How do we pack our ice chest?

Teardrop trailers have very little space and this goes double for our ice chests. Some teardrop galleys are lucky to have a little refrigerator and maybe an ice chest for extra food and drinks, but face it, we will never have as much room for food as the bigger trailers.

Our only way to keep food cold while traveling is with our Igloo bear-proof cooler (similar to this guy here) that we lash onto our tongue cargo rack. Over the years, we have gone through numerous ways to pack as much food as possible without having our fresh eggs swimming in melted ice water with random bags of lunch meat.

The best solution we have come up with is to use several storage containers from Walmart to hold the food in separate compartments, while the ice surrounds the containers. This keeps the melting ice from soaking the fresh food. The top container holds fruits, veggies and other items that don't need to be very cold, while the bottom container holds meat, dairy and frozen items that tend to keep the cold items colder. The surrounding ice can hold more breakable items like beer or soda bottles.

Since plastic container products and sizes are always changing, the best way to accomplish a similar setup is to bring your ice chest to the store and try to fit several containers into it. We were able to find a set of containers with handles that nested into each other. When we want to do some cooking, we will just pull out the container and carry it to the stove and our picnic table.

Our Teardrop Toiletries Box

Because of the lack of storage space in our teardrop trailer, we have to keep similar items together in one place or in one container. Our toiletry kit is one such container and it not only keeps our daily toiletries, but extra shampoo and personal items and our first aid kit. The container, a 6x9 inch three-tier box made by Snapware keeps all of our items contained in their own separate compartments. The container also has a handle so we can carry it to campground showers. On the handle, I've attached a loofah sponge—in bright yellow, of course.

The top compartment holds our daily toiletries: shampoos, conditioners, Dr. Bronner's Soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, hand and face lotion. The second compartment holds extra items like additional shampoo, lotion, Q-Tips and deodorant. We keep these extra items for longer trips and just so we don't have to shop all the time for small toiletry items. It's also nice to have extra items for friends or campground guest who may have forgotten something.

The bottom compartment contains our first aid items: Aspirin, Advil, antihistamines, wound cleaning cloths, Band-Aids, wound cream, Pepto-Bismol tablets, and throat lozenges.

 

Finding this type of toiletry kit has taken some practice and experiementation. We've tried several different storage devices from baskets to Ziploc bags and this solution seems to be the easiest and most sanitary way to contain our toiletries. Plus,  it fits perfectly into the cabinets above our teardrop bed.