How to Pack Light While Traveling Big
We recently, as in last week, embarked on 7 night Royal Caribbean cruise with all 11 of our children, our son-in-law, and his sister. 15 of us spread ourselves across 3 cruise cabins and enjoyed what hopefully is the first of many cruise experiences.
Throughout the planning stages of this experience, I said to myself often, "Self, there isn't enough information on minimalist travel with a large family and with a special needs child." And by the end of the trip I had decided that I would start a blog to log our experiences and what we have learned and are currently learning about vacationing with our huge brood with modest means, minimal packing, and only a modicum of chaos.
I know from personal experience that, barring any extreme circumstance, you absolutely CAN travel with a large family and you can definitely do it without packing your entire home. Most of us don't live in a travel trailer and we have comforts at home that we feel we can't or we just don't want to go a week or two without and that can make traveling seem overwhelming and even impossible when you get numerous children involved.
I will explain to you how we have gotten over the huge hump of needing all the things and how we now travel with just a single backpack per person. Easy peasy mac n cheesy.
First, here is a quick list of our travel essentials for traveling from ages 44 (me) down to 11 months, not including clothing or individual needs.
1. flip flops or other easy to slip on shoes (per person)
2. Tennis or running shoes (per person)
3. Toothbrush & paste (per person)
4. Hat & sunglasses (per person)
5. Hairbrush, hair rubber bands
6. Shampoo & argon oil
7. Benadryl & Ibuprofen
8. Sunscreen
9. Woolite
10. Radio Flyer collapsible wagon.
To explain the list in detail:
Slip-on shoes because they are easy. We can slide them on and off with ease and this makes bathroom stops a lot quicker. They also tend to take up less space in a bag. They were a MUST HAVE on our recent cruise and saved so much time as we all came and went from our numerous activities.
Running shoes - my kids are daily runners so running shoes are important. Also, if the weather isn't great it's good to have a pair of shoes that can help keep our feet protected. And we have been on excursions or other places that require closed-toed shoes.
Toothbrushes because we all have teeth.
Hat & sunglasses for most of us - all of my children, aside from the two youngest who have constant shade, have a pair of sunglasses and a hat. It's just a good idea.
Hairbrush and rubberbands - this is a good idea if you have girls. Choose the bands or clips that are appropriate for you and your children's needs but remember that you don't need to be perfectly styled every day. We do pigtails, braids, or ponytails for easy prep and minimal packing.
Shampoo and Argon oil - we bring one shampoo for everybody. Argon oil is three-fold as it can act as a leave-in conditioner, detangler, and can replace a body lotion for dry skin.
Benadryl & Ibuprofen - allergies and aches and pains are a part of life and can come on unexpectedly when we're exploring new places and being more active than normal. I like to have both the children's and adult's version of these meds. I also usually travel with Visine allergy because my eyes are quite sensitive.
Sunscreen - even if you don't burn or aren't going to be outside much it's just a good idea to have sunscreen on hand.
Woolite - because you can use it to hand wash or machine wash. Having Woolite on hand has really helped us keep things clean in an unexpected diaper blow out or accident situation.
Collapsible wagon - I cannot say enough about our Radio Flyer collapsible wagon. This thing is amazing on a million levels. It opens and folds up with one hand, has seat belts, can be turned into a bench that can seat an adult, and has an attachable canopy.
This may seem like a lot but honestly, it isn't. Each person keeps their own stuff in their bags and my husband and I split up the community items between our bags. I tend to travel the lightest so I can fit extra items into my backpack.
Like I said, these are the things WE like to have for ourselves and our children when we are traveling. This does not include individual needs such as eyeglasses or contacts, razors, diapers, etc...
I will create more individual lists in future posts.
Leave a comment if you have any questions or if you would like to see a post about a specific travel subject.
Throughout the planning stages of this experience, I said to myself often, "Self, there isn't enough information on minimalist travel with a large family and with a special needs child." And by the end of the trip I had decided that I would start a blog to log our experiences and what we have learned and are currently learning about vacationing with our huge brood with modest means, minimal packing, and only a modicum of chaos.
I know from personal experience that, barring any extreme circumstance, you absolutely CAN travel with a large family and you can definitely do it without packing your entire home. Most of us don't live in a travel trailer and we have comforts at home that we feel we can't or we just don't want to go a week or two without and that can make traveling seem overwhelming and even impossible when you get numerous children involved.
I will explain to you how we have gotten over the huge hump of needing all the things and how we now travel with just a single backpack per person. Easy peasy mac n cheesy.
First, here is a quick list of our travel essentials for traveling from ages 44 (me) down to 11 months, not including clothing or individual needs.
1. flip flops or other easy to slip on shoes (per person)
2. Tennis or running shoes (per person)
3. Toothbrush & paste (per person)
4. Hat & sunglasses (per person)
5. Hairbrush, hair rubber bands
6. Shampoo & argon oil
7. Benadryl & Ibuprofen
8. Sunscreen
9. Woolite
10. Radio Flyer collapsible wagon.
To explain the list in detail:
Slip-on shoes because they are easy. We can slide them on and off with ease and this makes bathroom stops a lot quicker. They also tend to take up less space in a bag. They were a MUST HAVE on our recent cruise and saved so much time as we all came and went from our numerous activities.
Running shoes - my kids are daily runners so running shoes are important. Also, if the weather isn't great it's good to have a pair of shoes that can help keep our feet protected. And we have been on excursions or other places that require closed-toed shoes.
Toothbrushes because we all have teeth.
Hat & sunglasses for most of us - all of my children, aside from the two youngest who have constant shade, have a pair of sunglasses and a hat. It's just a good idea.
Hairbrush and rubberbands - this is a good idea if you have girls. Choose the bands or clips that are appropriate for you and your children's needs but remember that you don't need to be perfectly styled every day. We do pigtails, braids, or ponytails for easy prep and minimal packing.
Shampoo and Argon oil - we bring one shampoo for everybody. Argon oil is three-fold as it can act as a leave-in conditioner, detangler, and can replace a body lotion for dry skin.
Benadryl & Ibuprofen - allergies and aches and pains are a part of life and can come on unexpectedly when we're exploring new places and being more active than normal. I like to have both the children's and adult's version of these meds. I also usually travel with Visine allergy because my eyes are quite sensitive.
Sunscreen - even if you don't burn or aren't going to be outside much it's just a good idea to have sunscreen on hand.
Woolite - because you can use it to hand wash or machine wash. Having Woolite on hand has really helped us keep things clean in an unexpected diaper blow out or accident situation.
Collapsible wagon - I cannot say enough about our Radio Flyer collapsible wagon. This thing is amazing on a million levels. It opens and folds up with one hand, has seat belts, can be turned into a bench that can seat an adult, and has an attachable canopy.
This may seem like a lot but honestly, it isn't. Each person keeps their own stuff in their bags and my husband and I split up the community items between our bags. I tend to travel the lightest so I can fit extra items into my backpack.
Like I said, these are the things WE like to have for ourselves and our children when we are traveling. This does not include individual needs such as eyeglasses or contacts, razors, diapers, etc...
I will create more individual lists in future posts.
Leave a comment if you have any questions or if you would like to see a post about a specific travel subject.
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