Car Camping Not-So-Glamorous Topics: Keeping Away Pests & Going to the Bathroom

#carcamping #roadtrip #roadtrips #roadtripideas #carcamper #traveladvice #travelplanning #travelplanner

Maren makes it…. easier to pack your car by showing you what never leaves mine.

This week I am going to show you everything I never take out of my car… or at least the trunk of my car. This is a continuation of my last 2 videos in which I showed what’s in the front row and back row of my car. These are my absolute road trip essentials to the point where I actually never remove them from my car.

I have carefully curated what you see here over 531 days of not having an apartment and traveling fulltime. During this time I have road tripped thousands of miles by myself as a woman traveling solo. This means that I’ve had years of time to curate and decide what stuff makes the cut for always needing to be in the vehicle with me. These are my absolute road trip essentials. I think beginners and seasoned travelers alike will find this peak behind the curtain of my life traveling entertaining and educational.

Some of these things may seem obvious or simple, but others are things you might not have thought of at all. For each item I will not only tell you that I have it, but explain WHY I think it’s worth having in the car at all times. Obviously your space in your car IS limited, so you do have to be choosy about what you pack.

In this video I’ll also cover some less glamorous topics. We will talk about my struggles keeping pests out of the car including mice and bugs. I will show you the products I use to successfully and safely keep away rodents. Unfortunately when living out of your car, it also means keeping more food in your car than people normally do. Food for you = food for pests. So living out of your car naturally increases the chances that you’ll have to deal with this at some point. Better to know ahead of time what you can do to prevent this than to wait for this to happen to you!

The other less glamorous topic I’ll cover is how to go to the bathroom if you can’t or don’t want to leave your car at night. I’ll tell my own personal story about a time I did not feel safe getting out of my car at night to go to the bathroom, and how this made me re-think my opinion on how “gross” it was to have a system in place for this. I think especially for women this can be a bit of an uncomfortable topic to talk about, but I do think it’s important.

I will create below in this caption a list with links for all of the items shown (sometimes to the exact item and other times just something similar as I’ve had some of this stuff for years) so that you can just go down the list and decide which of these things you need and shop them as quickly and seamlessly as possible. You have enough to do outfitting your car for a road trip or a travel adventure. No need to make this part of planning any more complicated.

Be sure to check out part 1 & 2 if you missed those. Happy adventuring and safe travels!

--xoxo Maren

Here are the links for Part 1 and 2 of this mini series:
Part 1 (front row)    • Everything I Never Take Out of My Car...  

Part 2 (back row)    • Everything I Never Take Out of My Car...  

Items I showed in video so you can easily shop them:

Freezer Bag
https://amzn.to/3YcvCac

Fold Up Bags
https://amzn.to/3ZSYpSb

Reusable Mesh Produce Bags
https://amzn.to/47P6hpT

Fleece Throw Blanket
https://amzn.to/4eto4W6

Bungee Cords (I bought this exact set in 2021 and still going strong in 2024)
https://amzn.to/4gNJAGC

Duct Tape
https://amzn.to/3zKH4jK

Umbrellas (Compact)
https://amzn.to/4ekm2rf

Orange Reflective Gloves
https://amzn.to/3ZQTXn8

Side window shades / covers (I bought this exact set in 2021 and still going strong in 2024)
https://amzn.to/3N8EjvN

Steel Wool
https://amzn.to/3XPXJdJ

Rodent Away Spray
https://amzn.to/3TSe8x7

Hand Lotion
https://amzn.to/3BDYA9L

Microban Sanitizing Spray
https://amzn.to/3XJjXy0

Basic Pliars Tool Set
https://amzn.to/3ZWep5M

Car Essentials Tool Box
https://amzn.to/4gNGWk9

Headlight Restoration Solution
https://amzn.to/3Y9dzl2

Ice Scrapper with Mit
https://amzn.to/3Y79r56

PB fit powder
https://amzn.to/3Y96XTI

(I am an Amazon affiliate, so I may make a small percentage of your purchase if you use the links above. Any money I make gets put right back into the channel and creating more content for you guys, but of course you are totally welcome to buy these items without using my links as well. )

If you enjoyed this video, be sure to check out others I have related to traveling:

How to get mail while traveling full time    • How to get MAIL and PACKAGES when you...  

How to plan your travels while working    • How to Travel While Working ?! | Plan...