Need help packing for family of 6 for this trip

[ged]

For meds, I do little things like for Benadryl, i buy the package of tablets and only pack one sheet (the package comes with two sheets). I just pack a little sampler of meds, except of course for required daily medications. I give myself limits. Like a small sized packing cube will be for all our first aid/medicines/travel plugs/etc and then have to abide by that.

I think it's going to come down to little things, like pack 1 hoodie for each kid, not two. Wear the heavier/bulkier shoe on the flight and pack one extra (and maybe flip flops as well). In my mind, I say in a "worst case" scenario, if I buy more while abroad and have no space in luggage, I will fill up a box and ship it back home. I'm actually kinda planning for it this summer when I go back to DE. I want to buy clothes there, and I know from experience that shipping packages via their Post is cheaper than what it costs here.

I used a RideSafer travel vest when I traveled years back with DD1. That saved some space.

And definitely be ok with wearing the same clothes over and over again. Pack old underwear and throw those away after use, it will free up a little space.

[smiles33]

Shoes take up the most room. But I usually need to take 2 pairs per person- a pair of comfy sneakers or trainers for walking and flip flops or fisherman sandals in case we go to a beach or as a backup pair if the sneakers are causing blisters or get wet if we are rained on, etc. How do you handle shoes? And I always bring some back up snacks in case grocery stores are closed when we arrive (the first time this happened was NOT GOOD). Jet lag and hunger can equal disaster. I also bring a phamacy with me because I’ve found through bad experiences that not everything we need can easily be replaced (glasses, certain medications, etc.). All that takes up room. How do you find room for that?

If i eliminate the water toys, beach clothes and scooters, I can cut it down to 4 dufflebags and I think I can reduce it further with some creative wardrobe planning (convertible pants for all the boys, a couple of maxi skirts for me and Dd to rewear several times, limiting to 2 hoodies per kid but I bring packable rain jackets and last summer in Normandy we actually used the packable down jackets. That all requires room. Not to mention that last summer the twins were small enough to still need inflatable booster seats for the rental car. I just can’t imagine trying to limit all that to 3 carryons! How do you do it?

We do 1 carry-on per person, so I can't imagine fitting everything we bring into just 1/2 carry-on per person. If you really don't think your 11 year olds can be trusted with their own carry-on, then you'll have to cut out a lot of the extras. We manage to pack a lot into 4 carry-on roller bags and 4 personal items (backpacks for DH and DDs, while I use a large purse/tote like my MZ Wallace Kate bag which fits my laptop, headphones, snacks, tissue, purse, toiletries, etc.).

We always take more than 1 pair of shoes, but we wear the bulkiest shoes on the plane. Depending on the destination and anticipated weather, we might wear sneakers or sandals onto the plane. When we do a beach/warm weather getaway, we pack just 1 pair of shoes--flip flops--in the roller carry-on. I try to limit each person to 2 pairs of shoes total (1 on the plane and 1 in the roller suitcase). However, on our Italian trip last year, we each added a pair of impractical but dressy shoes for nice meals and our family photo shoot. That made 3 pairs each, but each person had to squeeze their 2 pairs into their own roller bag. DH's shoes are the biggest and heaviest.

We always bring snacks, too, but each person carries their own in their backpack (the one that goes under the seat). We also make it a priority to stop for food or order delivery when we arrive at our destination so we have food in case folks get hungry in the middle of the night. Since we don't stay in hotels, there are no room service options but I find many places have meal delivery.

DH always packs a pharmacy (stomach meds, pain relief, allergy meds, etc.) in his backpack and I carry DD2's epi-pen in my tote/cross-body bag. Liquid medicine (like the children's Advil) can be packed in carry-ons in larger than 4 oz but they have to be screened separately by TSA.

We never bring toys as I always get apartment rentals and make sure to opt for the well-stocked ones that have beach chairs, towels, toys, etc. I also make sure there is a washer/dryer so we only need to bring 3-4 outfits (which preferably can be mixed and matched for some variety in the photos!). For a typical warm weather trip, I might suggest 1 pair of pants (usually worn only on the plane!), 2 pairs of shorts, and 3-4 tops (since the tops are more visible in photos!), plus 1-2 dresses for the girls and me. We also have at least 1 outer layer (e.g., a light jacket or sweater) to account for windy evenings or restaurants whose AC temp is set too cold. We don't travel to cold weather vacations, so we haven't had to pack heavy jackets or rain gear. I wouldn't pack 2 hoodies per person--that seems like an easy place to save some room since hoodies aren't as tiny as a t-shirt (and thus, take up more space).

I packed DD2's Bubble Bum inflatable car seat on many past trips and it does take up the same space as a pair of shoes. But she also had smaller clothes so she usually packed 1 stuffed animal and a favorite blanket in her carry-on roller bag anyway!

Hope this helps!

P.S. There is very little room for souvenirs if you travel with carry-on only. Thus, I planned ahead and I bought a "collapsible" duffle bag that fit into my roller carry-on. It's this one from Amazon. I didn't use it on our way to Italy, but I did on the way home. We packed it with clothes as a carry-on so we could check one of the roller bags full of souvenirs (which had liquid like olive oil and balsamic vinegar we couldn't take as carry-ons).

[abh5e8]

This is what we do. We have 5 kids and we have traveled to Europe a few times and Africa.

Either we do roller carryons 3 youngest go in one, 2 olders get half, and then dh and I share. No other luggage at all.

The time before we did each person had a small school sized backpack except the youngest which was in mine. The younger kids had their backpacks maybe 1/2 filled. That worked fine too. We travel for a month or so and it works so nicely.

It was so hard when we were managing 7 bags and 7 suitcases. So much stuff to lug everywhere. Try to fit in. When someone was tired it just meant more stuff for dh and I to handle.
Now with only 3 suitcases lots of us don't have to lug anything. We can take turns lugging the stuff. It works amazing.

Packing cubes are amazing.
When we first starting traveling we were luggage heavy. Everyone had their own roller suitcase and a backpack. That is just way to much stuff to bring and to lug the whole time.

We travel light now. We don't bring electronics for the kids. They only bring a camera.
We do laundry on the trip. So we only need a few changes in clothes.
We normally buy shampoo and things there.

Wow... Please tell me more! We are also a family of 7 and I always struggle with overpacking. We are going to the beach for a week next month, which should in theory be easy to pack for. We stay at a house, so full kitchen and laundry.

In aug we are going to Colorado for a week, mostly to hike and bike. Again in a condo, so plenty of space and laundry.

I like to blame it on dh... He thinks 2 pair pj's and 3 pair shoes per person is packing ultra light borderline unacceptable.

[Twoboos]

Lots of good suggestions! A couple more thoughts.

If you're still thinking duffle bag style LLBean has duffle rollers. We used these for my kids' first "real" suitcases and they hold a ton, we always used them in the overhead bins. (However it turns out tropical flower prints are now unacceptable to teen girls so they use regular roller carryons now.)

For sizes make sure the wheels are included in your measurements. SIL got monogrammed pottery barn kids carryons for her kids but the PBK measurements did not include the wheels - which made them over carryon size. She was not pleased!

We have had multiple instances of our luggage being lost or mistakenly taken off the baggage carousel, and ever since then I have insisted on carryons only. It's great to just get off the plane and be on your way. Somehow I still manage to overpack even with the carryon, really you need less than you think (esp if you have washer/dryer and a dozen pairs of underwear ).

[ahisma]

We really love the Osprey travel backpacks. They carry very well and pretty much max out the allowable space. We all prefer carrying a backpack to pulling a suitcase. I did check out the eBags version, but the Osprey was much more comfortable to carry. Even our petite 10 year old happily carries his backpack.

All that said, we're headed to Kauai this summer with personal items only. We just spent 4 days in Miami with personal items only as well - we had everything we needed and I love not having to wrangle *stuff* when we're traveling.

[jgenie]

Food we sometimes bring something, but not always. It hasn't really been an issue for us. We have a Priority Pass membership so we have lots of lounge access at the airports with free food. We always have extra food from all the snacks they serve on the plane. Tons of the AirBnbs we have stayed in have had welcome baskets. But it is easy to get food when we arrive. Usually we get to the location in the evening, grab a meal and go do to bed.

Which membership level Priority Pass do you have? Are kids free or do they pay the guest fee each visit?

[frugalmom]

Which membership level Priority Pass do you have? Are kids free or do they pay the guest fee each visit?

We have the one that comes with our Chase Reserve cards. Dh and I both have our own cards. So dh and I get in plus 4 guests. They used to allow you to bring in unlimited guests, but people abused it. Now it is only I think 2 guests. So we were a bit worried about in on our last trip. But the lounges we used I think had at least one of our kids for free because of their ages.
But we will probably get another credit card that has that as a perk, just to be good.

[marinkitty]

I got our kids the smallest size Away carry-on last summer (the ones that are sized for EU travel) and I was amazed that they could pack for 3 weeks in Portugal in those, but they all did it no problem at all.

Granted, it is summer stuff that doesn't take up space and we buy most toiletries on arrival rather than bring them from home, but they had quite a bit of stuff in there and then carried their school back packs with books, electronics, snacks, craft stuff etc. I'm not exactly sure why they seem to hold more than our other larger, US-sized wheelie bags, but they do. I can get just as much in one of those as in my larger, US-sized Tumi wheelie. And they are much lighter and they have an amazing charger built-in (it pops out for the plane ride) that kept all their devices charged several times over. So I wasn't worried about where they could plug in or whether the outlets on the plane were working or not. They come with a lifetime warranty as well.

I would not pack things like beach toys or shampoo/conditioner/body wash/sunscreen that you can pick up anywhere and share. Europe has better body products than we do anyway! You won't want to be dragging all that bulk on the pilgrimage portion of the trip - just pick it up when you get to the second part of the trip. I do always bring meds - run of the mill OTC things plus all prescriptions and epi-pens, but I divvy that up between us in our personal item (backpack or tote) and it doesn't amount of much in terms of space. For snacks, I only bring a few small things for the plane - as others have said we use the airport lounges and if flying business you wont need to worry much at all as they constantly feed you. We bring empty Hydroflasks in our backpacks and fill them at the airport so we have plenty of water for the trip.

All three of my kids have handled their luggage (wheelie bag plus backpack that can be taken off and balanced atop the wheelie if they get tired of carrying it) and do just fine. My youngest is 11 now, but he wheeled his bag two summers ago all over Amsterdam's cobbled streets and does fine every year in Portugal on their mosaic sidewalks. We just have to manage any stairs for him if there isn't an escalator or elevator option.

[Twoboos]

For bags, I am obsessed with this eBags Motherlode. It is $129 with code TRAVEL and has very high reviews. I didn't get it a year or so ago b/c it didn't have a side handle which when I thought about it wasn't going to work for me. It seems they have added one. (And I'm still obsessed even if I don't need a suitcase!)

https://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/...uctid=10362788