Suitcases & Sanity: Remembering the Essentials when Packing for Your Family Trip
When heading out on a trip, there is so much to keep track of to ensure you bring everything you need for a stress-free vacation. Here are some tips I've compiled to make getting out the door for a vacation a little bit easier:
Tip #1 - Keep Your Travel Items Together
Being organized just means that everything has a home. This is a great rule to remember when you're organizing your travel items as well - create a home for your travel items!
First, start with all the digital information you need to track for your trip. I have created a travel folder in my email account where I save airline confirmations, hotel confirmations, travel itineraries, and other travel information.
And for all of the physical items that I use only when traveling, I store them together as well. For example, I have two bins where I keep items that we only use for travel, such as:
Neck pillows
Packing Cubes
Travel Games
Outlet converters, if you're traveling to another country
Dramamine & Seabands
Extra Phone Charging Cords & Powerbanks
Seashell collecting bags for a trip to the beach
Lanyards for a trip to an amusement park.
Eye masks, travel blankets
Air tags
Fully packed travel toiletry bags and extra toiletries (see Tip #2)!
Small travel clock
White noise machine
Extension Cord
Nightlight for the bathroom
By keeping these things together, it cuts down on packing time, and you are less likely to forget something that you normally use on your trip.
Tip #2 Keep your toiletry bag packed at all times.
Instead of having to pack a toiletry bag for each trip, just buy duplicates of the things you use every day and keep them in your toiletry bag. My family takes more road trips than plane trips, so our toiletry bags are usually packed with full-size items, and then we have a bin of travel-size items when we are trying to fly with just carry-ons.
Tip #3 - Create a Master Packing List
There is a link to my packing list template at the end of this blog. Please download it for free!
Create a master packing list that is specific to your family. I love to organize my packing list in a spreadsheet because I can insert rows and columns and move things around as needed. (I'm also a former CPA, so I just love spreadsheets.) Feel free to use any sort of list you want, but the nice thing about using an electronic list is that you can save it and make updates easily. Since I use a GoogleSheet, I can make edits for our next trip while we are still on vacation.
Here are my tips for how to set up your packing list:
When I first created an electronic packing list when my kids were little, I had a different list for each type of destination, but then it was easy to forget to update it as the kids grew up and their needs changed. Now I have one master list that includes EVERYTHING! So yes, if we are traveling in July to the beach, we will not need snowpants, but I’m happy to just cross that off the list from the start than to have to remember to add them for a winter trip. I have also added columns with items specific to unique destinations, like amusement parks or Airbnbs.
Part of this packing list is also listing what each person wants with them in their little travel backpack, whether we're taking a plane ride or we're taking a road trip. I also include things that need to happen before we leave for our destination, such as downloading podcasts or movies ahead of time.
The last section on my packing list is actually what we need to do in the house before we leave. This includes items like:
Take out the trash
Water indoor and outdoor plants
Make sure the cat sitter instructions are left out for her
Adjust the thermostat
These are all things that many of us just try and keep track of in our head, but it's so much easier to have them written down and cross them off as they complete each task, especially if a couple is splitting the duties as they race out the door.
So I hope you download my free template and adjust it to fit your family’s needs! Bon Voyage!
