Just thinking about packing for a family of four, plus our friend, to stay in an RV for nearly two weeks sounds scary enough that I would likely procrastinate until the final day before the trip. Shaun knows all too well how often I do this with even a weekend trip! HA, OOPS! 

We got back from our KOH trip and a few days of recovering from the dirt and dust in our lungs from all the racing we witnessed. I wanted to touch on how complex it can be to pack for a family of four to attend such a race with multiple days of racing and events packed into each day! The weather can be quite unpredictable, so we have found packing for ALL weather types justifies more than packing unprepared and not having enough layers in the desert. 

CLOTHING

First, let’s tackle the elephant in the room first LOL – WHAT DO YOU EVEN PACK?! I have literally asked myself this question before my first KOH experience. I always have Shaun who has been attending KOH since its inception many eons ago. However, I have learned the ways of the desert weather! LOL It will be cold, warm, windy, dusty, freezing, and chilly all in one day. 

For the girls, I always pack thermals, as many as they own since it’s easier to layer for them. Then I pack leggings, jeans, and a lot of thick knee-high socks. I always pack a mix of long sleeve, and short sleeve t-shirts either to layer, or wear as a stand-alone given how the weather turns out. 

Most of what I pack clothing wise for myself consists of the same ideas as I pack for the girls. My wardrobe included leggings, as I don’t have thermals this year, jeans, long sleeve, and short sleeve shirts. I pack a handful of hoodies as these can go underneath thicker jackets or coats along with our winter coats. 

Now, I can only imagine you’re wondering “it’s southern California, why do you need winter coats?” HA! Well, I asked this too, but I am so thankful I listened to Shaun that first year and brought mine. The desert is FREEZING once the sun sets behind the hillsides. Once that sun sets, I always add an additional layer to the girls and I before we go back outside. I always pack a few gloves, scarves, and beanies for each member of the family, as I know some may get dirty.  

FOOD

This year, I tried something new with packing food. I knew this year we had more work to do than previous so cooking at every meal would be unheard of. I decided to precook and prepackage most of our meals at home, the night before, and just heat up what we needed each night. Instead of a huge descriptive paragraph ill clean it up and add some bullet points below. I will add that we brought the BBQ and had steak on that but most of our meals were precooked which made it so much easier to feed all five of us. The key was to be as simple as possible in my opinion as it didn’t leave much room for options but that also means less waste. 

Also, along with main courses we had packed a plethora of snacks for our team and family. From veggies to fruit, nuts, and some prepackaged goodies too. The girls picked out a few cookies and crackers they wanted along with apples, bananas, and grapes. I also cut up the night prior to the trip, oranges, cucumbers, watermelon, and added snap peas, tomatoes, and lettuce for salads. We bought a bunch of prepackaged snacks from Costco like Oreos, Nutter Butter, Chips Ahoy, granola bars, and some Oatmeal balls that were nondairy for Aria. 

Aside from all the snacks and meals, we packed a large cooler with water, Truly, some alcohol we would mix drinks with later, and a smaller cooler with water, capri sun and Sunny D for the girls. 

ENTERTAINMENT / HOMESCHOOL

I had every intention of being prepared to entertain my girls for the entirety of the trip. We’re moms, we know how that goes every 5 minutes needing to change activities because they’re “bored”.  This year we were a lot busier and more on the ‘go’ so to speak. HOWEVER, I was still prepared to do it! I brought a lot of inside toys and games that were self-initiated and easy to contain and pack. With the weather being a bit colder than I remember last year, we didn’t have a chance to play outside as often. I’ll attach last year’s photos for reference on the outside games. Homeschool is a little different since most of their stuff is always online, we switch to a workbook instead for traveling. It also helps that a lot of their tablet games are educational! 

As we were so busy and “on the go” this year, we purchased a few tactical backpacks that were small enough for them to bring along and carry a handful of toys. If we had to stop to interview a race team, they had things to keep them entertained along with snacks. When it would be time to head to another location, toys would be put back into their backpacks and secured on the RZR before helmets and gloves. 

HYGIENE / FIRST AID 

Typically, our hygiene is already packed as we use the travel sizes and just keep them in our travel bags and update them as necessary. With kids, our bags include the typical Shampoo, Conditioner, body soap, hand soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair detangler, hairbrushes, sunscreen, and moisturizers. Adding with the first aid kit, we have multiple styles of band aids, gauze, wipes, injury wrap, torniquet, stint and alcohol wipes. Hopefully each backpack will have its own first aid kit added to ensure everyone’s safety and having enough on hand to help others as well. 

If you made it this far, I am beyond thankful for your patience, curiosity, and dedication. It means a lot to me! This was a lot of information to process, but if you have any questions, concerns, or something to add, let me know in the comments or send me an email. Hope you enjoy this tidbit of info on our travels.