Y’all, I have probably lost my mind. This summer, I am taking my 3 boys on an extended road trip. I’m loading my 11 year old, 7.5 year old, and 4 year old into our SUV, and we’re gonna camp our way across the Southeastern U. S.

My family has always been one for extended road trips- we’d literally load up the car with two weeks’ worth of clothes and other necessary items, pick a direction, and hit the road. We’d stop along the way at all sorts of touristy places- museums, local attractions, national parks and monuments, state parks, and the like. I got to see some of the most amazing places on those trips! Weird fact: I’ve seen BOTH ends of the Lewis and Clark Trail!

Anyway, now that Christopher is older, it’s time to hit the road again. Now, the only way we can really afford such a trip is to camp (pro photographer ≠ rich). This isn’t a problem because my boys and I love to camp, and we already have everything we need. However, 4 people + camping equipment + all the stuff we’ll definitely accumulate will equal a really tight fit in one SUV. So, we encounter our first problem: how do we fit everyone and everything?

Options include: a small cargo trailer, a pop-up camper trailer, a luggage rack, routinely mailing things home, or packing three growing boys into one bench seat and listening to endless rounds of, “I’m not done not touching you!” Like I’ve said, I’ve probably lost my mind. But, we’re going anyway! Anyway, the probable solution of choice will be the luggage rack, (If you’ve got a great tip for packing these, PLEASE post them below!) as well as mailing things home.

Next problem to tackle? Equipment checking! Because of all the COVID restrictions, we didn’t do any camping last year, so I need to take inventory and see what needs repairs, what needs replaced, and what we need to add to our inventory.

Stay tuned for updates as we prepare to hit the road, and follow along on our adventures this summer!