Renting a condo and driving to get there

[jgenie]

Any ideas on items we should bring along that will make our stay more enjoyable? I have the usuals like snacks, some toys and books, but I'm looking for ideas for less obvious things. TIA

[LD92599]

Nightlights.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Pillows and favorite blankets
eta- will you need to bring toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap, kitchen towels, paper towels, and those sorts of supplies?
I usually take my favorite kitchen things when we rent a vacation place b/c you just never know what they'll have. My favorite spatula, 2 good knives, a peeler, pancake turner.

[swrc00]

Pillows and favorite blankets
eta- will you need to bring toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap, kitchen towels, paper towels, and those sorts of supplies?
I usually take my favorite kitchen things when we rent a vacation place b/c you just never know what they'll have. My favorite spatula, 2 good knives, a peeler, pancake turner.

Second the hand soap!

[jammytoast]

-King sized black sheet and staple gun or thumb taks to act as impromptu blackout shade
-kitchen sponge
-laundry soap pods (or soap nuts!)
-cork screw (they're always crappy or missing)
-small plastic cups/bowls. Most have gigantic bowls and we loose perspective with ice cream and snacks
-a good knife if youre cooking
-ziplocks and a few big trash bags

My sister ALWAYS travels with a Stoffers frozen Lazenga, even overseas (!) [yes, wrapped in a towel in a suitcase to Greece!!] Logic is that it's rock solid when you leave, throw it straight in the oven when you arrive and by the time you've unpacked, hot delicious zero effort dinner.

I don't go to this level but at least have a good plan for night 1 dinner, usually at the condo

[niccig]

I menu plan for our 2 week stay in a condo. I worked out several meals I could make then brought staples from home (oats for oatemal, pancake mix, quinoa, pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter, oil, BBQ sauce, ketchup, red wine vineager, cinnamon, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, lawry's seasoning, vanilla, taco mix, etc.) Food is much more expensive where we stay and it kills me to have to buy an entire container of a particular spice at $10 when I only need a few teaspoons. I also find with the right ingredients, I'm more prepared to cook meals in as they are tastier. We were flying, but had enough room in our suitcases to bring things.

I then hit Costco and got 2 cooked chickens and a few other things. I had brought ziplock bags and pulled the meat off to freeze and then use later. I got smaller amounts of items at the grocery store for milk, bread, fruit/vegtables, as some of the Costco items are just too big for our family.

If you're driving and have the space, I would put in ingredients you know you will use eg. If kids only like one type of peanut butter or you want maple syrup with your pancakes, then bring it. It'll be cheaper than buying at destination if it's a touristy place, and you'll have to spend less time in supermarket when you get there. If you plan to make a few meals and have everything, you'll do it rather than eat out. I like eating out, but get tired of it very quickly if we do it every day. I like some lazy days where we just go to beach and home to rest.

[theriviera]

spices, oil, vinegar. and our keurig. yes, we travel with that thing. we are nuts :rotflmao:

[smiles33]

Road trip to a rental condo is our standard vacation. Echoing PP, DH brings basic cooking supplies (his favorite spices, good olive oil, and at least 1 good knife) because many rentals who claim to have a "fully stocked kitchen" just have old pepper and salt and dull knives. I also pack our Duralex microwave-safe dishware for DDs, as many places have unbreakable plastic/composite dishes and I don't like DDs eating off that stuff. Nightlights are important for young kids in unfamiliar situations. I make sure to pack cables to recharge our iPhones/iPad, too.

We always bring ziplock bags/travel containers for leftovers (handy to store the good knife in, too, so you don't accidentally cut yourself). Depending on where we're going, I might also bring aluminum foil that I pre-tear (so I don't have to bring the heavy Costco box).

We also bring our favorite pillows. Have fun!

I sometimes bring magazines (since I can just leave them there/recycle them afterward).

[randomkid]

Dishwasher detergent
Dish soap, whatever sponge you like to use, Brillo pad
Laundry detergent and any other laundry supplies you use
Kid size hangers - I use them to hang wet swimsuits
Ziploc bags
As PPs have said, spices and some good knives
All purpose cleaner
Something to clean kitchen counters
TP, paper towels
We take paper plates and bowls
I take food, then make a grocery store run as soon as we get there with my list I made before we left

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[ahisma]

spices, oil, vinegar. and our keurig. yes, we travel with that thing. we are nuts :rotflmao:

We bring our Soda Stream.:rotflmao:

Also, our knives and our cast iron skillet. Sometimes the Vitamix.

I have a mini spice set with our essentials that I bring (I keep it packed for the cottage) and I bring extras for any meals that I think we'll make there. Often we menu plan, especially for the cottage since it's hard to find anything in the stores there (vegan + tiny midwestern town = nightmare!)

[Jen841]

A few not mentioned...
Decks of cards - hours of fun for the kids for some reason when we travel!
"Medicine Cabinet" I have a mini-cooler I fill with all the essentials we could need including Aloe, Benedryl, Pepto, wax ear plugs... When we travel I buy new ones for our house, and put the partial bottles in the bag. I have batteries in there too for any new toys that may need them as well as ones that could run out during vacation
New sidewalk chauk
We bring 'new' (borrowed DVDs) on trips (we 'trade' with another family)
Post-it notes - so fun for car/plane rides. They make great tatoos, eye patches and mustaches
Box/Bag of 'new' craft stuff (or the forgotten stuff)
'Add Water' Pancake mix and brownie mix
Glowsticks - dancing and playing in the dark is a new favorite this summer
Docking station of some sort for your iPod/MP3, etc. (for a dance party!)

Individual toiletry(sp) bags for each person, the boys love their travel bags with flashlights in them and their travel tooth brushes. As they are getting older their job is to refresh the bags when we are packing.

[hellokitty]

This is still fresh on my mind. We just got back from a beach vacation on Friday. Here is what I'd bring...

-Frozen pre-cooked meals, defrost as needed.
-Pillows and cases
-Laundry detergent
-Sharp chef knife (the one at the rental was dull)
-Those red plastic party cups, we washed and re-used them as needed, I also brought paper plates, and plastic utensils. Sometimes you just get sick of doing the dishes.
-DW detergent
-For one wk, we went through 3 rolls of paper towels, we only brought two, so had to buy more while there.
-Squirt bottle with general spray cleaner.
-Apron
-Non-stick deep sided electric griddle, this is great for cooking bkfst foods and other stuff, I was really glad we brought ours, it came in extremely handy.
-Liquid hand soap for each bathroom, the bar soap just makes a huge mess.
-Liquid dish detergent, get a good brand. My sil bought ajax and I hate ajax, you have to use twice as much as the better brands.
-Garbage bags
-Slippers/flip flops for wearing around the condo.
-Alcohol ;), we really liked those frozen daquiris, no mixer required, the adults looked forward to them every night.
-Large and small ziplock bags
-Saran wrap (we forgot this, and I wish we had some, but luckily we could still use ziplock bags)
-2 prs of swim suits and rashguards for everyone, plus beach towels, plus hats and sunglasses (don't forget croakies, DH lost a $500 pr of sunglasses into the ocean, I was not pleased).
-If you are going to the beach, spf, sun shelter tent/umbrella, toys for kids, fish nets were fun for kids to catch stuff.
-Spices (you can use a pill box for smaller amts from home)
-Entertainment for kids in the car and at condo, also stock up on glow sticks for night time, my kids loved them. Don't forget a flashlight too.
-Find out ahead of time where the grocery store is at. We were lucky that there was one not too far from our rental, but it was food lion and luckily the rental agency included a food lion discount card with our key (we are not from a region with food lion).
-I also brought some cake, brownie and cookie mix and everyone really enjoyed them and my niece got a kick out of making them and getting lots of compliments from everyone. It's easy dessert/snack for the group.
-Smaller cooler for car and beach/day trip.
-Sippy cups and bibs for little ones.
-Oh and I way over-packed clothes. We used the W&D a lot, I could have gotten by with about 3 days of clothes just fine.

Hint: those big, blue ikea bags are AWESOME for hauling things to a rental home. I had one with our outdoor beach stuff, one with our swim clothes/towels and one with food. It makes hauling things in and out of the house easier and it was quick to rinse and dry out sand at the end too. I tied up the handles so stuff wouldn't fall out during the drive.