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If you followed our five (ish) month road trip around North America you probably noticed that we were camping, hiking, meeting with friends, visiting beach towns and hot weather destinations, and snowboarding.
So many drastically different environments, right!?
how we fit all of our stuff into a Small sedan for a road trip
Store your stash up top: the Thule cargo box. (See photo above)
We didn’t always have it, but a quarter of the way into the trip Alex decided he NEEDED to snowboard so we went to an REI in Denver and ordered a Yamika RocketBox for pickup. It was about $300 and when it showed up I was PISSED.
First: it seemed expensive as heck for what it looked like.
Second: it was soooo ugly. It was totally disproportionate to our car.
It was too narrow and way too long; it looked like a spaceship. But Alex didn’t care–he wanted it. He NEEDED it. Grace be to the universe: when he went to install it, it was BROKEN! 🙌🏾 and REI didn’t have another one! Hallelujah.
Buying a used Thule cargo box from REI
While Alex was ready to accept his broken box my friend Adaobi and I became assertive backseat drivers to the situation (which was probably annoying) and STRONGLY recommended he request a better product for the same price.
That’s when we found out they (the REI associates) could look into their returned inventory and check to see if anyone sent back a similar cargo box.
We got lucky.
Ultimately, we ended up buying a used Thule cargo box from REI for a negotiated $200 (originally $600, marked at $250).
Perks of Using a Thule Rooftop Box
This Thule box is wider and shorter and fits his snowboard equipment, two large duffles, two tents, air mattresses, yoga mats, and all the shoes and clothes we love to freely toss everywhere (plus whatever camping equipment we need to pack).
It is sleeker and easily removable. It also locks/opens from both sides which makes it easy to access our stuff and keep our belongings dry when driving through the occasional torrential downpour.
- NOTE: we had to purchase the roof rack separately and got that from a BMW dealer.
- DOUBLE NOTE: this is not a sponsored post
The Con’s of the Thule Cargo Box
I hate one thing about this rooftop box: it blocks our sunroof! I love road-tripping with the sunroof open and we just simply can’t do that anymore. It doesn’t matter as much in colder locations, but summertime road trips are just not as fun without the sun beaming in.
Another con about this cargo box is gas mileage. We definitely notice our gas mileage is affected by the box (and the weight of its contents) so that affects our gas budget. I also noticed that we tend to pack more stuff now that we have this extra space. I prefer minimalism so more is not always better.
Either way, it has definitely been a HUGE help on this road trip — especially when people join for a few legs.
Are you planning a road trip?
If so, how will you keep your belongings stored? I must say, having the cargo box sure is easier!
Have fun!
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What impact did the box have on your gas mileage? That (and the price!) is one of the reasons I’ve been putting off buying one.
Oops! I deleted my response during blog maintenance. // We definitely see that we lose gas mileage when using it, so we take it down if we are stopping by a destination for more than two weeks. It is really easy to pop on and off. It was totally worth it for us because now Alex can bring his snowboard everywhere we go without having to rent one at the mountain (it has definitely paid off). I would definitely say see if you can get a used one for the deeply discounted price like we did. Lastly, it helps us spot our car easily when in complex parking lots haha!