Parent Packing / Travel Hacks
The first time my wife and I went on a trip as a family, we were unpacking at the hotel and discovered we forgot socks for the entire family. We then purchased socks with Mickey on them and they costed a small fortune. We never made that mistake again. We got organized and started to plan ahead to make our trips successful and stress free. Some of the most frequent questions we are asked is... What do I pack? This sections is for all those new families starting to venture out with their children, who want to make the most of their trip and not spend a fortune on socks.
Where are you going? That is the first question, I'd ask when packing. I know where I'm going , I paid for the trip. Where are you going ? What is there to do? Is there swimming? Is there a need for jacket? Do I need extra clothes? These are some of the things you need to figure out. Are there regular stores at your destination, or are you in "No Man's Land"? Once you have a list, a general idea of what you will be doing, and you determined if there is a store nearby. I'm not talking about souvenir shops, we are looking for a Target, Walmart or Dollar tree. Start making a list of everything you need day to day. Think about what you do in your regular daily routine. That is different for everyone. Start writing down everything you use while getting ready. Clothing, personal care items, medications (if needed), special snacks you like during the day, kid's needs. Make that list in your phone or on paper. Check off your items as you pack. Take a copy for the return trip.
Tips for packing your luggage
Personal Care Items
You want to be as organized as possible, above making a list especially for new travelrs and new parents can be a little overwhelming. It's ok breath...you got this.
Personal care items, if you are flying you have to pack these things in your luggage. IF you use a lot of products this can weigh down your luggage. Get some kind of travel bag for your personal items. Big enough to fit all your families things. Depending on how long you will be away , you may need full sized bottles. If your going for a few days, there is no reason to bring a full bottle of shampoo. Get travel size empty bottles and fill them with your products. Everyone in our home uses liquid bath soaps. So when we go away, we get one bottle of DOVE soap and pack luffas or little sponges (everyone gets there own!) Sponges are light and cheap. Another thing to consider is when away as these things empty at the end of your trip, you can just throw them away. Creating more space in your luggage for the return trip, so your bags don't get heavier from the souvenirs you purchased. Keep that in mind, I bought a .89 cent plastic bottle , I filled it with shampoo at the end of trip it doesn't need to come home. Also pack new toothbrushes, use them for your trip and throw them out at the end of the trip. We save our free new toothbrushes from the dentist and pack them for trips and then throw them away when we are coming home. You can also buy 3 pack in the dollar store. Don't take your expensive tooth brushes with you. Take the free tooth paste dentist gives you on your trip. Those small tubes are perfect for traveling. Throw it out at the end. Your not looking to save space, your looking to save weight when your flying. If your family in more than 2, trying saving weight by using same kind of products. Dove soap is baby friendly. Why can't mom, dad and baby use dove liquid soap. Why can't mom and dad use same shampoo? Why can't dad and boys use the same spray deodorant? Saves weight, if everyone using the same products. Also saves money, instead of buying multiple different products. Think of personal care items in that way, when packing for a big trip. This tip is for flying but works for road trips too, cuts down the cost of personal care items and space. Again, if your luggage is packed and your luggage is over the weight limit, go to the store to buy soap, shampoo, diapers and wipes on day one of the trip. A Uber ride and 30 minutes in Walmart is cheaper than paying over limit fee at the airport. If your driving , shove it in there. LOL.
Diapers and wipes. These things take up a lot of space in your luggage. If you are flying, that space might mean another checked bag, which can cost a lot more than a pack of diapers and wipes. Find out if there's a store near where you are staying. If so, I highly suggest packing enough to get you through one day, and go to the store to pick up diapers and wipes on day one. If your driving and you have space in the trunk pack it up. That rule goes for many other things kid related. Keep in mind, if you are traveling to a popular destination, you may run the risk of supply shortage.
Since we mentioned wipes. Disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer is a must. You don't know what the bathroom situation is like where you are going or at the rest stops. You might need to do a little disinfecting before doing your business. Wipes come in Travel packs, it is inexpensive and compact. My wife always carries a travel purse, its a leather back pack, that can hold lots of things in it. One of those handy dandy items, disinfecting wipes. Hand sanitizer falls in this group also, you need to clean your hands to keep healthy. Sometimes there is no soap to be found. Travel with freshy fresh wipes (adult flushable wipes). You never know, IF road side food is going to agree with your stomach. It's nice to "be prepared".
Clothing
How much clothes should I pack? That can be a tricky question to answer. I'd start with how fresh do you like to feel? Personally, I like to take a shower mid-way through the day and put on a new outfit. I know realistically that some days on my trip we will be out all day, so for those days I pack 1 outfit. The days that I anticipate we will be out part of the day and then go back to hotel, I will plan on 2 outfits for that day. If we are driving, I don't worry about how much I am packing. If we are flying, weight in the luggage can be problematic. My next step would be to research the hotel, do they have laundry services on site? If they have a laundry mat, I will sometimes factor in 2 hours to do one big load in the middle of the trip, cutting the amount of clothes by half. I will do laundry if we are away more than 5 days. Under 5 days you can wait until you get back home. I also like to travel with travel friendly clothing. Sports wicking shirts and pants are awesome. You get hot and sweat, they dry really quick. They don't smell when you get sweaty and dry quick if it rains. If you plan on traveling a lot, I would highly suggest shopping around for sports wicking pants and good shirts. They really are worth the investment. They are really light weight and durable. Jeans are really heavy and not very comfortable when wet. If you are traveling to in colder climate, sports wicking is thinner material, consider taking thermals as well. Kids, are very messy, I would pack at least 2 outfits per day. Carry a change of clothes for them when you are out and about. Kids sometimes don't do well eating different foods. You don't want to suddenly be caught in a situation where you need a change of clothes and its either $100 bucks for a new outfit or nothing available. Make sure you pack socks, you don't want to get stuck paying $20 for a pair. For each outfit I'd pack undergarments to go with them. Learn how to fold clothes efficiently. Youtube has videos that show how the Navy pack their bags; the way they fold clothes takes up the least amount of space. The Army also does a roll method, those can also be found on Youtube videos. It really makes a difference in packing. Your clothes might get wrinkles, carry a small bottle anti wrinkle spray , few squirts., smooth out and hang before use. Good to go.
Helpful Items to before you leave
While you are packing and checking your list, remember to go through your itinerary of where you are going and how you are getting there. I know a lot of things are in email and on your phones but PRINT everything. Print the confirmations for your reservations. Not all 20 pages, but the main stuff confirmation numbers , hotel address, phone numbers and flight confirmations. Yes , I know save the trees and reduce waste..."there's an app for that BRUH"... Sometimes the apps don't work, poor cell service , lack of WIFI. Any of these combination can mean delays in your trip. If you have a physical print out, no problem, good to go.
If you are driving a rental or your car make sure you have EZ pass packed. Maybe check to make sure it has enough funds on the pass as well.
Call your credit cards and Debit card to tell them where you are traveling , dates of stay and states you will be traveling through. There is no bigger buzz kill than a beeping "Declined" prompt. Call those cards.
Have cash on hand, hit the ATM the day before you leave, put some of that cash in your bag and some in your wallet. Use your cash when you stop in a sketchy place.
Ponchos. You ever heard the term "be prepared"? If you stop at your local big box store, you can buy ponchos plastic clear ones for $1. In the land of Mouse, they cost $8 bucks and up. Most places you can't find them, when you need them. I get the cheap $1 ponchos that are folded flat and they stack easily in backpacks. Rain shouldn't ruin your fun.
Cell phone, tablet chargers and a pocket sized battery. Put these in a backpack or travel bag.
My wife as I mentioned before carries a leather backpack, we affectionately call "The Mary Poppins bag". I also carry a drawstring bag. This bag is called a LocTote bag. I am not one for recommend pricey things but this bag is worth the investment. Not only does is carry my stuff, it has all kind of security features. This bag is slash proof. It has a locking strap at the top, that when pulled taught and locked, you can not get your hand inside the bag. You can strap it around a stationary area, like a pole and no one can get into your bag. Its perfect to put money, and valuables into it and strap it to a pole or a desk in the hotel room to protect your items. This bag is not bullet proof, but you can not slash it open with a knife or cut it with scissors. The strap has steel cable and can not be cut with scissors or a knife. Yes you can probably get into it with tools, but most cleaning people don't carry around cable cutters. If you use this bag to go to a water park or theme park it comes in real handy. You strap it something stationary , no one can get into it. Like, if your going on a roller coaster; strap it to the rail and no worries. It will be there when you get back. In this bag I also carry all my chargers for the tablet and phones. If we fly , I pack my keys in the zippered pouch inside. The inside of these Lock Tote bags are waterproof and the zipper areas are RDIF blocking so your credit cards will be safe. I also carry my paperwork, hotel confirmations, airline tickets etc.
Parents with little kids, I know the point of a vacation is to unplug and spend time with the family but getting from point A to point B can get boring for the little folks. I recommend using those streaming sites that you already pay for and preload movies on a tablet. You can download movies at home a day before you leave and have hours of entertainment for the little ones. We like to play car games, but after an hour or so they get restless and sometimes super hero movies really do save the day. I also like to bring headphones for the tablet so the kids can listen to their individual movies. IF they kids are older and have their own phones, log into those streaming apps the day before on their device and have them download a few movies. Save your data while traveling by downloading movies ahead of time.
While we are on the subject of car entertainment. I like to listen to music that will keep me awake. That happens via bad singing and nice play list. I refuse to pay for radio, so I use either Pandora or my favorite Youtube. I make a playlist of my favorite videos, I play them via bluetooth. Please don't watch the videos and drive at the same time, that's not safe. I have a play list that will play for hours on the road, its free. Yes, it uses some data but its basically free. I get to hear the songs I want not what the DJs playing.
Hear me out...flash light and a black light. You can purchase a black light in the store, they are inexpensive and very handy. I have traveled to so many places and stayed at so many hotels. Sometimes hotels don't have the cleanest sheets. My OCD has one job when I enter a room for the first time, that's to make sure its clean. This is exactly what I do on every trip. I know I am crazy. I check into the hotel. I leave my family outside with our belongings in the car, or in the lobby with our bags if we fly. I get my room key. I look around the lobby and the halls to find clues on my way to the room. I'm looking to validate that this place is right for my family. Clue #1 if the lobby and the halls are mess, your room is going to be a mess. I go to my room I open the door and take good whiff. Does it smell like moldy or funny? I go directly to the beds black light on, lights in the room dim. I scan the bed with the black light, you will instantly see any spots on the comforter indicating if it is not clean. I pull the comforter back, I scan the sheets, then the fitted sheet, then the pillows. You will see glowing areas if they haven't been cleaned correctly. If all is well, I proceed to the next step. I take out my flash light, now I am checking for bed bugs. Yes, even the nicest of places is not immune to bed bugs. I rather check and make sure, than not check and carry them home. I take out flashlight and I shine where the bed meets the box spring or the base. Lift up on the mattress, look in between mattress and the base. Look under the mattress , pull up the fitted sheet and look in between that. Yes, I totally trash the bed before I even stay in the room. Note, there are sometimes small stains on the bed, not a cause for alarm. Most nicer hotels have protective pads between the sheets and the bed. IF that protective cover is dirty, that a different story. Mattress might have a small stain, maybe someone spilled a soda, not a big deal if there a mattress protector. I'm looking for bugs here not stains. I go around the whole bed checking like this. I'm looking for little bugs, blood stains, brownish crud in between. Like , I stated before even the high end places have bed bugs sometimes. Then I do the next bed. Then I use my flash light to check out some of the furniture, YES, bed bugs can live in wood. So, I check the drawers quickly and the closets. Then I walk in to the bathroom and check the toilet. Does it smell like clean in there? If everything checks out. We are good to go. IF the room is not up to PAR, I will go to the desk and ask for a new room. I will repeat that process again. Most places we stay in are really clean. Only 2 times in my experience did I leave a hotel and demand a refund. If the room isn't up to your standards, you can ask for an upgrade. Sometimes, that will happen for free. Example one time we went to a indoor water park hotel. The room looked clean, but there was a "floater" in the toilet. We got upgrade to the best room free of charge. Most hotels will do this as a courtesy if its not up to PAR. Please understand me, you do not need to get hostile or nasty. The person at the desk has nothing to do with the room getting clean. Just communicating your expectations and asking for another room or upgrade nicely, goes a long way. There is never a need to be rude. You get more bee with honey, like they say.
Knowing how you are traveling can save you big bucks. As mentioned before, if you can save space in a luggage by going to the store when you arrive ; can save you the hassle of adding checked luggage to your trip. If you are driving, I would take anything that can reduce your cost while traveling. One of these items is water. In a theme park or vacation destination you can pay $3 and up for one bottle of water. Stop at a Costco's or BJ's and get a case of water for $5. Big savings if you drink a lot of water. Same goes for soda. If you can I would invest in thermal water bottles, they are reusable and keep your drinks cold. I purchase mine from a little shop that customizes the bottles with my name on it. The bottles keep my water cold for hours. Also instead of buying water bottles you can buy a gallon and save some plastic. These are especially handy in theme parks. Cheapo hack for theme parks, bring thermal water bottles empty, buy 1 unlimited drinks cup from theme park and fill up your thermal bottle. I do this for my entire family. I said cheapo hack right. It works like this, one of you go fill the unlimited bottle, go outside and fill you thermal bottle. Next Parent go in and fill the unlimited cup and repeat. It takes a few more minutes buy you save money on overpriced drinks. Also bring snack for the kids, like trail mix or granola bars. Parents if you have never been to Aldi's store, I encourage you to go for the snacks, trust me. Most places will allow you to bring in snacks. Check those websites, if it does not prohibit outside food. Bring it.
Luggage, the endless possibilities. You will want to check airlines on weight limits. They change often. Buy a small portable luggage scale to weigh your bags, take it with you on vacation. Do not pack to the limit weight, give yourself at least 1.5 lbs to account for scale differences at the airport. If you are driving, no problem take whatever you want. Take note also, that if you are new to traveling and do not have luggage, you will need to shop around for light-weight and sturdy luggage. I prefer hard shell luggage. I would take into account that this luggage will be used again. You want to buy luggage that you can take on the plane or in a car. I would use the dimensions chart planes , and would not buy luggage bigger than those dimensions. There are many options in picking luggage, some have pockets are different compartments. Some are materials, have wheels, levers, pulls , etc. You will most likely have to cart this luggage long distances, so you want wheels. I would look up luggage ratings. You want to pay attention to how the wheels are constructed they are not made the same. Some wheels snap off easier than others. At the airport your luggage will get thrown by Olympic luggage throwers and if that luggage is not sturdy... you will have 2 wheels instead of 4 and probably be missing half you clothes because it busted open and they taped it shut. I've seen it happen. Skate wheels are the sturdiest wheels. 360 turning wheels are the most convenient. When you looking at luggage, put in on the ground and push on top of it and see if those wheels flex at all or if the shell buckles. If it does, don't buy that one. I will post a picture of my luggage so you can see what I use. My luggage has been used for years. Hard shell has the most room inside, it is waterproof for the most part. They are usually very sturdy. Pay attention to zippers, they should be thick sturdy. You want to get a TSA lock to secure your stuff. Make sure its a TSA lock or it will get cut off at the airport, I suggest a lock a combo lock. You don't want to lose the key to your luggage while on a trip. Its worth the extra $2. Personalize your bag a bit, its going to get scratched up and dinged. It will never stay looking new. So, put a few stickers on it so you can identify it easily and describe it if it gets lost. Everything has a purpose if you haven't gotten that yet. You can contact company to personalize custom vinyl tag for your bag.
When planning a trip to a popular tourist attraction, if you don't want to get stuck paying top dollar for toys and do-dads. I suggest the following, search around online for toys that would make good souvenirs from the place you are visiting. One of my son's was a huge Mickey fan and instead of paying $100 bucks on a big stuffed Mickey, I found a big one cheaper at a store and packed it with my stuff. At Disney when he saw the big Mickey and wanted one, I told him we would get it later. When we got to the hotel room , we gave it to him.
Another thing to make your trip a little more special is custom family T-shirts. Sounds cheesy but they make for great photo opportunities. There are a few sites that make custom shirts, I use a small business and provided a link on this page.
These are some of the hacks , tips I use to pack for our next trip. I will get a downloadable packing list together and load it on this page in the future. I will also update this list from time to time.
You have a plan to pack, now get out there and make some memories.
Custom Thermal Bottle
Custom T-Shirts
Hang Ten Hard Shell
