- Travel Tips
- September 18, 2020
- 4 Comments
Prepping for a road trip? Make sure your car is organized too! It’ll go a long way in making your trip as smooth as possible. Here are my ways to organize your car for road trips! Read on!
12 Easy Ways to Organize Your Car for Road Trips
1. Build a DIY Trunk Shelf
This 14-step tutorial comes from Beetlesmart in Instructables Living. It’s a perfect shelf for minivan drivers who have children, are avid hikers, or are traveling with valuables.
The shelf will separate the kid’s nonsense from the parent’s nonsense. It’ll also protect the rest of your items from potential wet or dirty hiking boots/clothing. And you can use the bottom shelf to hide purses and valuables, as they’ll be invisible to peepers once the trunk is closed. Win-win-win.
2. Use a CD organizer for music on the road
Why do people snark on owning an excessive amount of CDs? They’re marvelous to have around for road trips, especially rural ones where radio and LTE coverage is limited at best (been there).
Soap box aside, I have way too many CDs. They all spark joy. So, one little CD organizer later, the amount of storage space I have is unreal. I can finally fit stuff other than my limited edition Jonas Brothers CD in my console.
Not to mention this organizer makes for easy access to my entire music collection, rather than going through each CD one by one.
3. Tidy up your visor
I picked up this little guy at Target, but you could just as easily throw something like this together with rubber bands or binder clips. I like to make sure I have a couple of working pens at my disposal. Its come in handy more than once.
4. Use an old compact to store loose change
A bonus here is that you won’t have to throw out your used makeup. I took a Revlon powder compact, cleaned it out, and now it’s a perfect little DIY solution for storing loose change and organizing my car.
5. A passport holder, bill keeper or old wallet keeps paperwork
For everything from vehicle registration and more, something like an old wallet or bill keeper will make those important documents easily accessible. Not to mention those precious papers will be safe from any unlucky beverage spills you may encounter on your road trip.
6. Have an emergency kit handy
It’s always better in this case to be over prepared rather than under prepared. According to the National Safety Council, a good emergency kit should have the following…
- A first aid kit
- Working flashlight with batteries
- Phone charger
- Map and compass
- Blanket
- Items to clear snow, such as a shovel, warm clothing, etc
- Drinking water and non-perishable foods
- Reflective cloth and vest
- Duct tape
- Inflated spare tire, wheel wrench and tripod jack
- Fire extinguisher
- Jumper cables
Have these items safely stored in an accessible location inside your car. You’re all set!
7. Shower caddies as kid storage and seat dividers
Keep your car organized and your children’s mess out of sight. Toss your kids’ snacks, games, toys and what-have-you into a shower caddy for the kiddos to keep an eye on. A bonus here is that this also acts as a seat divider, which can help lower the amount of “Moooooom, daaaaad, she keeps getting on my side of the car!”
8. Make a DIY trash can or consider purchasing a car trash can
As someone who is currently using both a DIY trash can and one specifically designed for cars, there are pros to both. I like the multiple compartments of the purchased trash can and the fact that it can close so easily. Currently, it’s storing some emergency supplies and is working out quite well for that purpose.
My DIY trash can is… actually used as a trash can. For this, you can use just about anything. Cereal boxes, old Tupperware, the works.
I ended up using an old file box for this. I cut out the files, taped the sides, and inserted a paper bag in so one side can act as recycling and the other as trash. It’s a bit extra, and it took awhile, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have an hour to kill. But… I can close my DIY trash can, so it wasn’t a total loss.
9. Add dryer sheets for fresh scent
Just stuff a dryer sheet or two in between the seat cushions. It’s a subtle way to eliminate any strong odors your vehicle may hold on to, like that take out I got two days ago.
(Not a tip for organizing your car, I know. Still useful.)
10. Use a carabiner to hold umbrellas, bags and more
This tip is especially helpful if you’ve got a full car of passengers. You can only throw so many purses and bags on the floor of the car before feet start to feel crowded. A carabiner can take some of the pressure off and utilize any dead space in your car.
11. Make sure you have a pop socket or phone holder
This is just a friendly reminder from your neighborhood road safety weirdo. You don’t want one hand occupied, staring down at your phone while trying to navigate Google Maps. Pop sockets, folks. They’re the answer.
12. Stick a muffin tray on the bottom of a laundry basket for infinite cupholders
Okay, not infinite, but if you’re traveling with multiple people and placing a big drive thru order, you likely don’t have the cup holders for everyone’s drinks. The laundry-basket-cup holder-combo assists in this, and with basket handles, makes it easy to pass out everyone’s order.
Did these 12 tips help you organize your car for your next road trip? Let me know in the comments!
Pin 12 Easy Ways to Organize Your Car for Road Trips!
Safe travels!
-Maggie
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1 year ago
It’s really important to be ready all the time when doing a road trip and totally agree with all the guide you shared. Thanks for sharing.
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10 months ago
Cualquiera que quiera quitar arañazos de su coche debería leer “Cómo quitar arañazos del coche: Guía definitiva” de Nasiol.com. Hay varias formas de eliminar los arañazos del coche, como pulir, lijar y encerar. Los consejos son fáciles de seguir y te ayudarán a dejar tu vehículo como nuevo en muy poco tiempo.
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10 months ago
I want to make sure that I have a nice place to store my car. It makes sense that having a garage with some extra storage space would be beneficial. I’ll be sure to get a shelf to ensure that I manage things properly.
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