After dreaming of and planning my cross country trip for almost two years, it finally came time to start preparing and packing the essentials. In case you missed it, be sure to read my first post, Planning for My 7,000 Mile Cross Country Trip. There I shared how I planned and selected the locations and today I wanted to walk you through all of the preparations I made to get ready to hit the road.
Since my own car is pretty old with it’s own share of problems, I decided it was best to rent a car for peace of mind. I rented a SUV through Costco which saved me a couple hundred dollars although the reservation was through a local Avis. I picked the rental car up the day before I was leaving so that I had plenty of time to pack it with my car essentials and also to make sure everything else would fit. Spoiler alert, I had to leave some things behind, which was probably a good thing.
Here are the car essentials I packed, some of which I already had:
While technically most of these items stayed in the car, I kept them in a different category since many of them were used throughout the trip in different capacities.
A few other items included on this checklist were written directions for each week that I kept in my phone’s notes, downloaded podcasts and books, and cash and change especially for garages and parking meters.
My ‘You’re Getting Old’ Car Routine:
As embarrassing as this may be to share, I found myself going through a checklist every time I got in and out of the car: Keys to the car (new to me not to have them in the ignition), sunglasses, reading glasses, phone with (driver’s license and credit card inside my Toru case), America the Beautiful Parks Pass, wallet, gun, laptop, and Sampson. I figured as long as I had those items, anything else could be replaced.
I spent half of my time in and out of hotels and for the longer stays, in houses and cabins. So, I wanted to make sure that I packed in a smart and efficient way.
For the most part, I only wanted to make one trip from the car into the hotel since I was traveling alone. I also had Sampson in tow so I this is where the smart packing came into play.
The rest of my clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories were split into two bags. One was a large travel pack and the other a large tote bag. Once I was staying somewhere for several nights I would unpack or reorganize as needed. The same goes for all of the items in the containers.
Since I wanted to make myself at home in the houses and cabins I stayed in, I brought a few extra items just in case they weren’t provide. Some of these items were ziplock bags, food containers, extra blankets (for Sampson), and my own laundry detergent. For the most part, each place I stayed was very accommodating and had everything I needed.
This will vary based on where you’re going and how long you’re traveling, but I found that I brought way too many clothes. I wanted to have variety but I easily could have made it with 10 interchangeable outfits for the four weeks I was traveling.
My trip needed to cover both hot and cold days so it ranged from shorts and tank tops to hiking pants and warm jackets. I was also looking for comfort and had several trails and hikes planned so leaned towards outdoorsy clothing. Here were a few of my favorites that I highly recommend.
I also brought a few nice outfits that I never wore so if you planning on going out, I would recommend adding. As for shoes, I had my hiking boots, two pairs of sneakers, and one pair of water sandals. To finish off this checklist, I added toiletries and outdoor gear considering where I was traveling.
Since I was visiting 9 National Parks and planned to do a little hiking, I made sure to pack several items specifically for my outdoor adventures:
So let me first say that food isn’t a huge priority for me in general. I eat when I get hungry but can easily skip a meal at home and I seldom dine out, especially since it’s expensive. I also am not the healthiest person around and love soft drinks. And for most of the trip, it was just me to consider. So keep all of this in mind when I share how I prepared for meals.
For the most part, I packed my meals and ate in my car or at picnic areas on the road. I also had Sampson with me so this was the most convenient way to handle meals. For the first long stretch to get to Montana, I purchased groceries before I left that covered breakfast and lunch for the first week. Dinners were either a quick stop at a drive-through or just snacks from my stash. I’m especially fond of Chomps beef sticks and ate those pretty often and prepared some pasta salad before I left and packaged into little food containers. Drinks were in my coolers and I quickly fell into a routine of icing both coolers at the gas station when I filled up before I headed out each morning.
I knew before I left where the grocery stores were located in relation to the places I was staying. So, I planned to stop at the grocery store on the way to the locations I was staying so that I didn’t have to head back out once settled. This was due in part to having Sampson with me but also the grocery stores typically were not close to the places I stayed. The original plan was to cook dinner each night but I quickly abandoned this. While I did cook some meals, it wasn’t nearly as many as I anticipated so I defaulted back to sandwiches or snacks. Again, I’m not your role model for healthy eating.
I think eating a picnic lunch at a National Park is about the most pure and American thing there is. And so that’s what I typically did. One day while at Glacier National Park I sat on a log along the shore of the McDonald Lake and it was the most peaceful setting you could imagine. If I didn’t pack a lunch before I headed out each day I would just make a sandwich while I was out since one of the coolers was always with me.
I think in total I dined at four restaurants over the four weeks. Three with Sampson, outdoors at dog friendly restaurants, and once by myself after my rafting trip. I’m not a huge fan of eating at restaurants alone and I’m sure if I was with company that number might be higher. However, just keep in mind that restaurants around any type of tourist destinations are pretty pricey. Since food isn’t high on my priority list, I chose to save money by not eating out much.
So that’s a wrap on my packing list and how I prepared for my Cross Country Trip. If there’s anything else that comes to mind comment below and I’ll do my best to answer.
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