Family Road Trip

I have a friend who once said: "Going somewhere with your husband is a vacation.  If you take your kids, it's just a trip."  Well said!  The idea of leaving home fills me with excitement and anticipation, but there's always the thought of packing that slightly dampens my spirits.  What to take, how much, just in case, what if I forgot, what if we want to do, and a million other questions haunt the weeks previous to our departure.

We are a driving family.  We have only flown once as a family, and that was Hawaii which precludes the option.  So most of the time we are not limited to a number of bags, just our trunk space.  Which can be a both a good and a bad thing.

I am a light packer.  I can re-wear clothes for days, I carry minimal makeup, and I'll happily air-dry my hair and throw it in a pony tail or bun to avoid packing styling tools.  This might be the trademark of  "the-one-who-does-the-packing".    I have tried to pass this on to the girls.  Mr. is an over packer, and likes to be prepared for all eventualities.

As our children have grown, I have enjoyed typing up a list of what they need to pack a few days ahead and letting them go for it.  This allows them to decide what to take, and gives me time to wash something they want if it happens to be dirty. Only a couple of times have they forgotten items, and they're usually not important ones.  I forget the important things...like the time I forgot the baby backpack carrier when we had a baby and were going hiking...the tennis shoes and swimsuit of our youngest when we went to Disneyland...and several other stress-inducing omissions.  I blame it all on volume & pressure.

Trips usually require gear: camping gear, ski gear, coolers, water, automobile emergency kits, and the like which take up a significant amount of space.  For long trips we drive a "wagon" and when we bought the car, we also bought a roof-top hard-shell carrier, like Thule or Yakima boxes.  This has allowed us to comfortably fit into the car without holding a bag each on our laps.  The box can transfer to our larger truck as well, making for even more space for camping.

Several years ago I purchased a family toiletries bag from L.L. Bean, similar to this.  It has been super handy to have it all in once place, it can be carried into a bathroom or shower and hung up, and it carries a ton of items.

For our ski trip, I am going to put all the ski gear in the roof-top carrier, since it's all long, awkward, and bulky.  Bags will go in the back, along with the kitchen and food items, since the condos we are staying in do not have kitchenettes, and eating out every night with 21 of us is not a viable option.

Here is a comprehensive list of 35 Tips to Help Your Family Pack Lighter.  It's geared towards air travel, but definitely applies to car travel as well.

Number 22 I really like: When I was eight-year-old my grandparents took me and three of my cousins, ages 8, 10, & 12, to Cozumel Mexico for 2 weeks.  I know, right!?  They were and are the best grandparents of all time! They told us that everything we brought had to fit into a large backpack, including our fins & snorkel.  Whatever we brought we had to carry ourselves.  They were so wise!  Being world-travelers themselves they were fully aware of the benefits of traveling lightly, and had first-hand knowledge of the fact that you really don't end up missing the extra bulk.

I really liked the tip about packing by day for road trips, found in this article by Macaroni Kid.  Instead of packing individually and pulling out every bag every day, pack one bag with the things everyone needs for one day.  Genius if you are road-tripping from hotel to hotel.

So, off I go to pack the family for our trip.  Not vacation.  Because it's really going to be a lot of work.  But it will also be a ton of fun to spend a few days with our extended family, doing an activity we love, and we'll come back with a multitude of fun memories, photos, and stories that we'll cherish forever.  And that's why we tackle family vacations, after all.