I have a Toyota Camry, three kids and a wife. And when we took a road trip last month I was blown away by how much stuff we had to take. Besides the essentials: luggage, snacks and maybe a map, we now need DVD players, movies, CD players and CDs, video games, laptops, car seats, portable coolers and a GPS unit. My van had more electric wires running through cabin then a 747 jet plane. It was a chaotic mess, distracting too.

When we stopped for lunch at some diner, the kids opened the doors and stuffed spilled out like it was under pressure. A young man was standing next to his Subaru witnessed this comedy and said to me as we were walking by, ?what you need is a good cargo carrier,? as he tapped his Thule cargo carrier. ?Good advice, thanks,? I said. And it really was. I chided myself for this oversight.

Upon our return I immediately set-out to correct this oversight. I started my search where I always do these days, the internet. I immediately discovered a ton of websites offering various brands and models, it was quite overwhelming. I gravitated towards the Thule brand as that is one I know. Thule has a great selection and in the end I chose a Thule Sidekick. It mounted right on to my existing racks and is totally weatherproof. It opens on the side and has eight cubic feet of storage space which is awesome. Sometimes strangers can offer some pretty good advice.

Our next trip was to a breeze and it was so nice to have all our stuff in the cargo carrier rather then stuffed behind the rear seats blocking the rear window and on the floor getting stepped on. Our stuff stayed totally dry and because it was locked, we didn't have to take it out when we stayed at a hotel. The construction of the cargo carrier was a little flimsy but I didn't spring for the super expensive one. So for the money it has been a good value.