In 2023, my wife and I set out across the USA and back, mostly on the roads less taken, 8,006 miles across 23 states in 39 days. We had friends to visit in North Carolina, Texas, Southern California, Nevada, and Iowa, but no set dates to be anywhere.
Day 1
Here is how the back of our Subaru Outback was packed, not a square inch to spare. The biggest item was a kennel for our dog, a 25-pound Miniature Australian Shepherd. She had the back seat to herself. The space inside the kennel wasn’t wasted — we stuffed it. Next in were our two suitcases, then other bags around it. Every evening we would unpack the car and re-pack it the next morning. It became a ritual. Within days, our packing got tighter. We soon discovered there were many things we could have left behind!
When traveling, only the essentials are kept. But once you stop…
COMMENTS
Rita wrote:
Looks like our van when we (me, spouse, daughter) drove to California and back with a stop in Albuquerque for the hot air balloon fiesta. Took us six weeks. Once in California, our daughter packed a box of “unnecessaries” and shipped them home. However, we did not have our dog because we had to juggle a walker and a mobility scooter. A dog would have simply been too much to handle. Sounds like you had a great trip.
Mariann wrote:
Best kind of road trip! All the cool stuff is on the back roads!!
June wrote:
Wish you had more time to look around at all your stops!
Danny replied:
Most days we drove for four to six hours, but stopped whenever we saw something interesting. Driving the back roads made a huge difference. Freeways put me to sleep! Back roads always present something new.
Randy wrote:
As ‘they’ say, pack everything you think you need and then cut it by 50%! It really works well, actually. I do it on each trip. For example, I spent two weeks in New Zealand with just my Jansport backpack. Worked out great. It’s why there are laundromats, Goodwills, dollar stores and trash cans. No one sees us the same outfit anyway, typically. And if they do, tough luck!