Packing For a Weekend Getaway

With the anticipation of Memorial Day weekend quickly approaching, I don’t know about you, but it has summer fun and weekend getaways written all over it. We always start off with our weekend down the shore. In fact, majority of our weekends will be spent here soaking up all the beach and family fun. 

My in-laws have a small house that we are fortunate to be able to stay at, but it still involves packing up the kids, and the dog, and making the hour and half drive. Regardless of where you’re going they all have at least one thing in common, packing.

For me, packing is like banging my head up against the wall. I’m either eager to get going on it or procrastinating like it’s an assignment for school that I should have started weeks ago. Remember those days?

Most recently we spent the weekend away for a friends wedding and silly me decided to pack for what the forecast said. Well, wouldn’t you know the forecast was wrong and instead of trusting my better judgement and packing what I thought I needed, I packed for the weather. I think you should always take the weather into consideration, but we all know those forecasts are nothing more than a predication that don’t always come true. So now, I made a promise to myself to pack for what I need and add in a few transitional pieces in case the weather decides to play tricks on us.

1. Start With The Right Bags: I tend to always want to over pack and never feel like I have enough. Now that we travel with the boys I try my best to take a less is more approach, because honestly, it can be exhausting trying to remember everything. I try to pick bags that allow the most space without being bulky. My got-to bag has always been my Tory Burch Tote. I’ve been using this thing for years and it always seems to hold just the right amount of stuff. 

The boy also love using their Rolling Traveler and happen to think it is the coolest thing ever because the wheels light up. If you remember my post about Preparing Your Kids to Travel, I also get them involved in the packing process for a short getaway.

2. Think About What You Actually Need: This is always a tough one for me because like I said I tend to want to over pack. But if I really think about it, I don’t actually need all that I want to bring. What works for me is when I layout what I want to bring before I officially pack it. If I just start adding things to my bag it usually never turns out right.

After I layout out what I want to bring, I reach for pieces I can wear multiple ways. For example, a certain pair of jeans that I know I can wear more than once and just switch my tops up. After I look at my options, if it doesn’t feel like overkill, then I start adding it to my bag or by process of elimination decide on a few things to leave at home.

3. Versatile Toiletry Packing: What I mean by this is, I always go for my travel size things and decide if there are things that both the kids and I can use. Do I really need to bring two separate shampoos, soaps, etc.

I also like to go through my makeup and decide what I’ll really use. I don’t know about you, but I have a few shades and things in my makeup bag that rarely get used. I go for my everyday staples and from there usually pack them in a smaller plastic or ziplock bag, and then pack them in my clutch or crossbody bag. This allows me to free up some space and not worry about bringing my larger makeup bag along. This also doubles as an extra bag that I can use.  

4. Things That Will Actually Occupy The Kids: This has been an area of trial and error for us. I’m always really good about running to the dollar store before a trip and picking up new things for the nuggets to play with. Well, some of them have failed, miserably. I remember being on a flight and they opened this one toy, looked at for .10 seconds, and said what else do you have. It just didn’t hold their interest or attention. Sometimes reaching for something new isn’t always the answer and packing a few favorites can go a long way. We always go for things that are smaller and can fit in my bag to bring out at a restaurant or for them to hold in a stroller as well.

5. Don’t Drive Yourself Crazy: Unless you are going to a remote island where buying things would be more of a hassle than not, if you forget something, you can always buy it. I’m not saying not to think things through or have a plan in place, but if something doesn’t make it into the car—it’s not the end of the world.

I remember one of our first trips we forgot the pack of diapers sitting right on the counter. Of course we didn’t realize this until we were in mid-change with a bare baby butt in the back of the car. Luckily I had one stashed in the glove box so it wasn’t a huge disaster. After that we found a place to stop and pick some up. We also left a sippy cup sitting in a booth at a restaurant once when we were in Lancaster and there wasn’t much around. We had to improvise with the tervis cup we had. No one went thirsty and sometimes you just need to make things work.