Essential Packing List and Tips for Your Family to Save Money and Space!

Follow these packing list tips on your next family vacation and you will save space and money!

You don’t have to look like you are going to move across the country everytime your family goes on vacation! Having a lot of luggage is not only burdensome when you need your 2 hands for kids, it costs more money when practically all airlines are charging per bag and extra for weight.

Carmel (pictured above) was our first trip with a baby when Henry was about 3 weeks old. It was an eye-opening experience where we had to pack so much stuff, and we felt like we couldn’t just walk into any restaurant or leave the hotel room when we wanted. ? Fast forward almost 3 years, we now mastered packing everything in one bag ? (for 2 kids and 2 adults) and we go and do what we want, whenever we want (and learned to enjoy naps on trips)! ? Check out our travel hacks below on how we pack everything in one bag for a family of 4.

Pack it all in a lightweight rolling duffel bag

We pack all of our stuff in one lightweight rolling duffel bag that we check-in right when we get to the airport. We did our research for a bag that is lightweight, but biggest size allowed by most airlines. We found and love this duffel bag because it’s light (8lbs) and it rolls! You want a light bag so you don’t have to worry about the airlines’ weight limit just because of the bag. This bag is also under $100! Also, this bag can be as big or small as you want, and it’s easily adjustable.

How we pack the bag

When we pack, we pack our entire packing list for the family using ziplock bags into categories for smaller items like baby outfits, socks, and underwear, and use larger packing cubes to compact bigger items like our (mom and dad) clothes and toddler clothes. That compacts things keep them organized.

These are the categories we usually pack our family packing list in:

• Underwear (ziplock)
• Socks (ziplock)
• Winter accessories like gloves, scarves, hats (if packing for winter destinations)  (ziplock for kids, packing cube for adults)
• Swimsuits (ziplock)
• PJs (ziplock for kids, packing cube for adults)
• Day outfits – nicer (ziplock for baby, packing cube for others)
• Day outfits – casual (ziplock for baby, packing cube for others)
• Kids shoes (ziplock)

The ziplock bags really come in handy when you get there too. After we put our clothes away at the destination, we use those ziplock bags for dirty diapers or wet stuff. We also pack one light big bag (or one big garbage bag will do), which we throw in all of our dirty laundries as we are done wearing them. That way, when you get home, you know immediately what needs to go in the wash, or what can go back in the closet.

Carry-On Family Packing List: Essentials only

Besides the duffel bag, we just have one carry-on backpack and Henry likes to have his little monkey bag. It’s so cute seeing a little kid rolling his own bag. 🙂 Our basic carry on packing list is – we have enough diapers, wipes, and change of clothes for each kid to last the trip. We also have extra shirts for each adult. One terrible vomit accident and we learned to have a change for ourselves. I also like to stick a pair of leggings for myself just in case. It takes up very little space, and you will be so glad to not smell like airplane AND vomit when you land on your vacay.

As for kid entertainment (because packing a magazine for yourself is just a waste of space these days) – we love having the iPad or Fire (this one is for kids) loaded with kid-friendly apps and shows. Just having one device saves so much space and they can read books on it too!

If you do happen to have time to entertain yourself (your parenting must be on point) then don’t forget to load up your iPad or  Fire with all the books you can read! If you don’t have a Kindle reading app – you have to get it! Kindle is a Free App! It syncs up to all your devices so even if you have 2 minutes to read in between meltdowns, you can pick up your phone or tablet and read where you left off. It’s amazing.

For the smaller kids that can’t be entertained by a screen, we get little things like reusable stickers, wall clings, and books from the $1 store or $1 section of Target and bring it in the bag. Take them out one by one as you feel the meltdowns happening. These reusable stickers and the wall clings don’t leave marks on airplane windows, etc. so they are essential items on your family packing list!

If you are in a pinch, most babies and kids can be entertained by whatever the flight attendants can give you. Cups, sugar packets, straws, ice, and some creamer packets. Entertainment for free and nothing to carry off!

Pack a plastic grocery bag (or two) to the airport

This trick itself saved us a $100 couple of times, so it deserves its own section.

When you get to the airport, have a plastic grocery bag handy. If for some reason your check-in bag is over the weight limit, you can take some heavier stuff out (start with jeans, then shoes) and put it in that plastic bag. We’ve never had someone count these plastic bags as a carry-on, even if the airline has a 1 carry-on per person rule. Budget airlines are super strict about these rules. If you are traveling on a budget airline, check these tips out for more tips before you go.

Leave toiletries, diapers and other essentials at home (take them off of your family packing list!)

No, I’m not telling you to stay dirty on your vacation. That’s gross. What I am telling you is going to be your favorite trick – Amazon Prime everything you use and throw away at your destination. Most hotels, Airbnb, and other places you may stay will let you have something sent there the day or two before you arrive and keep it for you! Don’t have Amazon Prime? Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial before you go, then this trick will basically be free airfare for your stuff.

Things we get Amazon Primed (and leave it off of our packing list)

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Snacks – so crucial with little kids and saves you a trip to the grocery!
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Body wash
• Swim diapers
• Sunscreen
• Bug repellant

These things are bulky and heavy, they don’t belong on your family packing list! Also, you don’t even have to go to the store right when you land. If you are part of Amazon Family, you will most likely be paying way less for the diapers and wipes than getting it at a local grocery store. (If you don’t have Amazon Family and you are a …. family, then you have to get it! So much money saving opportunities. Join Amazon Family 30-Day Free Trial.)

Rent Baby Gears

Most family-friendly destinations have baby gear rental places where you request items beforehand, and they deliver it to the hotel or vacation rental. When you are done, they take it back. No need to make any extra stops, they bring it right to you. We’ve done this in Maui and Puerto Vallarta so far, but I know it’s available in most cities. The cost of these rentals is reasonable and cheaper than shipping/checking in some of these items!

You can rent anything from a pack n play, strollers, beach toys to box of toys for the room. We explore a lot while we are traveling, but when the kids wake up early morning or just hanging around the room, those boxes of toys were saviors without resorting to a lot of screen time. Just Google “baby gear rental [name of destination]” and you should get a good idea of where to rent!

If you can’t find such services and are having to bring your travel baby gear, these are what we use, and wholeheartedly recommend putting on your family packing list.

• Travel Crib: There’s always a big debate on whether to go for the Lotus or the Baby Bjorn. I did my extensive research and landed on the Lotus. Both H + A have slept in it, and we have no complaints! We took it on our recent 5 countries in 14 days trip, and it was so light and convenient, not to mention life saver – we love it!
• Travel Stroller: This is another heavily debated product, and I can tell you that the Mountain Buggy Nano wins hands down. We ordered 3 other travel strollers before we returned all and loved this one. You can use this stroller from the infant years (can strap on pretty much any baby car seat on it) to toddler years (Henry, almost 3 has taken naps on it). Best of all – it folds up so small, it goes in the overhead compartment of airplanes! It is a necessity when some international flights into airports (like SFO) will check your gate-checked strollers all the way through security. (we talk more about that in here.)

There you have it!

Follow these packing list tips, and you will be traveling a lot lighter and cheaper!

Do you want to pack up for a longer trip in just hand baggage?! Check out this post by Four on a World Trip for more tips on packing light!

What are your travel hacks and packing list tips!? Share it with us in comments!

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