After the first 30 days of living out of a Jeep, you should have seen the interior. Loose mail and business cards floated on the floor mats, bagel halves sat uneaten on the dashboard, dirty clothes, empty water bottles, snack wrappers, all of it collected in one area – the passenger seat.
Without a passenger, it seemed, I had no incentive to make room and keep things tidy. Everything I’d ever need was right there within arm’s reach. I didn’t care if it looked neat or not – I knew where most things were.
Until I lost my wallet in the car.
I spent most of the afternoon ripping everything out of the Cherokee. Passerbys looked on in concern at the girl grumbling and cursing under her breath at the car wash station. I missed a paddling trip. Ate almond butter for lunch. When I finally found my wallet two hours later (stuffed in a random nook in the very back seat), frazzled, annoyed, but relieved, I vowed to change my ways and do something I’ve never claimed to be good at: get organized.
Now, over a year later, if someone’s been in the Jeep, I know it. There’s a place for everything, and my most-used items are all easy to reach from the driver’s seat. And the best part? Now I can have a passenger.
Check out my favorite nooks and crannies in the 2014 Jeep Cherokee below!
The middle console is my junk drawer (but an organized drunk drawer at that). The large compartment holds emergency essentials like headlamps, ENO portable speakers (you never know when you’ll need to bring the tunes), spare batteries, camp lights, and a pocketknife. The upper deck of the console is slimmer and holds spare cash, receipts, and lens cloths.
Not far from the console are my cup holders, which hold a cup, no doubt, but rarely a drink. I use it for other things like spare cutlery, pens, honey jars, and other important items. Because you need to have your local honey in close range at all times, for obvious reasons.
Directly above the main control screen of the Jeep is an unassuming dashboard compartment with a lot of room. This is my jewelry box: earrings, hair ties, necklaces. Just because I live on the road doesn’t mean I can’t have a little style.
Look up from the dashboard compartment and you’ll see interior lights and another secret storage pocket, the perfect size for a pair of glasses. I notoriously break and/or lose sunglasses, but – knock on wood – I’ve managed to keep the same pair of Smiths for the past year and a half and I have this protective pocket to thank.
And finally, last but not least, the door side pockets are the perfect place to stow bug spray, sunscreen, and extra snacks. Of course, this bin also often doubles as my trash can when I’m feeling lazy.
