Any tips on packing up the car..

[storminabuttercup]

We've only been twice and every time I'm stressed by the time the car is packed up, i already use those vac bags for bedding etc, but with the tent, cadac, gas, chairs etc etc the car is always ready to burst. Any tips or tricks?
TIA

We bought a roof box!!

I'm tempted but can't stretch to one at the min :-(

If you're taking your own duvets and pillows, DC can simply sit on those on car back seat- if old enough to not be in car seats. If littlies, a surprising amount can be compressed into back footwells- bedding in bin bags here.

Once everyone was growing big, an estate car and roof box was needed with 4 DC.
I need a chair because of elderly knees. Do DC? Sometimes mine have had to make do with picnic rug to sit on.

Roof box is a very worth investment once you can afford it.

In the meantime:
Empty your car beforehand so your usual junk isn't also taking up space

Roll all clothing and don't take more than you need clothes-wise. Lower your standards for letting the kids wear stuff that's already a bit mucky from the day before.

Take beach towels rather than normal thick towels.

Use footwells for soft stuff like pillows.

Multiple smaller bags are easier to pack in than a couple of larger ones as this allows you to fill the gaps.

Might be obvious but always pack the big rigid stuff first, then small rigid stuff, then big soft stuff, then small soft stuff.

Also check if your car boot has got any hidden cavities, we found we could pack quite a few bits where the spare tyre is.

start asking around friends, you will be amazed by how many garages contain a roof box, not being used! Borrow one if you can!

Some good tips here thank you. We don't have roof bars so guess we would need those first? DP is very reluctant to get a roof box as we only plan on 1/2 weekends a year

Id never thought of looking for extra boot space

Does the back seat move to give more booth space?
We use self catering accommodation who provide towels and bedlinen so it cuts down on packing.

From bitter experience...put the kids in first THEN pack around them. Otherwise they'll have no room! I always use those big Ikea bags for clothes as they're quite squashy.

We only have the one DC he has just a booster.
I guess putting him behind DP who will usually drive and takes up more space as he's tall then I can pull my seat forward using the space behind my seat and things in the footwell too..

Friends of ours has one adult driving then the other sat in the back with child. They put the tent in the footwell of the front passenger seat.

Use the space under the front seats for shoes. Stick a child in the front passenger seat if you can then you can fill that footwell with bedding and DC puts their feet on top.

If anyone is a poor traveller, keep a bag seperate with spare clothes / wipes / bin bags and have that on your knee.

For camping, keep essentials, mallet, spare tent pegs, spare torch in the door pockets then you don't have to unpack the car to find them. Also, pack matches and spare batteries, again in the door if you can. Stand pillows between the two front seats.

There are companies that will hire you a roof box for £6/7 per day. They even come and fit it to the car with roof bars if need be. much easier if you don't have the space to store one.

I have one child and the tent goes on the back seat next to him, usually with a pile of coats and pillows on top.

Definitely under the boot liner - I got 2 boxes of camping stuff (towels, kitchen bits, torches, etc) unloaded and into that space! I set myself a personal challenge of cramming as much into 'non packing space' i.e. Boot and between kids as possible and we ended up with only the big stuff tent, table, cooker, chairs, cool bag actually in the boot. Everything else including clothes was squirrelled away.

Oh, packing cubes are great as they squash very small and can just be thrown into the tent to 'unpack'

I have replaced all towels with Decathlon microfibre swimming towels in various sizes as they take up virtually no room at all.www.decathlon.co.uk/Buy/microfibre+swimming+towel

You should be ok with only one child! What do you take?

I think we campers need to pack a bit lighter and pay attention to safety. I pack all hard objects in the boot / under Cargo nets in the hatchback. If you wouldn't want it hurled at your head, don't have it loose in the passenger space.

As I don't like having a restricted view from the rear window if I can help it, we ended up getting roof bars and a Green Valley Sherpack roof bag rather than a box due to cost. Storage of a roof box was also a consideration in our purchase and the bag folds up nicely for storage.

We are getting a trailer for the big camping stuff (tent, chairs, kitchen tables etc), definitely use the foot wells and make sure the tent is easily grabable as you don't want to be unloading the car to get to the tent.