Car is packed for tomorrow - and it’s totally full (AND I have a roof box)!

[feesh]

I’m panicking because I feel like I’ve failed in some way. I am taking the 3 kids camping by myself tomorrow.....which is probably a bad idea, but hey it’s done now. I have finished packing the car up (and the massive Handirack bag on the roof) and it’s COMPLETELY full - and it’s a big car (Citroen Grand Space Tourer). I can’t get anything else in! And I didn’t even get duvets or blankets in yet. We have sleeping bags, but I really wanted extra duvets just in case. God knows how I am going to get the blankets in. I also still need to put towels and toiletries in.

I feel a bit sick with worry, like I’ve fucked up massively by failing to pack it well enough to get the bedding in. I’m also worried that the car is overloaded. And I’m panicking about reloading it at the end of the trip, alone with three kids and with stuff probably not having been put away as well as it could have. The kids are already piled up with stuff in the back.

Please someone reassure me!

I think you need a second car and a trailer!

I hope you had an amazing time OP, and now know what you can and can't get away with next time.

I have a city car with no roof box and I save space by not taking DP! I also move the child with the car seat to the front seat and the older with no car seat to the back so most of the back seat can drop down. We can always see out the windows.

We don't take extra bedding. We take thermals and hot water bottles instead. We were camping on the hottest day of the year a couple of weeks ago and we still wore thermals. (Although I didn't wear PJs over the top and we could have got away without the hot water bottles but they were still very welcome)

Our kit is very minimal and is basically this:
tent+ groundsheet + king poles + tarp
electric hook up + electric kettle +night light + chargers
Small table + stove + box for kitchen bits + very small cooler
Sleeping bags + mats + pillow (mostly space saving ones)
Picnic table + chairs
Clothes + toiletries + small toys - We always take too many clothes
We also have a couple of ikea kallax boxes flat packed which hold all the kitchen stuff detritus from the kids.

I found this website very useful when I downgraded from a massive Nissan Primera to a Hyundi i10:
www.minimalistfamilycamping.com/

@bluefoxmug - what size really useful boxes do you use?

Try going camping on a motorcycle, you quickly work out how little you need! Admittedly it's 2 people and we have a tent that packs small but it's doable.

The thing is what you need and what makes life better are often not the same thing- you don’t need chairs, you can sit on a picnic mat but having chairs makes it so much more comfortable that I’d consider them an essential really. I’ve not been cold at this time of year at night in a sleeping bag, I’d rather take a pair of leggings and an extra fleece rather than a duvet, but proper pillows can be the difference between sleep and no sleep for me.
We had a couple of years of needing to save space, almost everything we have now folds really small but remember when things fold down they take longer to set up and take down and if everything takes a couple more minutes then that can add a lot on to your pitching and striking.