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Everyone knows the necessities to pack when traveling with kids — underwear, snacks, and passports! Families that have been traveling together for a while, however, have discovered some quirky items that they just can’t leave home without. We talked with veteran traveling families to get their advice on what unconventional travel items should be in your bag!
- Spatula, Sink Plug, & Cutting Boards
A lot of accommodations, like AirBnBs, usually don’t have the best kitchen equipment. On top of that, if you’re in another country, they simply may not use the same equipment that you’re used to. While you probably don’t want to pack your entire kitchen, there are some basic supplies that you can easily slip into your travel bags like this portable knife/colander/cutting board set, a small spatula, and a universal sink plug.
“The kitchen supplies in Airbnbs almost always suck! And we cook most of our meals. While traveling in Southeast Asia we also had with us a good pan, a mini blender, and at some point, a toaster,” says Jess Morales, a traveling mom of four.
2. Coffee Machine
Unless you’re staying in a hotel, you can’t always count on your stay having a coffee machine. If you need your caffeine in the morning and don’t want to run up your restaurant budget on daily cups of coffee, consider traveling with a small coffee machine! Many families traveling with kids love Aeropress which makes espresso and cold brew as well. There’s also a portable Black & Decker if you’re just looking for coffee.
- Kindles and library cards
If you’ve got readers in the family you know the dilemma: you can’t fit all their books into a bag! Grab an inexpensive Kindle and your library card and the problem is solved! You can download any book from your local library no matter where you are — as long as you have wifi! This is a must-have if you’re traveling with kids and want to keep them off the i-Pad or phones.
“We have downloaded books and music every day from our home library in Washington for over a decade,” says Colleen Mariotti, co-founder of Livology and a mom of three who has been nomadic for over five years.
“We could never carry the number of books we consume and we are so thankful for the ability to travel near and far without compromising our love of books!”
4. Deck of cards, a set of dice, and a handball
Traveling with kids isn’t always go-go-go…sometimes there’s lots of wait-wait-wait. You want to be ready with games to pass the time!
“Almost every situation of waiting, bad weather, or other unavoidable delays can be brought to heal by a game,” says traveling mom Karen Clemens Pinkard.
- Ride Safer Travel Vests
It’s hard to carry around a car seat when you’re traveling — you’ve got to lug it around the airport and then into Ubers and taxis. That’s why many families traveling with kids will opt for the Ride Safer Travel Vest. They’ve got different sizes for little ones up to bigger kids of 110 lbs. This vest makes riding in cars safer and it’s super compact!
- Travel power strip or cube
This one’s pretty self-explanatory — make sure you have enough outlets to charge everyone’s devices!
“Not sure why it took us so long to figure this one out, but a travel power strip or cube so you can plug/charge several things with only one adapter!” says worldschooling mom Sharla Cruz Crabtree.
- Binder Clips and Rubber Bands
This may seem out of the ordinary, but you can’t easily find binder clips everywhere. And they’re so useful! When you’re traveling with kids you never know what you’ll need to fix or adjust along the way.
“I have used the clips to close chips bags, close that annoying gap in blackout curtains, clip together train tickets, fix a backpack that wouldn’t close… Rubber bands too,” says traveling mom Sandra Rau.
- Lifestraw water bottle
These water bottles are on the pricey side, but for traveling families, they’re worth it! The company claims that the filter system makes water from any source safe to drink. We don’t recommend going out of your way to test that claim, however, it’s a great piece of mind when traveling with kids — fewer sick days is a win for the whole family.
- Fold-up Keyboard
Ok, this one is definitely out of the ordinary, but several worldschooling families mentioned that this carry-on keyboard is a must-have for their musically inclined children.
“My son cannot live without playing his piano every morning so we got him a carry on piano that we can take while we travel for a month,” says traveler Jenny Kim.