Packing Tips
I’ve done several packing posts over the years:
- What We Always Pack – a look inside the packing cube with all of our essentials that we take with us on every trip.
- How to Pack for a Family Vacation – general packing guidance.
- Packing List for a Family Safari – what we took to Africa.
- A Vacation Packing List for Adventurous Destinations
But when Travelocity asked me to write a packing post for them, I realized that I’ve never done an all-inclusive packing post. So now I have! This includes the main items from our ‘every-trip’ packing cube, clothes, shoes, luggage, packing cubes, and everything else we’ve learned to take with us (and leave behind) from 49 countries of family travel.
The post is here:
Please let me know your thoughts, either here or at the end of the Travelocity post. How is your packing different? Did you feel differently about traveling with strollers?
What is your logic on not bringing a stroller when the kids were smaller? We haven’t done that we always bring one,but maybe it is smarter the way you did it.
I can’t wait to hear more on the plans on the round the world trip you have coming up.
We always traveled as lightly as possible, not wanting to be that family that takes forever getting through airport security or onto a plane with gate-checked things, finding it hard to manage everything coming out of the baggage claim, etc… And we knew that in Europe, on cobblestones, we would be extremely rough on our stroller anyway. So we started buying cheap umbrella strollers when we would get to Europe, and then leaving them behind for other families when we left.
Thanks for your thoughts. We have always brought ours because they help us get through the airports with our little kids. But I have thought about what you do. Although I can’t remember seeing shops for this the when we were in Rome in spring.
We normally travel very light too. The last two times we were in Europe our family of 7 took 6 small school backpacks, or 3 wheelie carry ons. That was fine for us for 3 weeks. Traveling light is the only way to go.
Love all your posts, and I’ve bookmarked many of your lists. I am ready to buy packing cubes, but they come in SO MANY sizes. What size do you normally recommend for each family member?
We’ve tried several sizes and several brands, but we’ve really only been happy with eBags’ Large Packing Cubes. Note: that’s not an affiliate link! Our packing cube with kids’ medicines, etc… that we take on every trip is smaller – maybe medium – but that’s the only thing we ever use the smaller size for.