Family Travel Packing Hacks: Keep the Kids (and Yourself) Sane
- David Loyless
- Sep 3, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 12, 2025
Your Sanity-Saving Packing Strategy
Family travel means juggling gear for multiple ages -- and multiple temperaments. Travel can be stressful at times. Adding kids to the mix ratchets things up. Even if yours are perfect angels, just keeping up with them while managing logistics can sometimes push you to your limit. The further from home you are traveling, the more stressful this can be. Here are some lessons we have learned (often the hard way):
Individual Carry-Ons: Each child gets their own bag with snacks, water, and a comfort item. Always pack more snacks than you think you could ever possibly need. And maybe your kids are different, but ours seem to always want whatever snacks the others packed. Sometimes this makes for a fun game of bartering, but more often than not we are simply glad we packed a few extras.
Outfit Planning: Pre-pack daily outfits in labeled bags to avoid the “what should I wear?” spiral. The added benefit is that if your kids get dirty, or stinky, or wet -- as kids do -- you have bags to keep everything separate.
Entertainment & Comfort: Download shows, bring a travel pillow, or stash a deck of cards for long flights. Look -- we hate the amount of time our kids spend on screens. But to the extent that those iPads keep them occupied during flights and long car rides, we'll gladly accept the screentime in exchange for our sanity. Just be sure to pack headphones -- no one else wants to listen to four hours of Paw Patrol.
Emergency Kit: Wipes, a change of clothes for each person, and a zip bag for spills. So easy to do, and it can be a lifesaver.
Bonus Hacks for Adventure Families
Many hotels and lodges (and ships) offer laundry service -- this enables you to pack half as much (more room for all those snacks!). Just be sure you check ahead of time to be sure. We are parents too, and we're happy to help.
Related Resource
Pair this with our Travel Planning Timeline to get a head start.
Make Family Travel Joyful Again
We help families create adventurous, meltdown-free itineraries. Reach out today, and let us help make sure your vacation is enjoyable for everyone (even Mom and Dad).
