Pack 1 bag per person
That’s right. Here’s how to pack for a family trip:
Pack 1 bag per person + 1 optional family bag + any necessary situational bags
Situational bags are only for a circumstance that merits then. And yes, the family bag really is optional.
Remember: No one comes back from a trip wishing they’d packed more. The more people travel, usually they learn they can pack far less than they expected. That holds for your family too.
Each family member has one bag, sized and packed appropriately for their age and build.
If you need it, pack a family bag that contains other things you need or want for the trip, but that don’t need to be in your personal bag.
Last, pack specialty bags, such as for medical needs, a formal occasion, or sports gear.
When you have your own personal bag, you’re giving yourself both structure and freedom:
- The structure forces you to be mindful of what’s really essential.
- The freedom is being liberated from over-packing, which is easier on your mind and body.
Plus, you can trust that you’re packing what’s right for your actual trip, not hypothetical scenarios.
Here’s how to make this just-right packing a reality for how to pack for a family trip with kids.
More:
Learn the art of what NOT to pack
More tips about packing for families
Packing cubes
Zippable packing cubes make packing much easier. Just because they compress your things and take up less space, though, doesn’t mean you fill that space with more stuff.
Jodie and I use two packing cubes each. I fit my shirts and pants into one 12” x 16” cube, and a smaller cube holds my underclothes, a t-shirt, and yoga pants for lounging and exercising.
Each kid has one packing cube that fits all their clothes.
Vacuum packing cubes can really cinch down your stuff, but that’s only for when you leave. Unless you can manually compress the cube, you’ll need a vacuum to cinch down the cube for when you pack up to leave your destination.
Compress clothes with the ranger roll
The ranger roll is based on a military technique for folding and rolling clothes so that you can tuck them into a pouch made by the clothing itself. You can pick up the technique pretty easily from videos online, which is also how I learned, and folding things is definitely not one of my strengths in this life.
Using the ranger roll has been a big help for packing my clothes and fitting them into my cube, and they don’t get as wrinkled either.
Infants
Naturally, parents will stow an infant’s stuff and clothes in their own packing or a family bag.
And a diaper bag is exactly the sort of situational bag that you’ll want to pack. It can be its own bag. You could also have a small zipping organizer or packing cube you can pull out of your own larger bag.
When traveling with our own infants, we either carried a small messenger-style shoulder bag, or we tucked a large zippered baggie of wipes and some diapers into a daypack with our other supplies. A foldable changing mat meant we didn’t have to hunt for a changing table and could refresh the baby pretty much anywhere.
Toddlers and small kids
Toddlers can have a small rolling suitcase or backpack that holds activities and toys. Clothes are probably going in a family bag or with their parents’ packing.
Children
The general rule of thumb for kids is they can carry no more than 20% of their body weight. We find backpacks easier for kids than suitcases. A kid can tire of pulling a suitcase far sooner than they’ll get tired wearing a backpack.
Our daughter started our full-time travels using a 12-liter backpack from REI. She’s then since grown into a 20-liter pack, and most recently a 28-liter pack, which holds her:
- Clothing cube, which contains all her clothes
- Tablet for entertainment and homeschool
- E-reader
- Portable gaming console
- Hair brush
- Over-ear headphones
If the weather needs a warm layer, she either wears it, lashes it to the outside of her pack with an elastic strap, or we tuck it into a family bag.
She travels with one cozy friend, who tucks into her pack’s built-in gear lace on the outside of her pack.
Tweens and teens
Our teen has used a 30-liter Eagle Creek backpack that used to be mine. He’s learned to pack it all by himself:
- Clothing cube, which contains all his clothes
- Tablet and notebook computer for entertainment and homeschool
- E-reader
- Art supplies
- Hair brush
- Ear buds
If he needs a sweater or jacket, he either makes room for it inside the pack or lashes it onto the front with an elastic band, along with one cozy friend that makes a great pillow.
Adults
Jodie and I each travel with a 35-liter Cotopaxi Allpa travel backpack. Each one of us carries:
- 2 clothing cubes
- 1 external hard drive
- Laptop (I also have a tablet)
- E-reader
- Ear buds
We usually have a sweater or light jacket inside. I also carry a bag of charging accessories and a packable daypack.
Toiletries
Three of us have toiletry bags, and we travel with a bag of some preferred shampoo, conditioner, and hair product. Our daughter just brings a toothbrush, which we tuck into my toiletry bag.
I usually put my toiletry bag in my backpack. Jodie and our son pack theirs in our rolling suitcase.
Family bag
The family bag comes in handy for general family supplies, or if you want to check a bag flying. For you, it might be larger containers of liquids, family games, a speaker, or items that you know you’ll need for the trip, but don’t need in your personal bag.
Situational bags
Some circumstances need their own bag, and that bag is important. It could be baby supplies, or it may contain easy-to grab essentials for medical needs. For us, Jodie packs a long, slender duffel with supplies for her prosthetic leg.
Your situational bag could also be for items that don’t fit well in a family bag, such as sports gear, from rackets to skis, or perhaps formal wear, if a business function, wedding, or other event has a snazzy dress code.
Let’s be clear: situational bags are not over-packing. They are doing the job of carrying what you need. If your trip is all about snowboarding and you want to bring your board, that isn’t over-packing. That’s packing something that’s integral to your trip.
However, if you pack life jackets and kayaks just because you “might” have a water day, there’s a good chance you’ll come home without those ever getting wet and you wondering why in the world you went to the trouble to pack and haul this stuff you didn’t even use. Don’t pack it. Rent it there.
What to let go, and what to bring home
Every trip comes with a built-in conundrum.
What if, while you’re traveling, there’s something you want to bring home?
Oddly enough though, there’s an even more difficult conundrum: What if you packed something that you realize isn’t useful? Should you boot it from your stuff before you come home?
Letting it go during your trip
If you’re on your trip and you realize that something you packed no longer serves you, consider this your official, irrevocable, guilt-free permission to let that item go.
Donate it, ship it home, leave it behind, or even (gasp) throw it away.
It’s okay.
As of this writing, our family has been traveling for over three years. We’ve worn out swimming goggles. The kids have outgrown (or torn up) clothes. We’ve realized we packed too much of something, and stopped bringing that much.
Your heart and your bag will be lighter for it.
Hint: If you like to collect rocks and shells, like we do, this can be helpful: One or two rocks from a trip come home with us. They go into a large mason jar. Each rock makes the jar just that much fuller, the same way each trip has made our lives, memories, and stories fuller. We find the rocks become a decoration, not for each individual rock, but for how they symbolize our family adventures. Plus, it’s much easier to dust a jar than a bunch of rocks when tidying around the house.
What not to bring home
Souvenirs are so darn tricky.
Many come from an in-the-moment desire to snag that memento that brings into focus something about the trip that you consider important. And that’s okay. Typically, it helps to be mindful about how many you get, and to take a quick breath for pause and reflection to determine if they really serve that purpose for you.
If you don’t want to bring home a bunch of souvenirs, we find that memories from experiences make better souvenirs. A family activity such as a cooking class, hike, or boat outing are fun in the moment, and the memories take up zero space in your luggage.
It’s okay to get souvenirs. Just aim for mindfulness on what you get.
If you collect commemorative plates or snow globes, for example, then get one that represents that trip. But if it’s going to become just one more darn thing to dust, maybe there’s a fridge magnet, sticker, or free ink stamp that’s a better souvenir.
Hint: Parents, if you have small kids, it is okay not to bring home every shell, rock, and stick your kid collected. A strategy that worked for us? The kids could pick up to 3 of their treasures to bring home. The others we took a photo of. Sometimes, say on a hike or at the beach, we’d arrange the objects as a sort of family art project, take a photo or video, and bring home the memory.
Leave over-packing at home
When you need to figure out how to pack for a family trip with kids, the key is trusting yourself, understanding your trip, and leaving the hypothetical scenarios—not to mention all the stuff you think you need “just in case”—at home.
You can pack the just-right amount for your trips.
For your next trip, lighten your physical and mental load:
Pack 1 bag per person + 1 optional family bag + any necessary situational bags.
And remember: you’ve got this.
Is over-packing a struggle for you and your family?
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