We hear it all the time… How on earth will I pack for a 13-day Route 66 Car Caravan or any of our other car caravans? Many of you choose to do our trips in a sports car like a Corvette, which even further limits your space for luggage.
Thankfully, we have some tips to make packing a little easier for our caravans.
1. Don’t waste space on luggage
Perhaps the biggest “hack” for packing is to not actually bring BIG suitcases. Either using plastic bins, trunk organizers, or nothing at all, pack your clothes directly into the trunk. Then, when you arrive at a hotel, simply take the clothes you need from the trunk and put them in a “go bag” or carry-on bag.
This eliminates dead space from luggage and allows you to travel lightly into and out of the hotels each day. We LOVE this little hack.
Obviously, if you’re renting a car and flying home, this option won’t work well for you. For those of you going this route, we HIGHLY suggest packing cubes. Even when traveling with our own big suitcases, we’ll often leave them in the car and just grab what we need on a daily basis.
2. Keep in mind you’ll buy shirts along the way
If you make it through an entire trip without buying a souvenir shirt, you might be the first person in the history of our trips. So, anticipate buying a few shirts along the way and figure that into your packing.
3. Laundry is available
No matter which trip you do with us, laundry is available at least 1-2 nights at the hotels. For our Guided Route 66 Car Caravans, laundry is available at nearly every single hotel on the trip. (For more on hotels, click here)
4. Shipping is always an option
Wanting to buy a LOT of stuff? Find a piece of art or an old sign you just can’t live without? Happens all the time. There are multiple spots along the trips where you can pop into a FedEx or UPS Store or even the US Post Offices at the Grand Canyon and ship stuff back home.
If you don’t get a chance to ship it yourself, we’re also happy to do this for you after the trip concludes.
5. The “Pepsi” Hack
Last year, a couple of our guests turned us on to this idea… They loved to have soda in their hotel rooms, so they’d pack a 12-pack. They also used this as a way to purposely take up space in their suitcase to ensure they had extra space for the souvenirs they knew they’d buy.
At the end of the trip, the 12-pack of soda had been drank and the space it took in the suitcase replaced with souvenirs. Pretty ingenious!
So whether you choose to do the trip in a rental car, your SUV, or your sports car, there’s plenty of ways to ensure you have enough space for your clothes!