When traveling as a family, there are quite a few things you need to consider having on your packing list.
Whether you are going on a shorter trip or planning international travel, it is a good idea to have a list of your travel essentials so nothing is left behind. This helps create a stress-free travel experience since you have a comprehensive travel checklist ready to go.
I like to pack light but still make sure we have everything we need whether we go on shorter trips or are planning a month-long vacation.
Personal Item & Carry-On Luggage: Plane or Road Trip
If you are planning on traveling by plane, you’ll need a carry-on bag with your essentials. Just make sure to check the airport security restrictions before packing. If you are traveling by car, then it helps to have these essential items in a day pack that is easy to access at any time during the car ride.
Travel Documents
Each person should have their important documents with them at all times. Parents should hold on to these important items for small children, but teenagers may be responsible enough to keep track of their travel documents.
- Passport
- Identification Cards
- Birth Certificates
- Travel Visa
- Health Insurance Card
- Travel Insurance Information
- Credit Cards
- Cash
- Boarding Pass
- Vaccination records (if needed)
Small Toiletry Bag
In case of a long layover or a baggage delay, have travel-sized containers of essential toiletries. These can even be great to freshen up during a long flight if you are on an international trip.
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Hairbrush
- Deodorant
- Face Wipes
Any medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter, should be packed in your carry-on bag for easy access. You don’t want lost luggage preventing you from taking medication as needed or as prescribed. Always carry prescription medicines in their original container. When my youngest started on ADHD medication, we were told that traveling with it in any container except the prescription bottle could be considered smuggling drugs since it is a controlled substance.
Food & Drinks
Pack an empty water bottle and fill it at a water fill station after going through security if you are flying. On a road trip, make sure to fill your water bottle before leaving. Don’t forget to bring some snacks, especially if you are on an airline that doesn’t provide an in-flight snack.
Entertainment
Don’t forget to pack some entertainment items for you and your children. We always pack items such as iPads, phones, kindle readers, and books in our carry-on suitcase. Make sure you also have chargers since many planes have outlets under the seats to keep your devices charged up. We all have noise-canceling headphones that work via Bluetooth to our devices to help drown out the background noise on a loud airplane.
Essentials
The essentials will vary by person. For example, Ryan and I wear glasses so we need to make sure we always have our glasses with us. Both boys, and sometimes Justin, get motion sickness. They wear some of the pressure bands, take Dramamine, and we always have a gallon-sized plastic baggie ready to go as a puke bag if needed. They are perfect because they are big enough to put their face into easily and then can seal to prevent spills or the smell from getting to everyone.
Extra Clothes
It can be helpful to have an extra set of clothing items in your carry-on bag. Whether you get something spilled on you, need a refresh, or have other clothing-related accidents, an extra set of clothing can be of use. When the boys were really young, I put their extra clothes in a sealed baggie. This kept the different items together for each kid and if I had to put them in different outfits because of a spill, that meant the spill was contained in the bag.
Flying with a Car Seat & Stroller
When the boys were young enough to need a car seat, we traveled with our seats. I never relied on the ones you can rent with rental cars because I have heard stories of them not having a seat when you get there. We purchased a car seat travel bag that was perfect for carrying the car seats onto a plane. I also have always gate-checked our car seats and booster seats instead of sending them through checked baggage. I’ve seen how the bags get tossed around and didn’t want a broken car seat. The carrying bags keep all of the straps and pieces together so they don’t catch on anything and have a handle to easily carry them through the airport.
Make sure your stroller is one that folds up easily so you can take it through security and all the way until you board the plane. Through security, though, you will have to take your child out of the stroller and fold it up to go through the security machine. If it’s too large, such as a double stroller, the security agents will take you aside and do a manual check of the stroller.
Baby/Toddler Items
Remember, if you are traveling with an infant, baby formula does not count as a liquid when you go through security. Just make sure you let the TSA agent know ahead of time that you have baby formula or breast milk packed in your bag. Carry extra diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes in a diaper bag. For most airlines, a diaper bag does not count as your personal item or overhead item.
Checked Bag
Your checked bag, or those bags packed in the back of the vehicle on road trips, can have more in them and aren’t as restricted as your carry-on bags.
Clothing/Shoes
All of your clothing can go in your checked bag unless you want to keep one outfit in your carry-on for emergency reasons. I like to use packing cubes to separate out each of our clothing so it’s much easier to unpack when we get to our hotel room. Depending on the weather conditions and the activities we have planned, I pack each of us in our own bag.
- Tshirts
- Long-Sleeved Shirts
- Shorts
- Pants
- Socks
- Underwear/Bras
- Pajamas
- Swim Suit
- Hat
- Light Jacket
- Heavy Jacket/Snow Clothes (as needed)
- Sunglasses
We also tend to bring a few pairs of shoes. Each of us wears sneakers through the airport, or our hiking boots if we are bringing those to save space in the bags. I also like to pack a pair of flip-flops in case we go to the pool at the hotel, go to the beach, or just need to throw some shoes on for a quick trip to a grocery store, restaurant, etc.
- Sneakers/Tennis Shoes
- Hiking Boots
- Flip-flops or Sandals
- Water Shoes
It helps to bring a bag for dirty laundry so you can keep those clothes separated from your clean clothes. I have a folding laundry basket that I bring when we travel to throw dirty clothes in while we are at a hotel or rental home. Then, when it is time to pack to go home, I put all of the dirty clothes in a garbage bag.
Personal Care Items
Again, the necessary toiletries are going to vary, but I have a basic list that we use when we are packing.
- Aloe for sunburns
- Battery-Powered Clock
- Contacts/Contact Solution
- Deodorant
- Eye Drops
- Facewash
- Floss
- Hair Towel
- Hand Sanitizer
- Hairbrush & Hairties
- Insect Repellent
- Kids Shampoo & Bodywash
- Lotion
- Makeup
- Medicine
- Mouthwash
- Nail Clippers
- Nightlights (for dark bathrooms)
- Q-tips
- Razors & Shaving Needs
- Shampoo & Conditioner
- Soap
- Stain Stick
- Sunscreen
- Toilet Paper
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- Tweezers
- Vitamins
Activity Essentials
Make sure you know what activities you have planned for your trip so you can bring any specific items needed. Our travel plans usually include hiking, so we bring the most important things for a hike.
- Bear Bells
- Cooling Towels
- Ponchos
- Small Backpack or Shoulder Bag for our hiking essentials
- National Park Passport Book
- First Aid Kit
- Water Shoes
- Waterproof Phone Case
- Sunglasses Straps
Extra Bag
Any time we travel, I pack an extra bag in the bottom of the suitcase. A duffle bag is perfect since it flattens and takes up almost no space in the suitcase on the way there. This way, if you purchase too many souvenirs while on your trip, you have a way to bring them home.
Baby/Toddler Needs
- Diapers
- Rash Cream
- Bottles
- Formula
- Pacifiers
- Travel Stroller
- Burb Cloth
- Bibs
- Swaddling Blanket
- Favorite Stuffed Animal
Other
A few other things on my vacation packing list include an SD card reader so I can get photos from our travel companions’ cameras along with a hard drive to back up the photos.
If you are staying in a rental home or hotel with laundry facilities, make sure to bring laundry detergent so you can clean your clothes. This helps you pack lighter if you can wash during the trip. For those going to a hotel, bring quarters since many of the machines are coin-operated.
Packing Tips
- Start with your smaller bag of essentials that you need to keep on hand at all times. This includes your important documents, medications, and emergency devices.
- Check the restrictions for luggage with your airline, cruise lines, bus, train, or any other transportation.
- If you are leaving your home country, make sure you know the customs requirements, travel documents needed, foreign exchange rates for your money, and if you need a universal travel adapter to plug in your tech items.
- As a general rule of thumb, make sure that someone who is not traveling with you knows your plans in case of emergency.
- Make your life easier by packing things together, such as rolled-up socks, so they don’t get separated in your bag.
- Let kids have their own backpacks to carry through the airport or keep at their feet in the car. If you are flying, I suggest they only have items that are ok if they are lost or get sat on. When my boys were little, we never let them carry their electronics, only a coloring book and crayons, a few Hot Wheels cars, and some snacks. They felt like they were a big kid carrying their things, but we wouldn’t be devastated if they dropped the bag, sat on it, or left it somewhere.
- Consider packing a power strip or charging base. Some hotels have very few outlets accessible.
- If you are worried about losing your bags, think about purchasing some type of luggage tracker to place in your bags.
Packing a Carry-On to make Airline Security Easier
There are many things to consider for your next trip on an airplane.
- Make sure any liquids you have are in a small container in a clear type of bag. Place them in a front zipper so they are easy to get out of your bag.
- Verify the type of documentation you need, such as the Real ID requirements.
- Most of the time, all electronics have to come out of your bags so make sure they are easily accessible.
- Wear shoes that you can easily slide on and off.
- If you travel often, think about getting TSA Precheck or similar security programs. With TSA Precheck we go through a shorter line, don’t have to remove electronics or liquids from bags, can keep on our shoes and jackets, and go through a metal detector instead of the full-body scanners. Children under 12 are automatically considered TSA Precheck if all adults on the same reservation have TSA Precheck.
