What’s in the Jazz?

When we started doing this we obviously had to decide what we would be carrying with us, and what we wouldn’t – the main restriction being that it had to fit in our car. Luckily for us, the small Honda Jazz that we had bought (before we had any idea that we would be doing this…) had ‘Magic Seats‘ – meaning that for its size you can get a fair amount of stuff inside it.

We didn’t have much of a strategy, except that we needed stuff so that we could work comfortably (an actual desk, monitors, keyboards etc), and we ‘needed’ stuff to make coffee (coffee grinder, french press, V60 filter device, aeropress, scales, pouring kettle, airtight container for coffee beans). Yes, I am aware that making coffee technically only requires Nescafe and hot water, but we have a slight obsession… 🙂

Some of the things that we packed we gave up as impractical or unnecessary (when we started out we were carrying a mint plant with us for example), but generally speaking we’ve been carrying the same ‘essential’ items with us the whole time, and the car has an official ‘stacking’ order that has been fine-tuned over the last couple of years.

So, what are we carrying…

Work stuff

Ikea Desk with removable legs that have height adjusters on them
2 X monitors and keyboards
2 X monitor stands (one is a shoebox with wires etc in)
The ‘dag bag’ (with work materials in it)

Personal items

2 X small boxes with personal items (documents etc)
2 X shoe boxes with actual shoes in them
2 X large bags (for clothes etc)
2 X backpacks (for overspill of clothes etc and for taking overseas)
The ‘shoe bag’ (hiking boots and some other footwear)
2 X ‘day bags’ (small rucksacks with work stuff and personal stuff)
The ‘day trip’ backpack (small backpack which is empty)

Kitchen items

Electric coffee bean grinder
V60 coffee filter jug
2 X white plastic tubs of kitchen equipment (plates, pans, masher etc) (stuff for cooking that sometimes isn’t in an airbnb)
The ‘Ikea bag’ (one of those big blue Ikea bags which we have filled with plastic food containers, chopping boards, extension cords, superglue, cheese-making kit, electric stick blender, Yerba Mate equipment, sunscreen, large mixing bowl, spare plastic bags, large oven dish, need I go on…)

Food items

The esky (with everything from the fridge in it)
The ‘grain bag’ (flour, rice, sugar etc)
The ‘spice box’ (box containing our set of herbs and spices)
The ‘sauces bag’ (bag with various oils, vinegars etc)
The ‘fruit box’ (contains fruit that we don’t want to get squashed)
Whatever food we have left in shopping bags / plastic containers (2 containers and 1 – 2 bags)

For on the road

The ‘picnic bag’ (contains our lunch and snacks)
The ‘coffee box’ (coffee, thermos of hot water, 2 coffee cups and a plunger – ready to go for making a coffee on the road)
The ‘water bag’ (contains bottles of cold water from the fridge, which get slowly warmer as the day progresses)

Other stuff

The ‘cleaning box’ (sponges, surface cleaner etc)
The ‘toiletries bag’ (shampoos, mouthwash etc)
The ‘towels bag’ (bag with towels and tea towels)
2 X pillows and a large doona (duvet)
Whatever toilet rolls we have left (ranges from 2 – 24 rolls) (it’s surprising how much space 24 toilet rolls takes up…)
Stuff that we’ve bought along the way that one day will end up back in Sydney in storage when we next pass through