1,000 Pounds or Less: What Our Family Packed for Full Time Travel
It’s a tale as old as modern times. Despite donating, selling, storing and purging truckloads of stuff as we moved out of our 4-bedroom house, we still had too much.
Listen: we did our best to pack light. One of the reasons why we decided to sell it all and travel full time was so we would have less stuff to manage.
I mean, Josie definitely packed too many stuffed animals. And, you never can predict which of his 500 tools Mitch will need on the road, but we sure did give it our best shot.
Still, when we purchased our travel trailer, we realized quickly that we weren’t minimalist enough quite yet. In order for our truck to safely tow our trailer, we needed to keep the weight of our cargo under 1,000 pounds.
And when you’re traveling in an RV full time, your cargo isn’t just camping gear for a weekend getaway. Cargo for the nomadic family is everything you need with you at home.
And the weight of everything adds up very quickly.
Thankfully, we had about four weeks of living with family before we moved into the travel trailer, so we’ve had some time to go through all our stuff and make tough decisions about what we can and cannot take with us on the road.
I’m sure that once we’ve lived the lifestyle for a bit, we’ll realize which of the things we brought with us aren’t actually necessary and which of the things we didn’t bring along that we really should have.
For now, here’s a breakdown of the 810 pounds of cargo (we came in under our goal weight!) that made the final cut:
Play (153 pounds)
With two kids who are educated at home, it’s no surprise that Play is our heaviest category of cargo. The kids did great deciding which toys to donate, save in storage, and bring us on the trip. Ultimately, we decided to bring:
- Several board games, card games, and dice games
- LEGOs
- Arts and crafts supplies
- A few of our favorite books
- Scooters, skates, and helmets
- Guitars
- Home decorations
- Too many stuffed animals
Tools (140 pounds)
Tools weigh a lot, y’all. But we are super lucky that Mitch is mechanical and very handy. He went through all of his tools and prioritized the ones he thinks he’ll use most regularly. Some of the tools we’re bringing are:
- Assortment of wrenches, sockets, and ratchets
- Cordless drill
- Half-inch impact
- Cordless hot glue gun
- Oscillating tool
- Soldering iron
- Assortment of electrical connectors
- Propane torch
Outdoor Gear (115 pounds)
How can you camp full time without outdoor gear? This is the category where we’ll probably add more than we’ve got, but we want to live it first and see what we need. For now, we’re bringing:
- Camping chairs
- Pop-up outdoor gazebo
- Tents and sleeping bags
- Life jackets
- Field microscope, sifters, and binoculars
- Hiking boots and bags
- Other personal safety gear
Towing Safety (105 pounds)
This category is basically one item that we added to our rig to improve our ability to safely tow. At 105 pounds, the Equal-i-zer weight distribution anti-sway hitch is heavy, but it was a must-have for us.
Kitchen (85 pounds)
The kitchen in our travel trailer is small. Let’s just say: storage space is limited, so even if we wanted to bring more kitchen stuff, we are maxed out for now with:
- 6 plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery sets
- 4 coffee mugs
- Percolator
- Cast iron skillets
- Dutch oven
- Saucepan
- Slotted spoons, spatulas, etc.
Of course, the kitchen is also already equipped with a fridge, oven and microwave, as well as an outdoor mini fridge and griddle.
Apparel (84 pounds)
Getting rid of clothes was not easy. There’s always that one sweater in your closet that you never wear, but you can’t handle getting rid of for some reason. I’m very proud of how we’ve truly minimized our clothes. Each of us is bringing:
- 10 sets of day clothes (mix of layers)
- 3 sets of pajamas
- 14 pairs of underwear
- 14 pairs of socks
- Hiking boots, running shoes, and slip-on sandals
- Outerwear (jackets, hats, gloves)
- Swimming suits
Cat Supplies (40 pounds)
Yes we are traveling across the country with two cats, thanks for asking! Their litter boxes, litter, and cat food weigh in at 40 pounds.
Speaking of litter boxes, we learned from others who travel with cats that storing the boxes in the undertow storage (we’re putting in a cat door to give them access in and out) makes for easy clean up!
Sleep (35 pounds)
Pillows and handmade fleece blankets take up a whopping 35 pounds of cargo weight, which is more than we were expecting, but not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
Technology (35 pounds)
As a full-time remote marketer and road-schooling home educator, we need technology on the road. Thankfully, our tech is pretty lightweight:
- iMac with wall mount
- Laptop PC
- iPad Mini tablets
- WiFi router, booster, and antenna
Bathroom (18 pounds)
We are pretty low maintenance when it comes to bathroom supplies, which is great because you should see the size of our medicine cabinet (ha!). We aren’t bringing much except the basics:
- Shampoo and soap bars
- Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss
- Brushes
- Hair dryer
- First aid kit
- Medicines
And, there you have it! We’re starting with 800 pounds of cargo for our full time travel adventure. It was hard deciding what to leave behind, but honestly, I find the process of being very intentional about what we are bringing with us incredibly freeing.
Tell me in the comments: what didn’t make our list that you would have to have if you were traveling full time?
