When my kids were little, we used to pack suitcases, food bags and backpacks of books in the footwells of the backseat. But lately, I’ve noticed that both my kids — and their stuff — is getting bigger. Going on long trips with lots of gear is getting trickier. Where exactly do we store all this stuff??
Here are a few family travel storage solutions for getting your family’s gear out of the car to free up more space for, you know, your family.
Take your stroller out of the trunk
I loved my BOB jogging stroller when my kids were little. We took it to the park, the beach, dirt trails and more. But while I loved the all-terrain performance of the stroller, I was less enthused about putting those grimy tires in my trunk after our activities — not to mention that it took up a good portion of my trunk! It may be too late for me, but you don’t have to suffer through this anymore with the new SCOUT. This innovative stroller carrier not only keeps your trunk clean and available to store groceries, but it also saves your back from having to heft your stroller up into your car. You simply tilt the stroller back and insert the front wheel into the carrier. Then, pull the cable release to lift your stroller and lock it into place. Simple, secure and stored! Though SCOUT was designed for BOB strollers, it will work with any single or double stroller that has a single-front-wheel design. Pre-order now for $50 off the retail price!
Bring ALL the bikes
Oh, I remember the days of slipping my boys’ bikes into the back of my SUV if we headed to the park or a playdate. Now their 20″ frames require a different storage solution. Since we have a family of five, we need a bike rack that can accommodate a small army of wheels. Lately we’ve been trying out the new Yakima FullTilt 5 bike rack that makes it easy to load up bikes and to access the trunk without removing them all with the tilt feature. The ZipStrips hold bikes of various sizes securely to the rack and the anti-sway cradle ensures your bikes aren’t banging against each other during the ride. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it comes fully assembled. Just attach to your hitch, load up your bikes and you’re ready to hit the road!
Free-up some foot room
Since my kids insist on getting bigger and needing the backseat for their actual bodies, we’ve been forced to find new storage options for our gear. We’ve opted for a hard-sided roof box like this one from Thule. You can also opt for a roof rack to strap suitcases on the top of your car, or a soft-sided cargo bag which has the added benefit of being more easily removable when not in use. For our family, a hard-sided cargo pod has been the best option since it stories a lot of gear, it keeps it protected from the elements when we travel in the rain or snow, and it’s lockable, ensuring that our camp chairs and fresh-baked cookies don’t go missing.
Keep everything within reach (and off the floor!)
Like most families, we travel with all sorts of little stuff — books, snacks, journals and headphones. Oftentimes, all this stuff ends up on the floor within the first 20-minutes of the trip. Enter the car seat organizer. I love this one from High Road because it can be swung around the front of the headrest to keep your items close at hand when you’re not on a trip, or attached to the back of the seat to keep your kids’ stuff organized. It offers eight total compartments with larger ones for iPads or tablets, mesh drink/bottle holders and smaller pockets for pens, books, or my road trip bane — loose socks! For an even cheaper solution, check out this $10 seat organizer option from Munchkin.
SSM was not paid for this post. We did receive some samples for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Comments
This post was the first useful post I have read about ways to travel with kids, strollers, and maximize space in the car. For wanting to travel with my soon to be daughter AND my dogs, this was a great read. The recommendation of the scout allows me to hold off on minivan and large SUV and purchases and upgrade to a more fuel friendly mid sized SUV like a RAV-4 or CR-V. I was originally thinking of a THULE roof rack storage but for a big stroller like Bob this was great. Thank you for a well put together simple article with ideas.