Tips for Extended Trips
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This does not need to be what the end of your trip looks like!
I recently took an extended trip with my family. When I say family, I don’t mean like a couple of people whom I birthed. Well, I do mean them also. We have four kids between the ages of 5 months and 11 years. Seems like a great time to go away for 3.5 weeks, right?! My husband is a doctor, so it was an *extremely* rare opportunity to be able to stay away for a long time, and we took it! In addition to the people my husband and I created, we were with many, many beings who were created by his parents. His siblings. We were with his siblings. And at some points we were also with my siblings, but their creation stories are a little more complicated. Ok I digress…
We were in many different lodging situations with a varying number of people throughout the 3.5 weeks we were away, and we learned a lot about extended trips and trips with LOTS of people- 32 in one house for three days!
Here are some tips that I picked up along the way that I want to hand over to you all. I’m saving you many weeks of aggravation; you are very welcome.
1) Pack light. But like really light. I mean it. I know you think you are going away for a long time, I know that going away with a baby is daunting and you are going to need to change their clothing 100 times a day. I know you think that your house is the ONLY place that has ever seen a washing machine. I know it ALL. But the reality is, when you’re gone for an extended trip you DO NOT want a lot of stuff. If you are going to multiple stops, you’re going to have to schlep it everywhere. If you are staying in one main place, you are going to have the WORST time repacking. Whatever you are taking with you on a trip- no matter how light you think it is- remove one thing. Be like Coco Chanel about packing. I am telling you this because I DID NOT do this. First of all, I packed like it was going to be winter. I went to New Mexico and California in JULY, with a suitcase of knits! To be fair, NorCal was FREEZING, but I left all the knits in LA for that leg of the trip… because I am a PROFESSIONAL planner, people. I am a professional at making the mistakes FOR YOU. Again, you are very welcome.
2) Use Packing Cubes. These are your friends. If you follow me on Instagram, you know my love for the packing cube. Packing cubes shine brightest on extended trips with lots of different stops. When you pack, you can organize the cubes like your drawers at home, and then everything is in its place and you can find it. If you have a “home base” and then take lots of mini trips (something we did) you just repack one cube for a few nights away, stick that cube in the drawer at the next location, and bam, you both packed and unpacked AT THE SAME TIME! MAGIC! You can really fit a lot in a packing cube, and you can organize them however it works for you.
3) Bring a laundry bag. Nothing is worse than dirty clothing in piles everywhere. Bring a long mesh bag that can store the goods until you find a laundry. If you CAN, do the laundry BEFORE you leave for home. Clean laundry is easier to pack and it is one less step in getting back to normal at home.
4) Have Structure. When you’re going away for a long time, you can get comfortable and then it can start to not feel like a trip anymore. Make sure to set goals and expectations for each leg of the trip. This does not mean you need to go go go go. Structure can be “We are swimming and eating and sleeping for the next two days.” But have some idea of what you want it to be, because otherwise you will get home and be like “well, what was that??”
5) Bring a folding bag for the trip home. Even if you pack SUPER light, you are going to get stuff while you are gone. It’s GOING TO HAPPEN. So rather than being faced with a major packing issue at the end of your trip (something I may or may not have had to deal with recently) bring an extra bag that you know is going to collect all the fun things you find along your journey.
I hope this is helpful! This is all just the tip of the iceberg for long extended trips with many people. Logistics, interfamily relationships, expectations, you need to manage all of these things for a good trip. I am going to tackle these in future posts. Stay tuned! For now, you will notice on the side I added links to some of the products that I have found make my life a lot easier when it comes to taking trips, both short and long. Let me know what you think of them!