traveling

I feel like we have been spending lots of time on the road over the past year. Maybe not quite a year - we didn't have overnight trips until Ben was a couple of months old. I am always looking for more efficient ways to pack. I want to pack light so that traveling is more easy, however, I don't want to forget to pack some things that we do need. This has lead to lots of googling "packing lists for toddlers" and trying to make mental notes of what we use, what we don't, and what we end up buying on the road because we really did need it.

I've found that most lists I see online are way too long. I'm trying really hard to find a balance between being prepared for everything and packing light.

For instance, I thought it would be a hassle to pack our own food. That's one (or two) more things to plan, carry to the car, take into the hotel, etc. Then I found that it's less stressful for the boys if we would eat lunch in our hotel room, and they could eat the same lunch that they eat every day.

We have a 10 day trip coming up. We'll be flying, so no ice chest, but I think I will throw a few snacks into our bags so that they boys can have something familiar. There will be places to buy food where we're going, but you never know if they will have the same foods that we are used to, and I won't have a kitchen to prepare things like our breakfast bars.

Anyway, I have lists. We are hoping to take 1 suitcase for Rodgers and me (checked), 1 suitcase for the boys (checked), my big tote bag (my carry on), our laptop bag (Rodgers' carry on), Nate's backpack with toys (Nate's carry on).

We can have our laundry done at the hotel, so I'm not packing a separate outfit for each day. This will kind of be a trial for our upcoming trip to Texas, though I think we'll check 3 bags on that trip. We'll see how it goes!

lists; purple stars are items I need in-hand for security, blue stars are things that can go in Nate's backpack; Rod's carry on list is shorter because he'll also be carrying Ben, or he'll be carrying my bag as well, and I'll have Ben.