puzzle that is packing a car for a road trip. When I was a kid it seemed like he could fit absolutely anything that me, my brother, or my mom put in the pile of “to go” items in the living room on the morning of a trip. Luckily, this is a skill he passed along to me. And it has never been more helpful than on our own family road trips with four kids and two dogs.

We bought our Honda Pilot specifically so trips like this were possible. But before we even get to the vehicle logistics, step one for making this work is providing the kids with a packing list. When we took our first trip together back in 2015, I made a list of items to pack. I only thought to do this because Dawayne, who was 10 years old at the time, was the kind of child who would undoubtedly arrive on a week-long winter vacation with a bag that contained the following: multiple pairs of sneakers, a tank top, a bathing suit, a couple hats, maybe one pair of pants, and some items that surely could have been left at home (like his rock collection). Once I gave the list to Dawayne and he packed his bag (which I double checked before departure), he passed the list along to his older siblings who also made sure to check each item off the list. A few months later when we were preparing for another trip, just for a weekend, the kids asked for a packing list. So the packing lists became somewhat of a tradition, and the kids now anticipate the creation of it in the days before a trip because it indicates that an adventure is around the corner. For week-long trips, we usually pack enough clothes for 4 days and do laundry mid-week. For our month-long trip, we brought about 7 days worth of clothes and did laundry each week. So each kid has a duffel bag that they pack themselves, while Evan and I usually share a carry-on sized bag. There’s often an extra bag of coats, gifts for people we’re visiting, or other random items. And always a snack bag and soft-sided cooler with drinks.

So we have become pretty good at Honda Pilot Tetris. Here’s a rough diagram of what the car looks like when we’re on the road together. Blue indicates who is in the seats, while everything in purple is on the floor. Evan usually drives because he gets bored otherwise, and because his legs are too long to fit Libby in the front seat.

We have taken a few big road trips over the past four years (listed below) as well as many shorter weekend trips:

1. Summer 2017: All of us, humans and dogs, road tripped for the entire month of June with time spent in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Michigan.
2. Thanksgiving 2017: All 6 of us and our 2 dogs drove from Arkansas to Massachusetts, with stops in New Jersey and New York City on the way.
3. Summer 2018: Me, Evan, Detrick, and Trey drove to Chicago to visit friends and then on to Michigan for vacation with family.
4. Thanksgiving 2018: Me, Evan, Detrick, and Trey made the drive to Massachusetts again.

A few things to note:

• When we were about to leave for our first road trip, we had Libby in the back with Shadow in an area about the size of 1.5 of their dog beds. Libby immediately started whimpering when I got in the front seat and she could not see me over the pile of luggage. So we called an audible and put her at my feet. It gave Shadow more room and kept Libby from crying. Luckily, my legs are short and I often sit cross-legged in the passenger seat anyway, so we made it work.
• The 3rd row of the Pilot has a single seat and a double seat, so we fold down the double for luggage. Dejona can lean on the luggage to sleep, and she even has her own adaptable phone charger back there so she doesn’t have to share with the boys.
• We definitely benefit from all of our kids being car sleepers. There have been several hour stretches where we don’t hear from any of them. We can drive 10 hours in a day with just a lunch stop and maybe one other bathroom break. It’s actually amazing.

Want to see what it looks like in real life?

Bonus Pictures:

Here we are fitting me, Evan, Detrick, Trey, and Evan’s sister into a Nissan Rogue with all of our winter gear and vacation clothes for a 4 hour drive from Boston to Vermont. We each had a duffel bag on our laps in the backseat for the entire ride.

And here are the 6 of us fitting into my cousin’s Audi that he generously let us borrow on our trip to San Francisco. Don’t worry, this was a one-time, 10 minute drive to get to our house, then Evan’s parents arrived with the rented mini-van.