Last week we went on our first family vacation “just the three of us.” No grandparents there to help us with Baby Boy, just us and the long and winding road up to the mountains of North Georgia. (Yes, they’re mountains. I’m a Florida girl, remember?) The preparation for this trip was both exciting and terrifying. What if I forget something essential? What if it won’t all fit in the car? What if Baby Boy hates the trip and doesn’t sleep at all on the drive and won’t sleep while we’re hiking?? Ok so maybe it was mostly terrifying to a planner like me. There were so many things I wasn’t in control of, but one thing I could control was what we packed. I’ve always enjoyed packing and preparing for trips. The anticipation is half the fun of travel for me. I’ve created a pdf of how I organize packing lists for you, and compiled a few packing tips.
Use the Rule of 1.5 for basics.
I vividly remember one time in college when I made a trip back home. I completely forgot to pack underwear. Completely. No underwear at all. I had to wear my mother’s underwear the entire weekend. I don’t know if she remembers that, but I sure do. I felt so embarrassed! Here I was, supposed to be an adult now, and I couldn’t even pack for a weekend home without forgetting the most basic thing. I promised myself I’d never make that mistake again. Since then, I’ve always made a good packing list and used the Rule of 1.5 to make sure I had enough of the essentials. When I packed for Baby Boy, though, I multiplied the number of days we would be gone by 2 instead of 1.5, since he’s more likely to poop on his clothes. Although I did have a stomach bug right before the trip, so that possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question for me.
Double-use bottoms and mix and match tops when you can.
If you don’t already wear your jeans at least twice before washing, I’m not sure you’re adulting right. When you’re planning trips, take advantage of that strategy. I can’t be the only one who only wears a particular pair of jeans with certain shirts, right? So when I pack I make sure that the tops I bring can mix and match with the shorts and jeans. Now, with hiking clothes I don’t double-wear those bottoms. There’s too much dirt and sweat involved. But jeans and lounge bottoms can totally be (at least) double-worn.
Plan what you’ll need for travel days.
Once again this tip goes back to a mistake I made in college. Back when I had to drag my laundry down a flight of stairs and haul out a bag of quarters. Naturally, I did laundry as infrequently as possible in college. I was packing to go back home for Thanksgiving (read: stuffing dirty clothes in the suitcase to take advantage of my parents’ washer and dryer) and realized that the only relatively clean thing I had was the pajamas I was wearing. I’m vain and I wanted to go back to my parents looking like a grown-up, not a teenager who hadn’t done laundry in weeks. Once again, my pride took a hit. Could I have stayed up late(r) and done the laundry? Sure. But, you know, college. Since then, I’ve made sure to plan for the day before a trip like it’s part of the trip. This way there are no late night surprises right before a trip.
Always pack a swimsuit.
I learned this one from my Momma. She’s a Floridian, born and raised, and I don’t think that woman has hardly been anywhere without a swimsuit. I rolled my eyes at her (naturally) when she told me to pack a swimsuit for our trip out west. How much beach time did she think we were going to get in South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming? I regretted my sass when the hotel near Yellowstone had the most delightful indoor, heated pool. Listen, I know I have minimalist tendencies. Swimsuits are small so even if you never use it, it’s not like you’re wasting a bunch of space.
Keep travel specific items in your suitcase.
This tip is thanks to my husband. Both sets of our parents live out of town, so we’re constantly on the road to visit one set or the other. So, not too long ago Husband bought some extra chargers off Amazon and we keep those in the suitcase. It makes things so much easier the day of and eliminates the “ohmygoodness did you get the chargers” panic when you’re an hour out. We also have a travel set of toothbrushes so we don’t have to bring the ones from home with us when we’re on a trip. It just makes packing so much easier when a few things like that are already in the suitcase.
Make a packing list.
Especially for trips longer than one night, packing lists are a lifesaver. Once you have an itemized list of not only what you need, but how many of an item you need you can check things off as you go. Normally half way through packing I realize I need to throw in a load of laundry. The packing list helps me remember that of the 8 pairs of socks I needed, I only need 3 from this new load of laundry. It also helps me plan the mix and match outfits more efficiently, and makes the actual packing process a breeze. All the thought went into making the list, so now all that needs to happen is to put stuff in a suitcase. Click the link below to download your packing list PDF!
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