Now that Spring has arrived (I'm ignoring the fact that we had snow showers here in Ohio today), my mind has turned to the upcoming driving season and Spring Fling.

When traveling with Sue, I try to pack our car's trunk efficiently. I've noticed that many of you manage to cram more into your trunks that I can ever imagine. How do you do it? Can you pass along any suggestions for making the most of our very tiny trunk?

 

I could never get two people's stuff into my trunk. When I travel for overnighters with my S, I have the trunk filled and stuff on the passenger seat too. I guess you don't need my advice.

 

I'll pass along a tip I heard from Dave (dlq04) about traveling in a sportscar:

Take half the amount of clothes and twice the amount of money that you think you'll need.

 

I frequently go for weekends to our vacation home, and have found this to be a good rule to follow.

I only pack clothes and toiletries (all toiletries in small bottles/containers).
I also check to make sure there's a blow dryer, an iron, and laundry facilities wherever I am going. It saves space--and every inch counts in that trunk! I pack fewer clothes, and throw them in the wash if need be. At our vacation home I can do laundry while I'm relaxing. If I'm staying in a hotel, I'd rather not do laundry, as it eats my vacation time more having to monitor the machine.

If I need to buy groceries (stay at hotel w/kitchen suite) I'll do it once I arrive at my destination.

I use only soft luggage-duffle bags, overnite bags, etc. So they can be squished down and into the corners easier.

My daughter flew from DC to NYC to come home for spring break and borrowed a friend's suitcase. As soon as she got off the plane and I saw it, I said, "oh no! Looks like I can take you--or your suitcase, but not both! I brought the S! "
We actually drove 40 min home with the trunk open; the suitcase was too large for the trunk to close.

 

We found a soft sided duffle bag that fits into the well of the trunk. It's huge. We can also fit two additional small duffle bags on the side and/or a small soft sided cooler too.

I'm amazed at what we can fit, which is good since I never pack lightly. We even had two small sand chairs right on the top of the whole mess.

 

Something soft that's about the size of the well is step one, then two soft somethings, the right length to sit end-to-end across the entire trunk (on top of the thing in the well) is step two. This still leaves nooks and crannies for smaller (soft and squishable) things.

We used this on our cross-country move and, with those pieces in place, still managed to fit a laptop computer bag in there as well. I was surprised at how much fit.

Soft luggage is cheap enough that a special set for a $30K+ car seems justified, IMO. HPH

 

We have driven the S for trips as long as a week (Philly to Maine; Lake George; North Carolina twice; Sandusky OH ), using the 'soft' approach.

Depending on the height of driver and/or +1, some things (hanging clothes, jackets) can be stowed behind one or both of the seats

'Duffer' (doesn't post very often) also found a chromed luggage rack that clamps onto the trunk lid (no permanent fastenings)....allowing another suitcase to be strapped on. That might be worth consideration for a multi-week trip with 2

 

My wife and I spent a week driving through Maine and New Hampshire last summer.

1) Take the OEM jack and tools, wrap them in an old sweatshirt and put them inside the spare tire.
2) Chuck the foam tray.
3) As others have said, soft duffel bags.
4) We even used plastic garbage bags for some stuff. (Very Moldable.)
5) Dirty clothes can be compressed in the plastic garbage bags. (Squeeze out all the air and tie them shut.)
6) Buy small or soft souvenirs. (I collect embroidered patches.)

I bought a pair of shoes at an outlet store. The clerk looked at me funny when I said "keep the box, it won't fit in the car!"

I learned how to pack when we had our Fiat X1/9. The X1/9 had more room though!

 

We go camping a week at a time and take: tent, clothes and personals in variety shaped soft duffels, 2 folding chairs, air mattress and sheets/blankeets, folding stove and lantern, food and minor pots/pans, and sizable cooler. All fits, but we remove the foam subfloor/tools.

 

Depending on the leangth of the trip (timewise), instead of multiple changes of clothes, a small container of laundry soap and a stop the laundry leaves plenty of room.