Gear
Perhaps what we (Whitney) agonized over more than anything else in planning this trip was what to bring and what to leave behind. We have to be able to carry everything that we have while having at least a few hands free to wrangle kids through airports. Our stuff also has to fit into rental car trunks since all three spaces in the backseat are taken! So, below are some of the key findings from our pre-trip research and early lessons from our time on the road. We will update as we find new value-add items or experience product fails.
Our travel plan keeps us in warm weather which eliminates the need to carry bulky winter items. This is offset by the three car seats and "running/off-road" baby stroller we are carrying. We each have clothes for approximately 7 days of travel, 2-3 pairs of shoes, 1-2 long sleeved shirts, a coat and several swim suits. Below is a list of other key items that you may (or may not) find of interest for your travels.
FYI, we have zero commissions on any of these and we are including the specific brand/links on items just to help save you some time. If there is a better/different version/brand by all means go for it, this is just what we landed on when we were preparing for our trip. Feel free to let us know if you have advice for us too.
Our first flight from Des Moines, IA to Atlanta, GA
August 1, 2019, our first real test of carrying everything (no car!). We learnt some lessons and donated some more stuff once we got to Atlanta, so we dropped down one more bag.
Parents Stuff
1. iPhone (unlocked) x2
Critical to be able to put a local sim in one or both of our phones on arrival to a new country plus you can take advantage of super cheap data for Waze (navigation), WhatsApp (messaging) and other apps.
2. Laptops x2 (1 Windows, 1 Apple)
As small and light as possible.
3. Luggage: e-Bags
2 back packs, 3 packing cubes per person (large, medium & small), We each have our own colored set of packing cubes. Not necessarily space saving, but amazing for organization. We also have 2 technology cable bags.
Gonex day-backpack has been a gem so far. Durable and folds up really small (Amazon link)
4. Door alarm
Main objective is to keep everyone inside at night, particularly where we have a pool at the house.
Doberman Security Portable Door Alarm with Flash Light, 2 alarms (Amazon Link)
5. Night light x3
Brought these with us from home, will replace as we go. Helps me safely navigate the unfamiliar and toy littered path to wherever the kids are sleeping every night!
6. Flipflops (aka Australian thongs)
Goodsteps (https://www.goodsteps.com/) (+ the t-shirts are amazingly soft and durable too) and you help give food to kids when you buy them! … random item to call out but for this new life they are a key item that I use all day
Kids Stuff
1. iPad x2
Books, school work curriculums, TV series and some movies.
2. Car Seats x3
Whitney could, and may, write an entire blog post about this. She was able to convince me that the greatest risk to their safety on this trip is a traffic accident, so we are traveling with 3 full car seats. The seats we picked needed to be small, light and narrow enough to fit 3 across in almost any car we find ourselves in. No small task. This has definitely been an evolution, but what we currently have are as follows;
Chicco Keyfit infant seat for Hazel - this is the seat we used for Hazel at home. Very narrow, safe and light enough. We are also traveling with the base which has an automatic seatbelt lockoff making installation using the seatbelt (necessary for 3 across) a breeze. We also use it on the airplane for her.
Immi GO car seat for Nora - This very lightweight, narrow, foldable carseat is awesome! It is forward facing only, so not ideal for younger kids. This particular seat is MUCH easier to install with LATCH anchors than the cars seat belt, which is a bit of a gamble in other countries as to whether cars will have these. However, so far we have had LATCH (isofix) anchors in all of our cars so this has worked great for us.
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio High Back Booster for Scarlett - I like this seat because it is very narrow, can attach to the car via LATCH so won’t become a projectile in an accident and comes in pink (big selling feature for her!). We went with the highback booster instead of a smaller/lighter lowback only because she still will fall asleep from time to time in the car and this offers more support. Truthfully, we would prefer her to still be in a 5 point harness, but she is deceptively heavy and has hit (or very nearly hit) the weight limit for most of the harnessed seats that would work.
We also travel with 2 Ride Safer Travel Vests (Amazon Link) for Scarlett and Nora. These are essentially wearable booster seats and are really great for travel. We don’t like to use them for every day use (and Nora is too young and immature for full-time booster riding), but for taxis/if our car seats get lost or broken or in any other pinch we like to have a backup plan.
3. Crib: Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
We have had this crib since Scarlett was a baby and it has literally been around the world with us. It is very lightweight, a breeze to assemble/dissasemble and seems more comfortable than the alternative. As an added bonus, Nora still can’t climb out of it on her own so it also works as a portable time out location!
4. “BOB” Running Stroller
Big wheels, with car seat bar. Enables 3 year old to sit on the front too when needed! We really debated bringing this very large/heavy stroller vs. the much more travel friendly baby zen yoyo that we also love. In the end, we thought we may get some runs in during the early part of our itinerary and it is nice to be able to take the most troublesome child. We will likely ditch this stroller before we head to Asia and either go stroller-less or trade in the yoyo. We have always bought our BOB strollers used on Craigslist, OfferUp, etc.
6. Baby Carrier x 2
Right now we are also traveling with 2 baby carriers. Our main one is the Lillebaby Complete Air. This thing is great. It is very comfortable to wear, and I suspect ride in as Hazel always falls asleep promptly. It also has a zip down panel that allows air to circulate through which is critical for hot climates. The other lovely perk of this carrier is that it has a high weight limit (over 40 pounds) and you can wear kids on your back. This all means that it still works to carry Nora around if she is particularly opposed to walking.
We also have a BityBean baby carrier. This is a super small/compact carrier that is waterproof. Less comfortable for all day wear than the Lillebaby, but we have been using this one more as it is easier to just throw in a daypack incase you need it.
7. Kid Backpack x2
Rolling backpacks that can easily fit under the airplane seat. Each big girl gets one and can fill it with whatever toys or stuffed animals they want to bring/carry with them. Ours also have backpack straps in case they want to wear them on their backs and lots of colorful sequins!
8. Full Body Swim Suits
To be honest, I thought the girls would HATE these, but turns out everyone absolutely loves them. With so much time in the sun we want to make sure everyone’s skin is protected and no one gets a sunburn. And, lets be honest, putting sunscreen on children is miserable for all involved. We have both the Nozone Skinner and Coolibar brands. Both are great and have so far held up to our very heavy use/abuse.
9. Wide brimmed hats
These are key for everyone. We have used Sunday Afternoon Kids Play Hat (Amazon Link) for years and love them. They stay on well, cover ears and necks and don’t droop in kids eyes if they get wet. Win Win Win!