Picture this: It’s go-time for our longest van adventure ever, and we’re staring at what looks like a gear explosion in our driveway. This is the story of how 18 days of dreams could have become a packing disaster.
Van Life Packing: Can two engineers fit everything needed for their longest van life adventure yet? Spoiler alert: it’s like playing the world’s most stressful game of Tetris.
The Moment Reality Hit Us
Standing in our driveway, we looked at the mountain of gear spread behind the van and felt that familiar pit in our stomachs. You know the one – that “what have we gotten ourselves into” feeling that every van lifer knows intimately.
Eighteen days. That number kept echoing in our heads. Our previous longest trip? A measly four days. We were about to quadruple our record, heading into the Canadian Maritimes with more gear than we’ve ever packed before. The engineering side of our brains were excited about this challenge. The practical side? Well, let’s just say we were having second thoughts on whether we could get everything to fit.
As we staired at the huge file of gear and our packing plan we figured this is either going to work perfectly or be a complete disaster.
When Engineers Attack a Packing Problem
Here’s what you didn’t see in the video: the nights we spent hunched over laptops, creating what we lovingly called “The Mother of All Checklists.” We’re talking spreadsheets, people. Color-coded, categorized, cross-referenced spreadsheets that would make any project manager weep with joy.
Every single item got its own line: from passports (obviously critical) to the pole and weird little squeegee thing for cleaning solar panels (surprisingly critical when you realize you don’t want to have to bend over on the roof every time you need to clean the solar panels). We had clothing lists broken down by weather scenarios, camera gear, and hiking equipment so we wouldn’t forget any critical items.
But standing there with the actual physical pile in front of us? Even with all the preparation we felt overwhelmed. How would we be able to fit everything? Were we packing too much? Did we forget something?
The Great Sorting: Strategic Decisions and Small Panics
We decided to tackle this systematically (shocking, we know). First step: sort everything by its intended storage location. Roam box pile, garage pile, rear door pile. Sounds simple, right?
Wrong.
That’s when we discovered our first problem: the optimistic planning brain and the realistic packing brain were not on the same page. Items we’d confidently assigned to specific spots were either too large or oddly shaped to fit in our original planned location.
As we started packing, we realized we needed to reserve space for the items that we are prevented from taking into Canada and would need to purchase once we arrived. Some of these are big items like firewood. We also had to make sure we took out other items, like our Off Coils, since we weren’t sure if they were allowed and we want to make sure we have a smooth boarder crossing.
Victory Number One: The ROAM Box Redemption
Climbing up that ladder to our roof-mounted storage box, we felt like we were approaching the final boss in a video game like Donkey Kong 🦍🛢️ 🪜and we might get rolled over and need to start over.
It felt like a huge win as we put our shower accessories, Dutch oven, and other camping gear into the ROAM box. The shower hose coiled perfectly into that lid organizer – a small detail that made us ridiculously happy.
The only hiccup? The outdoor shower mat. The one item that just refused to fit in the ROAM box. Nothing’s perfect, right? We put the shower mat assigned until we could fit another place to fit in the van.
The Rear Door Ballet
We’ve been perfecting our read door storage since last year, but we were taking more gear and camera equipment on this trip than we have on any of our previous trips. We wanted the camera equipment to be easily accessible (because perfect lighting waits for no one) but also secure and protected.
The moment of truth came when we tried to close the van doors with everything loaded. Would our carefully positioned camera gear prevent the doors from shutting? Would we crush something expensive?
“Click” – The doors closed smoothly. No crushing, no jamming, no disaster. I may have wanted to tell Pat, “See I told you it would fit”.
The Garage Tetris Championship
If the ROAM box was level one, the garage was the championship round. This is where most of our gear needed to live, and it’s also where our organizational skills would either shine or completely fall apart.
The Pelican style cases full of camera gear became one of our next challenges. We’d planned to store them vertically for easy access, but reality had other plans. Sideways it was, which just meant we’d have a little more work to get them out of the bin rather than just grabbing the Pelican case handle.
This is where that engineering mindset actually helped. Instead of getting frustrated, we started problem-solving in real time. Now that we changed the camera storage setup we could fit another bin on top of the camera gear bin. This got us looking at what we may not really need. Do we really need the second camp table we never actually use? How about the small air fryer that is only large enough for a single piece of toast?
Each decision felt like a small puzzle piece clicking into place. The satisfaction when our hiking backpacks – fully loaded with our ten essentials – slid perfectly into their designated hanging storage bag? 🤌
The Underbed Storage Surprise
Remember that third hanging storage bin we’d installed under the bed? The one we’d finished literally the morning of our packing session? Talk about cutting it close.
But seeing our laptops, tablets, and tech equipment nestle safely into that custom space felt like validation for extra time it took to sew and mount the hanging storage bin. Sometimes last-minute additions turn out to be the MVP.
The Final Victory Lap
When that last bin clicked into place and when every piece of gear had found its home it justified the effort we put into planning and van modifications.
But the real test isn’t whether everything fit – it whether we’ll be able to live with this organization for 18-day Canadian Maritime adventure. Will we be able to easily access what we needed when we needed it? Will we end up frustrated and digging through everything to find a single cable?
Standing there in our driveway, looking at our perfectly packed van, we realized something important. This wasn’t really about gear or storage or even our engineering prowess. It was about confidence. The confidence that we’ll have everything we need to push our boundaries and take on bigger adventures.
Only one way to find out.
What’s Next?
Want to see this entire packing circus unfold in real time? Watch our latest YouTube video to witness every triumph, every minor panic, and every satisfying moment when the puzzle pieces finally fit together. And stick around for next week’s episode where we reveal exactly where all this carefully planned gear is taking us.
Trust us, the destination is worth the wait.
Catch up our on complete Maritime Canada adventure series here:
