I’m about to embark on a 4 week road trip with my wife and dog. And this beautiful, 2010 Prius, nicknamed “The White Shite”, will be our faithful chariot.
Most of our friends laughed when they heard we were planning to travel in the Prius. Some kindly offered for us to take their cars instead. But my wife and I refused, because we know something they don’t…
Everything we need in life can fit in a Prius.
When first planning this road trip, I was considering renting a large van or an RV. Something that we could sleep inside. It was the extra space that was most appealing. Enough to take whatever we want.
More clothes, more food, more camping gear, electronics, etc… We could pretty much bring all the luxuries that we have at home.
But the whole point of camping is to get away from home. To miss home. To strip yourself of all the luxuries so you can appreciate the basic things in life.
We came to the conclusion we can survive with just 3 things:
Shelter. Food. Each other.
Aaaw, how sweet. Ok, let’s get serious. We probably need more than that. Toilet paper at a minimum, as some of the campgrounds we plan to visit are very remote.
A Prius is a tiny car, right?
I beg to differ. I regularly fit my 10 foot long board in there to go surfing. And there are all sorts of hidden spaces and compartments to use.
If fact, there are several people that literally live in their Prius. This guy goes into great detail in his blog #hotelprius.
Tetris Time:
My wife and I are both level 10 Tetris players. You can witness her expertise by looking inside our refrigerator, where she magically hides 16 grocery bags worth of food.
I’m more of a living room storage expert. I have excellent “hide things in plain sight” skills. And I hate clutter!
With our powers combined we created this:
Inside this box is more than 160 items. You will find:
- adequate cooking tools and utensils to prepare a seven course, candle lit dinner
- enough pharmacy supplies to provide first aid to a small village
- sunscreen sufficient enough to lather the entire Irish population.
Tent, 2 stove burner, dog supplies, chairs, air mattress/pump, towels, hammock, ropes, games, and dry food. The only thing left to pack is the cooler of food which will sit in the back seat with the dog.
There is even 10 bottles of wine in here!
Trip Overview:
- 3500 miles
- 4 weeks camping (then 5 weeks in Montana)
- Hiking, walking, surfing
- Hot springs, tree climbing
- Wine tasting, brewery hopping
- Reading!
4 weeks is a long time camping…
Won’t we get bored?
Probably. I hope so. Getting bored and having nothing to do will force us to be creative. It will force us to look around. To take basic things and make activities and games from them. A single deck of cards will entertain me and my wife for weeks on end. 🙂
And… Worst comes to worst, if we are hating our time and are truly not enjoying things, we’ll just come home early. 🙂
What are your plans this summer?
Nice one mate! Have fun. We have also have Prius (the wagon version actually) and are currently in week 8 of 9 doing a road trip through Europe. And yes, you are right, everything fits! 🙂
Awesome! Whoa, I’m checking out your blog now. Looks amazing!
Seems like a really cool trip! Enjoy!
Thanks dude! See you when we return!
It was a nice car to ride 4 miles in! Enjoy the 4 weeks 🙂
We could have fit the whole FI meet-up group in there. In fact, the September meeting will be hosted in this very Prius.
Oh Gwen and I know just how many people can fit in a Prius #FinCon2017. For that reason alone, you need to come this year Joel!
And by wine bottles you mean wine bags, right?
Haha. Actually we have a bag and bottle stash. We have some very fancy wine we need to burn through. Gifts for the road.
Fincon… maybe!
Sounds like an awesome trip! My original plan for the summer was to work myself into a shallow grave; however, after reading this post I am inspired to enjoy the summer…. perhaps I can find a way to make Artisan bread for $1 or less…. any ideas? Arrivederci, a dopo!
Haha. Dude you should fly up and meet us somewhere. I’ll make you bread if you come.
Have fun! We just hosted some friends who were on a 19 day camping adventure… in a prius! They camped on our land and we had a great time. Now I’m jealous and want to embark on a similar journey with the hubs. We too would need “sunscreen sufficient enough to lather the entire Irish population” and he would probably use that up in 2 days. Have a wonderful trip!!!
Cool! I’d love to hear their stories. They probably have some tips I can use. As of right now we’re 4 hours into our journey and the dog has already thrown up in the back seat. Loving it!
Yeah sunscreen is a must. I wear SPF 80. In the winter.
The only thing better than having a 1 Prius household is having a 2 Prius household. DGal and I both love our Prii (the official plural of Prius, per Toyota). I have a silver 2010 Prius and she has a 2013 silver Prius V (the wagon style). Passenger legroom in the Pius V is like first class on an airplane!
I think a Prius is great for a long distance road trip…think of all the fuel you will be saving compared to a gas guzzler SUV. 🙂
–DGuy
We have come across several Prii campers throughout this trip so far. When we pass the other drivers we give them ‘the nod’ that I’m sure you are familiar with. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
PLEASE tell me you are going to do a video on how you pack! I’m so jealous of your mad packing skills! 16 bags of groceries in the fridge? Your wife is a genius!
PS I also love this idea that boredom inspires creativity. I agree!
Cheers, Dragon Gal
Ooh I didn’t think of making a video. Great idea!