We had the good fortune to spend this week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. After a long, snowy, dark, and cold winter in Spokane, it was a much needed respite. Packing for vacation now looks different than it did before having children. Before having children, my packing woes consisted of making sure I had every possible shoe option for the outfits that I might wear while traveling and packing a variety of eye shadow colors, just in case I wanted to try something different while I was away.
Now, packing for vacation starts at least a week in advance, includes multiple lists, and all of my eye shadow options get left at home.
After living through experiences of being unprepared, I’ve learned to pack the following items with me for every trip:
1). Stain remover: traveling with small children undoubtedly means that there will be stained clothing. Instead of trying to keep the stained items separate from the rest of the dirty clothes, or trying to remembers which items need to be pre treated before going into the washer when I get home, I put stain remover on the item before it goes into the dirty clothes pile while we’re on vacation. I used to travel with an old fashioned Stain Stick, but recently I’ve come around to the Mrs. Messy Mouth stain spray. I initially wasn’t impressed with Mrs. Messy Mouth because it didn’t get the formula stains out of itty bitty baby clothes, but I decided to give it another go and I’m liking it. It literally dissolves berry stains before my eye. It’s incredible.
2). A small bottle of Dawn dish soap: for the past almost five years we’ve either been traveling with an infant or a young toddler. This means there are bottles, sippy cups, and other various children’s items that need to be washed on a regular basis while we are traveling. If we’re doing a National Park trip, or staying somewhere within the continental US, I like to stay at a VRBO condo or house so that we have a kitchen, sink, and hopefully a dishwasher. However, when we’re staying at a resort like we did this week, I sometimes have to get creative with my bottle washing duties. This week I washed bottles in the outdoor jaccuzi tub using an ice bucket to soak the bottle parts in. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked! I use the same small bottle of Dawn for each trip, refilling it when I return home so it’s always ready to go.
3). A pair of scissors: I’ve learned to carry scissors in my toiletry bag. You never know when you’re going to need them, and it’s much easier to have them than to not.
I always keep my toiletry bag packed, so I don’t have to remember to pack these individual items each trip.
We travel a fair amount, somewhere between 5-6 weeks a year, and I’ve worked hard over the years to streamline the travel packing process for me. I’ll share more things that have worked for me in other posts.
Do you have any unique items that you take with you on each trip? If yes, please share in the comments!
I bought this amazing kids suitcase that turns into a in flight bed and it’s a life saver.
It’s called jet kids from Amazon. I love it
I always pack extra ziplock bags (a variety of sizes). They come in handy more often than not.
I agree! Ziplocs are life when traveling! They were especially handy on our most recent Mexico trip when Joseph threw up all over Doug on the plane. We were able to store the soiled clothes items until we got to the hotel.