Packing the Car for a 40+ Hour Roadtrip

I've been a little MIA for a couple weeks because I've been preparing for our long roadtrip! And now that we're back, I'm ready to give you all of our tips! We've taken a couple different roadtrips lately. They're becoming one of our go-to vacations! You get to visit multiple different locations and spend lots of quality time with your family. They're definitely not for everyone, but they're for us!

There are so many things to plan when getting ready for a roadtrip like packing lists, locations, roadside attractions, budgets, etc. But something I've put a lot of thought into, researched, and even changed my mind about mid-trip before, is how to pack the car. The first thing I do is divide everything into catergories. And there are quite a few. Here are mine:
1. Travel Gifts
2. Non-refridgerated food
3. Cooler food
4. Entertainment for the car
5. Toiletries that we need every day
6. Outfits and accessories for each day
7. Accessories and supplies to be used at specific locations
You can organize all of these things in many different ways, but this is how we did it on our most recent trip:

We packed up one of those plastic drawer carts (like this one) with non-refridgerated snacks in the bottom drawer, entertainment for the car in the middle drawer, and travel gifts in the top drawer. We packed our large cooler with all of the food that needed to stay cold. These were the things that needed to stay within reach while we were driving.

The items in the trunk were put in larger, easier to stack, containers. We had a bin to keep our clothes that we had labeled for each day so that every time we unpacked for a hotel, we just grabbed whatever clothes we would be wearing while we were there and throw them in our overnight bags. Then, the dirty clothes would go in one of those collapsible clothes hampers. In our overnight bags, we kept all the toiletries that we would need every day (like hair brushes, toothbrushes, deodorant, etc.). The only things we had left to pack were those few things we would need at specific locations like our beach umbrella, sand toys, sunscreen, bags for Universal, etc. These things were put into bags or bins of their own with a label indicating which day(s) they were to be used.

I also suggest getting one of those backseat organizers. My son loved it! He could put drinks, a tablet, pens, pencils, and notebooks in all kinds of little compartments.