How to Become a Packing Pro
Packing for trips is a process! There are tons of logistics to think through. When we first started out, we consulted numerous packing lists and fell into the new parent stereotype of packing too much. Over time, we winged it and rushed and swung the other way, sometimes forgetting items like pacifiers, socks, chargers, and even shoes! On a recent road trip, we rushed our kids out the door into the car and Carter didn’t have shoes on! (When we arrived at our destination, we made a quick stop at Goodwill for some $5 temporary replacements.) Something we always try to remember is that there will always be a Target or another store to buy something forgotten.
Check that you have your ID and /or passport and remember that most other things are replaceable at your destination. Stay flexible!
We’ve perfected our packing plans, and now we can usually start packing for a trip the night before and hit that sweet spot of not forgetting important items without overpacking. Below, I’m hoping some of these ideas and description of our process can help you as you get ready for your trip. Although it seems like a lot of work, I promise it gets easier. Being well prepared pays off.
Basic Packing List
- Most important: ID and/or passports
- Daily outfits for everyone (head to toe)
- Items for eating, sleeping and pooping
- Toiletries and swim items if needed
- Activities for Kids (Games? Coloring?)
- Activities for Grown-ups (Work items? Chargers?)
- Important documents
Are You Flying or Driving? How Much Space Do You Have?
The transportation type will make a difference in how tight to condense your lists. Read more about general tips for flying here.
When flying, you’ll want to condense and limit your items. You’ll need to really think through bulky items like coats or shoes and limit the number of toys. My number one tip for airports is to prioritize keeping your hands open. While the kids are young, we prefer packing a big suitcase to check and limiting what we’re carrying on. As the kids get older, we’ll do more carry-ons, especially once we don’t have to make a baggage claim stop for our car seats. Pick good solid suitcases. We bought our Samsonite from Costco, but keep an eye out for sales for other brands as well.
When taking a road trip, there’s a little more flexibility. Read more about road trips here.
When driving, we like to limit our suitcases to just clothes and throw extras like toys, diapers in a laundry basket. We’ll also have fewer restrictions on snacks and more space for extras like beach toys or other items.
If you’re making a multi-stop trip, consider splitting up the suitcases by stop so you can just open one at your first destination. On a recent trip, we had a small suitcase with everyone’s clothes and shoes needed for a wedding, and the other suitcase contained everything else.
Packing Clothes: How Many Days? What’s the Weather?
Clothes will take up the bulk of your packing. The first step is to look at the weather forecast and your plans for each day. Will you be hiking? Swimming? Going to a wedding? Go day by day and lay out complete outfits for each person. Top+bottom, dress+leggings, socks, underwear, shoes. Go ahead and match up the items now so you don’t have someone wearing plaids and stripes one day. Adults often reuse items like jeans and pants, but we find that the kids usually get the items pretty dirty and need a complete outfit change every day. Keep these daily outfits together. When the kids were smaller, we used gallon size ziplocs and put complete outfits in each bag so they could grab a bag and get dressed without unpacking all the other items. I’ve also seen many other people recommend packing cubes or hanging shelves.
If the kids have matching outfits they want to wear (either with each other or Ellie and I love mommy and me dresses) make sure each person has theirs picked out. Decide how many extra sets of clothes you’ll need. You know your kids best, but our general guideline is 2 extra outfits for kids under 1, 1 extra outfit for kids 1-3 and plan on reusing a dirty outfit if needed for kids over 3. Supplement with 1 pj per kid (and adult if applicable) and 1-2 swimming outfits
Dirty Clothes: At our destination, we like to unpack into drawers or piles next to the suitcase and use the empty suitcase for dirty clothes. Another idea is to pack a cheap mesh bag. Most hotels have plastic bags hanging in the closet for sending out laundry. We use these bags for clothes that are sweaty or wet from swimming. For any trip over 4 days, we’ll plan to do a laundry load or 2. Many AirBnBs and hotels have washers and dryers and soap for varying costs.
Baby-Specific Items
I saw a great onesie for a baby once that said eat, sleep, poop, repeat. If you have a baby, make sure you have all the items needed for those things! Depending on the age, you might pack some formula and bottle brushes, or for an older kid, pouches and snacks. Don’t forget that you can always make a stop at Target if anything is forgotten or you don’t want to pack too much. For diapers, it’s hard to have enough without having too many. If your trip is longer than 5 days, consider buying diapers or pull-ups at your destination instead of using valuable luggage space. Also consider packing extra diaper sacks to separate out dirty and used items and disposable placemats and bibs. If your child needs it, make sure to pack any loveys, blankets or white noise makers that you rely on for sleeping. Read more tips about sleeping in hotels here. Some surplus items can be packed in the suitcases, but we usually overstuff the diaper bag with a few extra things.
Favorite Travel Baby Items (Click on images to go to Amazon)
(Note: If you purchase something, I may receive a small commission from Amazon)
Baby Carrier
Car Seat Travel Bag
Sleep Toy (with sound)
Toiletries and Swim Items for Everyone
Make sure everyone has toothbrushes and toothpaste! Ben prefers his own shampoo over hotel shampoo, but I usually use whatever the hotel offers. Put any liquid items in resealable bags to prevent spills. I also pack a folding hairbrush and a small make-up bag for me, and I’ll throw in a few ponytail holders and hairclips for Ellie.
If you’re planning on swimming, make sure everyone has swim diapers, if needed, goggles, and footwear. We also make sure that grown-ups who need contacts pack those specifically for water days as well.
Activities for Kids and Grown-ups
For both road trips and flying trips, make sure you have a fully charged tablet with tv shows and/or games downloaded. Screen time rules are lax on trips. On road trips, we have full activity bags with coloring, games, and small toys. If we know we’ll have some down-time on the trip, we may pack some puzzles or small games as well. On planes, the kids carry a small backpack with a few small items as well as a small snack and water bottle. Make sure everyone packs chargers for phones and tablets.
Favorite Kids Activities
Wiki Stix
Magic Ink
iPad with Cover
Adult Activities
To be honest, we don’t carry a lot for grown-ups on trips. Maybe a small book. In general, any down-time we have, we spend on our phones for the most part. Make sure you have lots of chargers for all of the electronics. We actually have a wireless charger that is just for trips and stays packed. If we’re on a road trip or there’s extended driving at our destination, we’ll also pack a car phone charger.
If you’re bringing along work on vacation, first of all, that’s no fun. Try not to. But do what you gotta do. If you have to, make sure you have all the items you need, including chargers, a portable mouse, hard-copies of files you need to reference, etc.
Important Documents and other items
Make sure you have identification for each person. Often, hotels will want the credit card you booked with so pack those as well. If we’re flying an airline that we have a credit card for, we’ll pack those too. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card comes with a physical Priority Pass card that we use for lounge access and you’ll need to present that in person. If we’re traveling internationally, I sometimes screenshot or print out physical copies of info that I may not be able to access right when landing such as directions to the sim store and name and address of our hotel.
Final Thoughts
I’m hoping some of these ideas and description of our process can help you as you get ready for your trip. Something we always try to remember is that there will always be a Target or another store to buy something forgotten. Although it seems like a lot of work, I promise it gets easier. Being well prepared pays off.
