Packing Less-- and More Efficiently-- for Family Travel
We've tested dozens of minimalist packing suggestions. These are our keepers.
My little family travels a lot. Not necessarily as much— or as far—as we would like to, but nearly every week this summer has found us somewhere that isn’t home. Many of these trips are three day stints (this summer, frequently to my in-law’s cabin), but we have also done several week long adventures with two toddlers in tow. Last fall, we even did a 2.5 week trip overseas! Apparently, neither my husband or I were born with the gene to process that a 7 hour flight, multiple layovers, and a handful of luggage-lugging subway rides with a 2.5 year old and newly minted 6 month old might be a special kind of challenging.
For lots of reasons, ranging from we drive a small car to you can’t carry 5 bags with 2 hands, we’ve always needed to pack light. Like, three people sharing one carry-on light. And this fact used to stress me out to no end (as my Google search history circa 2021 might attest to), but I’ve come to find that minimalist packing isn’t just possible, it’s integral to a lower stress travel experience.
For one, packing light means less luggage to lug— this is helpful whether you’re trying to Tetris a car or racing across airplane terminals. Equally important, however, the less you pack in the first place, the fewer clothing items, hygiene products, and just-in-case items you have to trip over at your destination. In my experience, tripping over adult items is bad enough, but adding too many toddler shoes and excess baby gear to the mix can send your entire trip over the edge. Given how much effort I’ve put into learning how to pack reasonably efficiently— and with Labor Day and holiday travel just around the corner— I wanted to share some suggestions for culling (and organizing) the excess.
A few guiding thoughts:
Pack fewer things, in general, than you think you need— but if nothing else, pack fewer shoes. Even two pairs of shoes per person in a four person family is 16 individual tripping hazards. In an unfamiliar space, 16 tripping hazards can quickly become a point of contention and frustration. So if you normally pack a shoe for every occasion, try packing one pair less than you usually would and see if you miss the extra options. We’ve had luck with bringing a just a pair of sneakers and one/ occasionally two other pair (sandals, water shoes, or boots, depending on the season). The pack a few less advice applies to pretty much everything else in your suitcase, except hair ties. You always need extra hair ties.
If you don’t wear it at home, you won’t wear it on vacation. Your vacation packing list will be so much easier if you have a capsule wardrobe— but even if you’re packing from an overflowing set of wardrobe options, choose your well-worn favorites. Everyone tells you to pack ‘versatile’ pieces that can be dressed up or down. But I’d prefer to think jeans and basic shirts or sweaters— things that can be easily layered but are still presentable in most settings.
Yes, you can get pretty much anything you need at your destination. But also, the last thing you want is to spend 2 hours searching for infant Tylenol in a foreign country with a feverish baby. So pack the basics you will almost inevitably need— such as fever medicine, bandaids, and nail clippers— but don’t waste your luggage space on a second pair of flip flops just in case the first one breaks.
Making command stations makes travel easier— pick a luggage system that makes that feasible. When we get to our travel destination, we set up ‘stations’ all over our space: Here is where the diapers live, this is the drawer for shoes, this is where the snack bin stays. Creating temporary homes for everything helps prevent your space from descending into chaos.
But what it took me a while to understand is that your luggage system can do the exact same thing for your clothes. Instead of throwing your clothes haphazardly into a duffel bag, use color-coded packing cubes or choose a suitcase with compartments to give your distinct categories— pajamas, t-shirts, undergarments, etc.— a home.
If you’re looking for specific suggestions— I’ve packed myself + 2 toddlers in the Solgaard Carry-On Closet and liked it (though it looks like they’ve re-designed a few things and doubled the price since I purchased it…), but my favorite travel bag by far has been the Tobiq travel duffel with four separate zippered compartments. Don’t assume that you have to run out and buy a new bag immediately though. Instead, try creating compartments and packing cubes in the bags you already have to get a better sense of what might work for you. In my experience, the most successful systems are the ones that make it possible to keep our clothing contained in the suitcase for the duration of our trip. But if you’re the hang everything up in the closet kind, by all means carry on.
And a few specific Q+A’s for packing for little ones:
How much clothing should I pack for my little ones?
How much— and what kinds— of clothing you should bring will depend on the weather and activities you have planned, as well as laundry facilities. We try to stay in places with an included washer/ dryer, which obviously cuts down on how much clothing you have to pack. That having been said, we still made it 2.5 weeks overseas with spotty washer access and without a dryer— so you can figure out the laundry situation pretty much anywhere.
4/5 shirts + 4/5 shorts/ pants— you can make do with less, but this is a great sweet spot that has you doing laundry every 3 or so days if you have really little ones or are doing lots of messy activities (like hiking or the beach).
2 pairs of pajamas (less if your kiddo doesn’t dirty their pajamas— our little ones frequently wet through their diaper or grab breakfast still in their PJs.). We pack two small packing cubes of PJs with one cube for each DAY rather than each kid— so we grab one packing cube and have the girls’ PJs for the night ready to go post-shower.
Sneakers, and possibly one other pair of shoes (we pick water shoes for the beach, and rain boots for fall/ spring trips to super wet locations)
Anywhere you plan on swimming a lot— beach or pool— 2 swimsuits is plenty (one to dry while the other is in use). We bring Primary swim diapers so we don’t have to lug/ waste disposables.
The only thing I’ve found to be more hassle than it’s worth is traveling with cloth diapers— it’s a LOT to pack and difficult to stick to a cleaning schedule so you don’t run out of diapers. Our little ones have pretty sensitive skin so we pack Dyper compostable diapers instead.
(Also: If you’re going somewhere without washer/ dryer access, the Ethique Flash laundry bar is pretty great for a quick zero-waste hand wash).
What about outerwear?
A sweatshirt can be easily layered under a fleece jacket for extra warmth, so you can skip out on a bulky coat for all but the coldest climates and months.
I don’t normally bother packing rainwear, unless our itinerary is pretty strictly outdoors. For example, we knew we would spend a week hiking the Scottish Highlands, rain or shine (in late October, at that!)— so the girls both had Columbia Critter Jitter rain suits that were well worth the investment.
What kind of baby/ toddler gear do you bring?
Guava Lotus travel cribs— This compact travel crib easily folds to backpack size, and because it’s based on the floor (instead of elevated) it can accommodate toddlers easily. My oldest used this as her primary sleeping space until she was 2.5 (and still at 3.5 fits in comfortably for travel). We pack a sleep sack for our youngest and a toddler pillow + light blanket for our oldest, but no other frills.
GB Pockit Stroller— This stroller folds down to be the size of a personal item, which is GREAT to load a toddler in for a mad dash through customs and 2 terminals to make it to a connecting flight in under an hour.
Baby carrier— I use the Ergobaby Omni 360 for baby-wearing pretty much daily (it’s still a comfortable fit, even with an 18 month old), but whatever comfortable, supportive carrier you have is perfect.
Travel high chairs— When traveling, we tend to eat breakfast + lunch at our AirBnB and go out for dinner. Because so many meals are happening at ‘home base,’ it’s great to have these on hand to keep the little ones contained. That having been said, we don’t bother packing these when we fly.
EZPZ Mini Bowl— This tiny bowl is a great, non-breakable alternative to whatever tableware restaurants or AirBnBs might have. To keep all breakables intact, we bring this from home. We also bring a Yeti water bottle for both girls (if you’re flying, you can take the water bottle empty through security, and fill it on the other side).
Outlet covers— We pack these in a small waterproof case so we have the box on hand for our phone, keys, etc. at our destination.
There are plenty of options other than buying baby gear new— Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Mercari, or even warehouse sites like mac.bid are often great resources for purchasing these secondhand. If you’re not planning on traveling frequently, you can also borrow from a friend.
Any baby hygiene products?
You can fill a travel sized bottle with your little one’s shampoo from home, or we sometimes pack a solid baby shampoo bar or Castile soap (which is also great for laundry).
What goes in our first aid kit?
Fever/ pain medicine: Adult Tylenol, Infant Little Remedies, kids’ Tylenol (You normally have more notice if you’ll need cold medicine, but fevers or infant teething can come on unexpectedly).
First aid: Patch bandaids, alcohol wipes or antibiotic cream
Sunscreen and bug spray
Odds n Ends: Nail clippers, tweezers (great to have on hand in case of ticks), diaper cream (probably not necessary if you don’t have any littles in diapers…), lotion
AKA, only the basics. If we are going to the lake or beach, I also toss in Badger After-Sun Gel, which is hard to find in person.
What about toys?
The girls share a small (like, toddler sized) backpack to fill with whatever they want (within reason— my 3 year old recently tried to dump her entire dollhouse into the bag!). We give our littles at least some control over their packing because there is so much about travel they can’t control— and they are best equipped to know what toys they might miss while we are gone. The specifics of what we bring sometimes varies, but here are the staples:
A favorite doll for each girl
Sticker book and 1-2 board books— We like keeping up a nightly reading routine, even on the road. These are also great for filling the dreaded wait time at restaurants. (Pro tip: I recently heard of people calling their toddler meal into the restaurant ahead of time so it would be ready by the time they got seated… we haven’t tried this yet but I think it’s pure genius).
Yoto Mini Player— This screen-free audio player is the only technology our 3 year old has access to. She loves preschool songs and goofy books on long car rides— and we love the few minutes of silence (Referral code for 10% off— thanks for supporting my toddler’s card habit 😂).
A toy vehicle (Green Toy ones are great!) normally makes it in the bag— these are fun for racing along furniture and can survive a trip to the pool or beach.
Packing tape is wonderful for keeping toddlers occupied— you can build a tunnel across chairs for crawling/ limbo to get the wiggles out, make a ball to throw, (use a box or pan as a ‘hoop’) or set up pieces for a baby to tug at.
At my in-law’s cabin, we also have a small basket of toys for all the cousins, including puzzles and additional books. We’ve also occasionally grabbed craft supplies— like a birdhouse to paint— for a little bit of down time at our destination. But when we are adventuring— whether it’s in Kitty Hawk, NC or Inverness, Scotland— that’s pretty much it. We love our minimalist toy collection at home— but when we’re traveling, we are too busy exploring the world to bring other toys along for the ride.
Of course, tailor your packing list to your family’s specific needs and travel plans. But my hope is that these suggestions— and the window into our packing staples— can help you build more ease into your next family trip by packing just a little less stuff.
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