So, looks like I'm doing a cross country adventure in 2 weeks, packing thoughts

So I have officially taken a jerb offer to move from Boston to , Monterey, CA....stupid me decided to sell my totally reliable but, high mileage, slightly rusty, and sans emissions equipment 2.5RS coupe to take my modded 94 Miata cross country.

Any tips on packing one of these buggers for a long trip? I'm probably only bringing the bare minimum (clothes+ laptop+ camera) and picking up a junkyard lid to throw a luggage rack on. I'm contemplating throwing the spare tire in the shipping container POD and running fix-a-flat+ air pump instead. Now I just gotta figure out the route I'm taking and hope the thing doesn't blow up along the way!

Any objection to a hitch and a small trailer? Get the HF one, throw a used "roof mount" luggage deally on it for the ride. Then you have a way to get your tires to Laguna Seca after your move.

Are you packing to have enough stuff to operate normally for weeks after you get there, or just for the drive?

If this is just for the drive, you're going to need clothing for up to 5 days, so this should be easy.

Trailer hitch and cargo platform. And don't ditch the spare tire. That's begging for a visit from Murphy.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/staff/AlanCesar/greetings-new-guy/

I know a guy who took a similar trip. I don't recommend a trailer since you'll be pulling over big mountains. A trailer is a lot of extra weight for the extra capacity, and once it's loaded, the tail will wag the dog.

If you're interested in the cargo rack, I can sell it to you. I don't need it anymore.

My biggest trick was to remove the passenger seat. That gave me a bit of extra capacity. Thankfully, even packed so tight, the convertible top makes it so it doesn't feel claustrophobic. And piling a bunch of stuff on the parcel shelf acts as a windblocker.

Oh, yeah, keep the spare.

I agree with keeping the spare.

My advice is to not put stuff in bags, instead pretend that the trunk is the suitcase. You'll probably get twice as much stuff in there that way.

Clothes for two weeks, laptop and camera shouldn't be hard to get into a Miata. If you don't have a passenger, you can get a lot of stuff in the passenger footwell. The parcel shelf is good too, although it makes putting the top up or down a bit more of a chore. I don't see why you'd need a luggage rack for the trunklid.

I wouldn't use a trailer. I had one for a while for track tires, and it's just a PITA. Backing up becomes very difficult (with that short a wheelbase it jackknifes almost instantly), it rattles and bangs over every bump, and the bearings on those HF trailers really aren't intended for 80 mph.

Just you?

Throw the passenger seat in the POD.

Pack your clothes in Two XL duffels, one goes in the trunk (they fit, trust me) and the other where the pass seat was. Computer and camera around the pass seat duffel.

For a bit of extra space, you could run top-up the whole way (if you have AC) and put another duffel on the shelf.

No messing with a hitch or rack this way. Plus its secure for some of the shadier areas you might go through. (well as secure as a miata gets...)

Take the spare, murphy sucks and you should be able to stuff a duffel around it.

I've considered using an 'ATV soft storage dealie' on the parcel shelf. I've just never did the measurement to make sure that the top can still go up...

Something like dis:

Looks like for the trip, I'll be basically bringing clothes (buncha dressy work related stuff) /and small very breakable electronics/ important documents I need for when I touch down at the new gig.

Current plan is 1. luggage rack (already snagged one) and put a ratty trunklid on the car (still haven't found that) and pack nice trunklid in POD. Sadly, it looks like my sister might be joining me when I pass through CO, so I can't chuck the pass seat. I guess I'll keep the spare , and probably take your idea of packing the trunk like a piece of luggage, I luckily got a bunch of space saver bags for stuff like that I could throw in there. Now I just need to figure out a waterproof piece of luggage to rock on the lid and pare down an emergency toolkit for the drive. The atv storage deal is an interesting idea, but I don't think it'll clear the Hard Dog Ace bar the car got. I might end up strapping a small duffel to it if I get desperate.

If space gets tight, Fed Ex the fancy clothes to yourself and only have in the car comfy/play clothes.
When you say that your sister is "joining" you, does this mean that she plans to bring some luggage too?

Uh huh! I've already stipulated she better pack light VERY light and no hard luggage......we'll see if that finally sets in when she realizes how tiny the car is when I get to Denver. I've seen her pack a fullsize roller for a 4 day visit over the holidays. She's gonna have to really pare her "wardrobe" options down if it's gonna fit it in the car.

You might want to send her a bag and tell her "this is the bag you are allowed to use".

Sister definitely complicates things. The idea of giving her a specific bag is a good one. I once did a 10 day trip with my girlfriend and Miata. I did exactly that and bought rear parcel shelf deck bags that were exclusively for her. Of course, my '90 Miata did not have the cross support bar or a roll bar. You will have much less shelf space.
As for yourself, you will need to pare down to only bringing what is travel important. The clothes you need for work should be FedEx'ed ahead. For the price of less than what an airline charges for an additional piece of luggage, you can ship a box containing more than what that hypothetical luggage would contain.
You mention that you have those vacuum bags. They could help you get even more in the box. Note of caution: those bags will wrinkle the heck out of anything in them in ways that can take multiple washings to get them out.

The vacuum bags do you little good while on the road because you can not open them. If you do, you will not have the ability to get them back down in size. I suspect you are bringing them as a way to reduce the size of things you will need once you arrive. Just ship them and they will be there on the other side waiting for you.

Fill the trunk for yourself, leave the roof rack for your sister.

How long will your sister be traveling with you?

RoadWarrior wrote: Now I just need to figure out a waterproof piece of luggage to rock on the lid and pare down an emergency toolkit for the drive. The atv storage deal is an interesting idea, but I don't think [...]

Those ATV storage things should be water proof. Maybe that's your waterproof piece of luggage...? Some of them are lockable and should be able to do an almost permanent mount on that luggage rack.

Have you compared the price of gas/lodging to a plane ticket and having the car shipped?

In reply to z31maniac:

Where's the fun in that?

I'd ship as much as possible, take only a couple of changes of decent clothes (worst case, go to a laundromat along the way) and if need be, get a set of office suitable clothes when you arrive in Monterrey.

If you're taking 80 and just in case you are in need for a place to do a little wrenching out this way, PM me, always happy to help out a fellow GRMer.

UPS ground the stuff not needed for the trip to your new employer.

This time of year you will have all sorts of weather, bring chains and make sure they fit with the car loaded.

Your car will have to pass smog in CA, how modded is it?

I'm envious.

SkierD went from Maryland to Alaska on his WR250X a while back. Epic trip!

Take lots of pics and, if possible, post lots of updates!

If you find your way to the Peoria area and need to crash, feel free to stop by.

If you're okay with the chaos and mess that is wrought by a 6 year old girl (argues like an attorney, no offense meant to any attorneys ) and a 5 year old boy who can put Bam Margera to shame most days you're welcome to use our spare bedroom.

In reply to z31maniac: Thought about it, but where's the fun in that? There's a lot of fun roads between there and here.

I'm gonna hit up the local Bass Pro Shops and see waht they got for ATV storage, I was looking at a waterproof duffel, like so http://www.hiltonstentcity.com/library/sealline-widemouth-duffel.htm 80L should cover me quite well.

The I guess I labeled the vacuum bags wrong, they're a type I used for traveling a lot They're the one way valve "compression sacks" should do the job ok albeit yeah, I'll probably need to press anything to look halfway decent when I touch down.

As to the car's modded-ness. Luckily it's mostly brakes and suspension, (only other thing is a magnaflow catback, luckily kept the stock cat on it). only thing i need to track down is a stock airbox/intake tube assembly, it's currently rocking an ARC Intake chamber which is of course not CARB approved.

I still gotta figure out how to get my 93 1.8L swapped car out there, that's a totally different animal (high compression, exh-intake cam swapped, standalone, no emissions equipment, and hopefully eventually will have a set of AE101 ITB's if I ever get off my butt and buy the manifold for it) . That might have to get shipped out later and stay with MA registration on it.

Hrm, didn't even think of chains! I'll have to track down a set.

I did a somewhat similar type of trip in a daily driven stock 92 Miata 2 years ago, when moving from Green Bay WI to Seattle WA. How many days are you planning? Will it be a bit of a scenic tour, or a hard blast with as many miles and as few stops as possible each day? The former will be slightly more challenging for packing than the latter. Shipping non-travel essentials direct to the destination definitely sounds like a good idea.

My car had the HD Deuce, which was originally purchased with the side mount braces so that the parcel shelf was more usable. Your life will be easier if you don't have a diagonal in your Ace, but I assume more bags of smaller size should pass through fine too. As a note of caution, larger/heavier objects on the parcel shelf may shift at times. On the one hand the roll bar keeps them from hitting the seat, on the other they may slightly mar the finish on the rollbar. Of course using the parcel shelf also generally means no topless driving for you.

Sure instead of a sibling I had 2 cats and all necessary accoutrements, but the same idea applies. For me the passenger seat was removed to build an enclosure for them, but I could still load a few items on top of that...Which you may or may not be able to do with your sister. If you were traveling alone I'd say don't bother with the trunk rack, but having that should now be able to more than compensate for her use of space.

Tire chais are a good idea, although if you keep up to date on weather in the passes ahead you should be able to stop and buy some if it looks like you might need them. Watch for signs with phone numbers that you can call for weather/road condition updates...Or research them ahead of time. I did have snow tires on the car already, which came in quite useful for one portion of the drive. This is possibly less of an issue on a more Southerly route, but you never know.

I used this as a good reason to do any minor/preventative maintenance that the car might be due for in the next 5k-10k miles...Well except for the 120k mile clutch that had just started showing signs of needing replacement sooner than later. I didn't hesitate to ditch the spare. If fix-a-flat is good enough for OEM's, it's good enough for me, and it freed up a not insignificant amount of space essentially just being occupied by air. It's also not a bad idea to put together a basic roadside emergency kit too.

Well...the plan is somewhat scenic, i've left a day or 2 here and there to meander about, but I was gonna try and do a hard run to Denver, spend a few days out there, and then take my time from there to CA, maybe make a side trip to see some friends I have in the LA/ Orange County area.

Car is currently under the knife getting a buncha stuff sorted (new o2, new coolant temp sensors, fresh plugs, wires and filters), and if I can do it in time, finally put in the Torsen LSD i've had sitting in my basement for years, with the possible inclement weather, it might be pretty helpful. The car is alas, equipped with an Ace bar with a single diagonal, so I might just have a backpack strapped to the thing. The car is rocking a set of Nitto neogen allseasons, but I have a feeling they do not fare very well in snow, so be a good idea if I keep to a slightly more southnern route, I'm going to start checking on weather within the next week or so and make the decision from there.

The weather at least in the Sierra Nevada shouldn't be a problem, it's unseasonably warm and dry out here. Don't know about the Rockies, though.

Can you ship the sister? Those POD things are pretty big.....

In reply to mndsm: ahhaahah, if only. I'm having to get creative to fit my tools, my bed, and my honda cl70 in it!