leg space

We came back from a weekend trip to the Netherlands. We only went to the south of the Netherlands. Travelling by car, always means I needs lots of things handy to keep the kids happy. Usually that means all my legspace is taken up by a backpack fully filled, another bag with food & drinks. So I usually sit in "kleermakerszit" while travelling. I have no idea how to translate this Dutch word into English. Perhaps somebody else knows.