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When you road trip around Australia with two kids, it’s amazing how much luggage you need.
Before we left home two and a half months ago we did our best to prioritize on luggage, toys and ‘stuff’. But Savannah is only two so we still carry a stroller, and traveling through different climates means we have more clothes than we’d like.
Thankfully Yakima came on board as a partner for our road trip and provided us with a Skybox Pro – a cargo box that sits nicely on the roof of our Nissan X-Trail.
It’s like having a second boot. We’re able to throw our three suitcases up there, plus our large coats and extra pairs of shoes.
Other times we have thrown all our camping gear up there, plus boogie boards and plastic tubs of food. Everything is kept nice and dry, even in heavy rain storms.
Being a Virgo, I hate clutter and stuff piled up on the back seat cramping the kids, so with the boot full of our other equipment it’s been great to carry the suitcases on our roof.
The Yakima Skybox is lockable, and we have parked everywhere and anywhere without worrying about security. And the double sided hinge system allows us to open it from either side, depending on what we want to access.
The total height clearance we need with the box on top of our X-Trail is 2.2 metres. We’ve only had to take the box off the roof racks once, whilst staying at a hotel in Melbourne which had an underground carpark.
It only took me 5 minutes to undo the clamps, lift it off the roof, and carry it inside and store in the hotel’s luggage room.
You can get different size cargo boxes from Yakima and our one is 205cm long by 38cm wide and is very light to carry by myself. You can check Yakima Skybox out on Amazon. (affiliate link)
Other Benefits
- Initial installation took no more than 30 minutes.
- The aerodynamic design has been good with fuel consumption.
- I haven’t noticed any wind noise, even at 110 km/hr
- It doesn’t interfere with us opening our boot.
- And it looks stylish!
The only negative I can think of is the latch you have to pull down to release the lock, which opens the box, is a little stiff. Caz finds it a little difficult to open with her hand strength.
Otherwise, it has been the Silent Hero of our Aussie road trip.
We see many more miles in our future together, and pulling up at sites like Cradle Mountain in Tasmania:
If you want somewhere to stash your gear other than around your kids’ ears, then a Yakima cargo box could be the solution for you.
HOT TIP – Measure your luggage and any equipment you think you might like to put in a Yakima cargo box. Figure out what size skybox you need, then consider purchasing one size bigger – you always end up needing more storage than you think 🙂
Have you used a Yakima Skybox before to help organize your luggage on a road trip?
That is a great review Craig. There certainly seems to be a lot of storage space and you’ve really benefited from it.
I always hear of the negatives of fuel economy when people talk about these boxes so the aerodynamics is a big plus. I think I’d still remove it though when I was not using it day to day.
We will pretty much keep it on for the whole trip, as we have stuff in it even once we’ve checked in to our accommodation. Haven’t noticed much of a difference in fuel economy!
Family road tripping Austrailia couldn’t get better! The back looks stuffed so a picture says 1000 words. You guys needed the room!
Is that the kids finger art on the side of the car in Tasmania? lol
Yes we are fully loaded in the back. And a bit of finger art going on yes 🙂
Lovin our road trip Shaun!
Wow! I think my dad needs this Yakima skybox. He went to his province twice a month if he feels he wants to drive. And they have plenty of stuff in the back that sometimes he can’t use his back mirror. Hmmm this is a great gift for him this christmas.
Why not Becca?! 🙂
Wow ! This is something very good. Thanks for sharing your positive review and it really looks stylish.