Out are the days of throwing together a couple outfits, the basic necessities and in the car we go now that we have two little ones. We’ve been on quite a few road trips to the Okanagan and surrounding areas of the West Coast since we’ve had our kids and with the number of times we have had to pull over because of a big poopy mess, forgotten something, and had to run into the closest store, it’s safe to say I’ve learned to make a list and pack well before heading out the door.
We are SO excited as our next family vacation is just a couple weeks away and as I was writing my checklist of essentials to pack I thought ‘Why not share this!?’. I like to make note of items as I come across them and start laying things out at least 2-3 weeks in advance, depending on where we’re going, and how we’re getting there. It’s never too early to start right!? So I went ahead and wrote up a checklist of our family’s necessities for any road trip big or small because, you never know what speed bumps you may hit along the way! Now of course, depending on your children’s age what you need will vary so our essentials list will hopefully cover the necessities but, will still allow you to add your family’s go-to items.
When it comes to actually packing our essentials I already have a car care kit that lives on the floor of the backseat full time, but I add a few extra items like a couple more changes of clothes, extra wipes and diapers, their favourite and a few new special toys, books, blankets, etc that I can easily reach back and access as I need to. For items like our snacks, hats, camera, and sunscreen I keep in a diaper bag and ohh you can’t forget an endless amount of bandaids for all those ‘Watch out for that!!’ and ‘Where’s your owie? I don’t see it..’ moments 🙂
And that’s it! I hope our Road Trip Essentials checklist knocks off an item on your to-do’s before your next family road trip! I’ve also included a printable of Road Trip BINGO to hopefully help pass the time!
FREE PRINTABLE: Road Trip Essentials
FREE PRINTABLE: Road Trip BINGO
I’m still a rookie on this wild ride we call parenthood, so I would love to hear about your family’s packing essentials and any great tips and tricks you may have for packing and arriving to your destination all in one piece!
Happy Packing!!
Andreana xo
the best kind of busy 