Why I Won’t Leave Home Without ___ | Family Travel Essentials & Tips

We’ve had the opportunity to do a fair amount of traveling this summer – both road trips and flying – and along the way, we’ve tested out several new-to-us “travel essentials” and picked up some new “must-haves” for family travel.

This summer, we traveled to New Mexico via plane for eight days and took an eight-day road trip from Wisconsin to Ohio (through Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois).

The first trip was our entire family of seven (two adults, five kids – 17, 15, 11, 8, & 5) and the second trip we added an extra 18yo.

Hard-Case Clamshell Suitcase with 360 Wheels

Up until this summer, our packing MO was to grab whatever random duffel bags or early 2000s canvas suitcase we could find in the closet. One per person.

It always made packing the vehicle a challenge, and we hadn’t ever flown with bigger kids (the bigs were all under 8 the last time we’d gotten on an airplane as a family).

But, when we booked a budget airline flight for all seven of us for a week in New Mexico this summer, we knew we didn’t want to pay for seven or more bags to fly with us. We did the math and decided we would pay for four checked bags.

Since our current stash of random duffel bags and old-school suitcases wasn’t going to get a week’s worth of clothes and supplies for all seven of us to New Mexico and back, we decided it was time to upgrade our travel gear.

We had purchased this carry-on for my husband last fall, and he loved having the hard-shell case and the 360 wheels, so he requested that we look for something similar with our new full-sized suitcases.

My oldest had recently purchased this suitcase from Walmart with her graduation money and had used it to fly to Ohio for two weeks earlier in the summer, so I knew we wanted something similar.

I headed to Amazon (I earn 5% cash back on every purchase I make on Amazon!) to search for options, considering preferences, prices, and reviews, and landed on this suitcase. It had good reviews, the price was great, and it checked all the boxes for features we wanted.

We purchased two (we decided to use one of our nicer old canvas suitcases plus my daughter’s new suitcase), and they were the perfect addition to/replacement for our outdated travel gear.

Fun Fact: We were worried about fitting all of our suitcases in our rental vehicle once we got to New Mexico, so we took our rooftop cargo bag with us. BUT, we found that the three hardshell suitcases fit perfectly in the trunk space of the minivan we rented, and we were able to slide our old-school canvas suitcase between the seats in the passenger space.

Packing Cubes

Now that we had four large suitcases, we needed to figure out how to pack a week’s worth of clothes and supplies for seven people. Packing cubes to the rescue.

I’d never used packing cubes before, but when I had asked for “travel essentials” from a group of well-traveled influencers, they were highly recommended by several people, so I decided they probably were worth trying.

I WILL NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT THEM AGAIN.

Well, that might be a bit bold of a statement (my husband said he’s still not 100% sold on them), but let me tell you how amazing it was to have each kid’s stuff in their own packing cube within the bigger suitcase.

• When we got to our destination, it was easy to hand each kid their cube of clothes.
• When we needed to shift weight between suitcases to meet the airline standards, I could just swap out cubes.
• When I needed “just one thing” from the suitcase, I didn’t have to sort through piles or unpack a bazillion items to grab the one item that was in the specific cube.

Yes, if you’re traveling with multiple people’s stuff in a single bag, packing cubes are a travel essential.

Note: Some people claim that packing cubes reduce the amount of space clothes take up in a bag, and I’m not sure I completely agree with that statement. It might depend on the type of cubes you use. For us, it was more of an organization tool than a space-saving tool.

Bag Tags

Since our bags weren’t the most unique-looking luggage, we wanted bag tags that would easily stand out to help us identify them on the baggage carousel.

I found these brightly colored silicone tags on Amazon, and they worked great.

They also helped us to know which suitcase had which person’s stuff when we got to our destination, which was handy when we were staying in separate rooms.

Morning Kick

This might not seem like a standard “must have” travel essential, but if you’re anything like me, travel takes a toll on you – physically and mentally – especially if the whole family is traveling.

When Roundhouse Provisions reached out to see if we’d be interested in trying out a box of single-serve Morning Kick packets during our summer travels, I agreed.

• My digestion struggles when I travel.
• My anxiety soars when I travel.
• I don’t get great sleep and end up exhausted when I travel.

Morning Kick proposed to address all three of these core issues and more, so I thought it was worth a try.

I started taking it on Day 2 of our New Mexico trip, and by Day 5, my husband asked if I had enough to allow him to try it.

We weren’t sure if it was a placebo, the effects of the environment we were in, or if it was actually working, but I was more relaxed, wasn’t struggling from my normal brain fog, didn’t feel the need for caffeine to get me through the day, had more than enough physical energy to power through the day (we were participating in a high-activity week), and wasn’t having any digestive issues.

When we got home, we jumped on the Roundhouse Provisions website to order a larger supply as we wanted to test it out over a longer period as part of our normal routine to determine whether it had really made a difference or not.

A month later, we’re still taking it almost every day as part of our morning supplement/vitamin routine, enjoying the benefits. Even in a much more sedentary routine, we’re enjoying a lack of brain fog, no need for caffeine to power through the day, and no mid-afternoon crash.

Mini-Air Mattress & Handheld Inflator

I picked up this kid-sized air mattress last fall to make hotel reservations easier for our family. With seven of us, and the bigger kids taking up more space on a bed, it was getting difficult for us to squeeze into a 3-bed hotel room.

Not wanting to pay for a second room when we just need a place to sleep for the night (when we stay more than a single night in a location, we prefer to book a VRBO instead of a hotel), I found this small air mattress that any of my youngest three (currently 6, 8, & 11) can sleep on to avoid sleeping directly on the floor.

It’s come in handy on almost every trip we’ve taken since we purchased it. BUT, the hand pump it came with was bulky. So when I saw that they sell handheld air mattress inflators on Amazon, I decided to grab one.

I can’t say I love this particular model (it wasn’t as powerful as I’d hoped, and it was super whiny/loud), but I was thankful to have it on our most recent trip as we had to inflate and deflate the air mattress four separate times in an eight-day period (we used it at every destination).

Note: If I had to do it again, I’d probably spend a little bit more on one with better reviews, but I’ll use the one I have until it dies before investing in a different one.

Hydration Boost Sticks

While this might not be a travel essential for every trip, it was definitely a must-have for our trip to New Mexico. We were headed up to the mountains and we wanted to avoid altitude sickness.

I picked up two different kinds of hydration sticks – Prime and Venture Pal. Buying a bag of sticks that we could add to our water bottles was not only TSA-friendly but saved a ton of space in our luggage and in our room when we arrived.

The kids love Prime, so they were excited to have “unlimited access” to it during our vacation. My husband and I preferred the flavors that the Venture Pal bags offered. Grape was probably my favorite.

Note: If you’re using these with reusable water bottles, wash them out within a few hours or anything plastic inside the water bottle will be permanently flavored.

More Family Travel Tips

A few additional tips for traveling with the whole family…

• If you have space, take a collapsible wagon. When flying, you can gate-check it for free. Not only does it come in handy when little legs get tired, but it’s a huge lifesaver toting all the personal items through the airport. I was SOOOO thankful we took ours.
• Have each kid pack a small backpack (this is the one I have, and it holds sooo much stuff!) or duffel bag (my littles each used one of these) for the trip with their “must-haves” including a reusable water bottle that can be filled once you’ve cleared TSA.
• My kids never travel without a small blanket – it’s perfect for car rides, plane rides, and impromptu picnics in random places (i.e. at the airport gate, on the hotel room floor, at a roadside park).