Hi JoelInOttawa,
Richi here just outside of Ottawa, Ontario. I do own a Yamaha Stagepas 300 - 8 channels, 4 XLR inputs. I bought it years ago because I loved the portability. Mixer sits in the speaker during transport and is removable. The entire thing fits in the back seat floor of the car. It does not have a sub mixer however. I would bring it to the cottage to do some playing, jamming, recording.
While the Stagepas will amplify your sound, you might not be thrilled with the sound quality. Nothing wrong with it but not brilliant. I come to this somewhat jaded as my current setup is the Yamaha H8 powered speakers with subwoofer. That is twice the size of the Stagepas and a few times more expensive but the sound quality is top notch and worth the expense in my opinion. I supplement my rig with a 12 channel mixer. The H8’s are reference speakers so I also use them in the studio at home for recording.
Like yourself I am preparing to bring my craft on the road and I was thinking along the same lines as you were - something light, inexpensive and with enough volume and quality to get me through. I have not settled on a suitable solution yet. I practice with the H8 system and the thought of going out with something less, in terms of sound quality does not appeal to me much. Let us know what you end up deciding.