Travel and car boots

I usually head off to a market solo. When I get to bring a friend/slave along it's a bonus, but I usually have to prepare and execute myself, which brings up challenges of transport and logistics.

Firstly, I downsized my car this year. Oops. Fitting my market gear into my new boot has meant a rethink of my packing habits and really gotten me to just take less stuff. Or rather, fit the same stuff into fewer boxes. I use vintage suitcases in my displays so they're all full of products now - they have to earn their place in the boot!
All other items have to fit into one plastic lidded tub: other display boxes, cloths, cards.
I have a smaller tub which is my kit: business cards, receipt and record books, pins, tape, scissors, stickers, pens, tags and labels, snacks and a mag or two for the quiet times.
My purchase bags are out of a big box and into a smaller bag that fits down the side.
I have a new display board too, but that's in behind the passenger seat (you'll see photos of that on Sunday).
And lastly there's my chair (needed for some markets, and comfy!), and my super super important fold-down trolley. That thing was my best investment; I can get everything from the car to the site in two trips. That's important when distance and access and parking are often not ideal.

On the day, I like to allow 45mins to set up.
That allows for all sorts of mind-changing, but also coffee buying in the time between set up and door opening.

At the end of the market, I am gone in 15 minutes. Super fast pack up, which is great when I need to hit the road.

There are a lot of things that you learn along the way, but plenty of resources to learn from those who do markets a lot more often than I do.


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