Let’s Look

Hello and happy Wednesday!

I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for this month’s Let’s Look.

So far this year, we’ve looked at…

• Scheduling/organizing a busy family in January
• What’s in your medicine cabinet in February
• Favorite Amazon finds in March
• I skipped April because we had pet peeves as topic for May’s Not Just a Mom post, so I saved those ideas for that post.
• Around May’s link up, I shared a “Day in the Life” post, so that ended up including most of my morning routine

This month, we are looking at our best travel tips.

Well, I’m not sure I’m the one to come to for travel tips, and I guess things have changed through the years based on my kids’ age. Also, my “toxic trait” is waiting to pack until the last minute and then always over packing.

That being said, here are a few things that came to mind…

• I do try to plan ahead about two weeks leading up to leaving for a trip to KC or vacation. I use my calendar to remind myself to buy anything I need for an upcoming trip about two weeks out.
• A couple of days before traveling, I do all the laundry, and then put away what we don’t need for the trip.
• I used to always type out a note on my phone of things to pack and then delete it after I’ve packed. Well, I still use a note, but I quit deleting it because the list includes things I never want to forget like: sound machine, Kindle, hats, purses, etc. So, now I just delete the seasonal items like swim suit or sweater and use the note as my packing list.
• Speaking of packing lists, for a couple of years now, I’ve created a packing list for the kids on the notes app and text it to them to use to pack themselves. We’ve come a long way…I still check what they’ve packed, but it’s nice that they can pack themselves.
• Since I am an over-packer, over the past year, I’ve made a list on my computer of what I actually needed/wore after getting back from vacation or other trips. So, if I packed four swimsuits and only wore two, then I updated my master list. Will I ever be a person who can pack in a carry on only? Only time will tell.
• Travel packing cubes are still my favorite thing ever. We have a few sets in a few different colors. I use all different sizes to pack, and the kids usually just use smaller ones to hold socks, underwear, swimsuits, etc.
• For travel in the car, times have changed. I used to pack all kinds of snacks, movies, headphones, books, bags with different things like coloring books or stickers. We still pack snacks, but now the kids usually just watch Netflix on their phones and have their Airpods. I do have them bring a book when we travel in the car…especially during the school year when I know they need to read for their Language Arts class.
• When we are gone for a few days, I’ve started bringing a laundry bag to hold dirty clothes. There’s only four of us, but I like to keep everything together.
• Do laundry when you can. If we are in KC or somewhere with a washer/dryer, we do laundry as needed and before heading home. It’s nice coming home with clean clothes.
• When we get home, we try to unpack almost everything. Kind of like I procrastinate with packing, sometimes my suitcase is the last one unpacked after a couple of days. That being said, if everything else is put away (kids’ stuff, car things, gifts at Christmas, etc), then I feel ok just having my suitcase to deal with whenever I can get to it.
• I have my favorite travel bag, and this past year, I started leaving the extra sound machine and a couple of smaller packing cubes in it. So, when we are just going somewhere for a night or two and I don’t need a suitcase, then I have those items handy.
• Also, I leave the other packing cubes in the suitcases, so we aren’t looking for those.
• I try to replenish travel size items like shampoo or hairspray when we return home, so I don’t have to scramble to buy them before the next trip.
• We always leave the house picked up, so when we get home, cleaning/tidying isn’t something we have to do. If we are really on our “A game,” we schedule for our house to be cleaned while we are gone. It’s always so nice to return home to a clean house.

Well, most of these tips have to do with prepping to travel, so I definitely have a thing or two to learn. I can’t wait to see what tips others have to share.

I probably won’t have another post until Friday, so I hope you have a great rest of your week.