It’s vacation time! If you want to have a smooth, worry free trip, here are ten things you must pack:
Small Flashlight or Nightlight-Great for finding items in the dark when you don’t want to wake sleeping children.
Utility Scissors-Useful for opening packages (the swimmies you forgot to pack, etc.), turning a pair of pants into shorts or cutting paper dolls for your kids to color.
Canvas Laundry Bag-Laundry piles up quickly and no one wants to put dirty clothes in the suitcase for the ride home. You can also use the bag to carry clothes to the hotel laundry room.
Cell Phone Charger-Helpful if you want to be able to make calls past the first day of your trip!
Camera Battery-Bring an extra so you don’t pay four times the normal price at a tourist destination.
Personalized Water Bottles-Great for the ride so you don’t have to buy soda every time you buy gas (bring a couple of gallons of water along for refills) and perfect for hotel rooms so no one is asking,”Whose cup is this?”
Travel Size Air Freshener-Bathroom. Need I say more?
Plastic Zipper Bags-Gallon size can be used for packing wet items such as bathing suits or messy clothing produced by babies and toddlers. Smaller sizes can be used to hold kid-sized snack portions, toothbrushes and toothpaste, change for the tollbooths, etc. Larger sizes can be used to pack and label individual outfits for young children.
Waterproof Purse/Backpack-Not much worse than having your personal items ruined because of a surprise rainstorm.
Small Bottle of Dish Detergent-In addition to washing dishes, liquid detergent can be used to remove stains from clothing, wash delicates or wash your hands. (Does anyone else hate that messy hotel bar soap?)
Collapsible Cooler- (number 11, but I can’t leave this out) Great for packing lunch for day trips, but easily stored when you don’t need it.
Paying attention to a few small details can make all the difference in your next trip.
What do you take on vacation to make life easier? Leave a comment. 🙂
Good idea to take a 2 gal. ziplock bag (or larger) for each and put one day/night of essentials in it (in case luggage gets lost if flying) and keep it in your carry-on. Include personal hygiene items (travel size), something to sleep in, clean underwear, medicine, etc…..just the basics).
Don’t forget the wet wipes : ) Napkins just don’t cut it for ice cream spills sometimes.
Love your ideas!
Thanks Torrey!
i always take bandaids, triple antibiotic , and dr ticheners for bug bites!
Thanks! We are going to a homeschool convention soon and these tips are sure to help! 🙂
Thanks, but a little too late. We are already on vacation, but I did include most of this stuff. Love your info 🙂
When I pack for myself and my 4 children I pack each of them a zipper bag with each of their socks, underwear and bathing suits (one for me as well!) Found you through pinterest…enjoying reading your blog 🙂
I also like to take garbage bags because a family of 5 generates a lot of garbage and sometimes the hotel trash cans are tiny.
Good idea!