Ah, the family road trip so fondly remembered by parents who seem to have forgotten what it was like to be kids in the back seat with legs and backs sticking to vinyl.
Our kids wont remember them like that: Nope, those days are long gone.
The road trip is back (as if it ever went away) and the way of the world is to take EVERYTHING in your family wagon! Which is fine. Given last year waspretty rotten, fingers crossed this is the time to spread our wings a little. Nothing pleases parents more than happy kids, so pack the car and spread the joy. And, as my friend Charlie likes to say, Better to have than to want.
Thats why youre glad youve got theSubaruOutback becausethere is room for all the stuff you need, and a stack of stuff you wont but will take, anyway. Just in case.
Whats the secret to packing your family SUV or wagon? Step one, if youre not using the tow bar, put it aside for a moment because youll probably whack your shins on it.
Next, open the boot, which, if your keys are in your pocketand youre standing behind an Outback AWD Sport or Outback AWD Touring, you can do with a wave of your hand or elbow. Defined in the brochure as a cargovolume, it is massive. Hard things with square edges go in first, like Lego. Or maybe its more of a jigsaw.
Where do you put theesky, or the box with snacks in it? Maybe last? Probably on theright-hand side near the 12v outlet if its a plug-in poweredesky.
Weve got three kids, so the back seat is full of bodies if it werent, wedutilisethe quick release split fold rear seats for long things. Golf clubs, maybe. Not fishing rods, theres a bit of a stink to them so they go up top on the roof with the surf boards. If we are going camping, the spade will go up there, too. Or a canoe. We dont have a canoe, but if we did
Did we say the Subaru Outback is a great camping car? It is. AWD and all that. A bit of off road is fun for everyone. Itsdefinitely afamily holiday car, and as youll find, its a road trip car as well.
Soft things go in after the hard things, filling the gaps like mortar.
Theres a bunch of hidey-holes for important things you cant forget but may not remember where youve hidden. (Straps for the surfboards usually live in the pouch on the back of the front driversseat butmay well turn up in one of another five locations throughout the car.) Drink bottles in the drink holders, everybody gets one. Its like an episode ofOprah. YOU get a drink holder. YOU get a drink holder. YOU get a drink holder. Just dont forget to pack the drinks.
Bikes? You want to take bikes? Attach yourbike holder to your tow bar. Or, if you dont have rods and boards, put them up on the roof. Or, have boards on one side, bikes on the other. Theres an embarrassment of space up there for people to admire how much stuff youre taking away on holiday.
Seriously, theres room for pretty much anything.
And then, before you know it, youre done. Youre a legend. Youve got everything! And this time you remembered to pack the family car outside the garage, because it was a bit of a pain trying to get out of the garage with everything on the roof last time.
The wagon is an artwork, so you take a photo. Bikes, boards, tent, shovel, rods, fly spray, hair spray, sunscreen, bags, toiletries, food,esky what else could there be?
The family. WHERE ARE THE KIDS?
This is about the time I usually stomp through the house cajoling all and sundry to move toward the familys SUV in happy, holiday tones. I try, anyway. Inevitably, theres one who wont budge. My phone. Its out of charge.Daaaaad, can we wait a bit longer while it like, charges?
Lets go, I say, knowing full well there are multiple USB ports in the car. I go through theOprahthing again. You get a USB port. You get a USB port You can imagine how much fun I am to travel with?
The front of the center consolehastwo USB ports, and any last-minute things can go in thecentreconsole box.The Outback isactually massiveon the inside. Like areally well-appointedliving room with wheels and aircon front and back.
Theres no toilet, though. So, whilst the driving experience hasdefinitely changedsince we were sliding around playing corners in the back seat, some things remain the same.At the momentyou clear the traffic and point your nose ontothehighway and engage Adaptive Cruise Control, someones going to say theyre busting.
Its a road trip, what more would you expect.
Andrew Daddo
Subaru Ambassador
04 May 2021
