We are mostly staying put for the holiday season this year, but that’s not true for everyone.

I’ve shared a post before about all of my ideas for taking The Kid Carnival on the road.

This is a post about how to pack for that special kind of chaos that is traveling with children that requires packing everything you need and everything you think you might need while still being able to see out the rearview mirror.

Gretchen told me I should write a post about packing and I wasn’t kidding when I asked you guys the other day for ideas for future blog posts so here we go.

There are all kinds of helpful tips but for this particular post I’m just going to focus on bags — using multiple bags.

THE BAG SYSTEM

(Sure.  It needs a catchier title to really grab you – but who has time for catchy titles when dogs are bringing in roadkill on your fresh sheets and it’s Christmas baking season?  And sure – I know roadkill and baking should never be used in the same sentence again.  I’ll do my best.)

The Toiletry Bag

This just needs to be a single bag with all of the necessary items for everyone in your family.  Of course – this works better when your kids are younger, but it still holds out for quite a number of years.  All my kids need so far on a trip are toothbrushes, deodorant and a hairbrush.

Keep this bag packed on the top of the pile.

The Overnight Family Bag

This is a useful idea if you are going to be stopping at several different places or if you are stopping at a hotel for one night only before the week long stay at Grandma’s cabin on the lake.

Inside this one bag you will pack a single change of clothes for each family member.  This will be the only bag you carry into the hotel or single night lodging place.  Be sure to pack it on top so you don’t have to dig for it in the parking lot.

The advantages of this single bag are many.  You only have to carry two bags into a hotel – the toiletry bag and this bag.  You no longer look like a bunch of hoarders and people don’t stare when you walk through the lobby.

The Empty Bag 

This bag is exactly what I called it.  Empty.  At the trip’s beginning.  You add the dirty clothes to this bag.  Adding the dirty clothes to one bag eliminates kids contaminating their dirty clothes with their clean clothes and you being forced to wash all clothes upon returning home.  Plus, if your trip is an extended one, this makes it easy to toss clothing into a washing machine or for the family to stop at a laundromat en route and for you to know exactly what you need to wash quickly without unpacking a trunk load of luggage.

The Swim Gear Bag

Instead of putting every child’s swimsuit in their own bags, store them all in one single bag.  (And yours too.)  This saves you scrounging through each child’s bag if you happen to stay at a hotel with a pool or Uncle George’s mountain cabin has a hot tub.  And – if you find there is no swimming opportunity?  No biggie.  The bag stays in the car and never needs to be just another bag cluttering the room where you are staying.

The Winter Clothing Bag

Your trip to Chicago might be far colder than you think.  But it might be unexpectedly pleasant.  If you stash your children’s gloves and woolies in their own bags and you suddenly find out that everyone is freezing at the next rest stop – you have to dig through five bags to find five hats.  That’s crazy.  But if you are embracing the Handy Dandy Bag System all you have to do is locate The Winter Clothing Bag.  Your children will all be smiling and warm because you won’t be cursing as you unload bags across the sidewalk in the Chick-fil-a parking lot.  And – if it never reaches those lower temperatures, then you won’t be wasting space in your regular suitcase.  Also – this bag stays in the car until needed.

As you may have noticed, I like leaving unneeded bags in the car to avoid overcrowding the rooms where you are staying.

We also store a Rain Gear Bag too.  I think its contents are self explanatory.

The Bags Themselves

These don’t have to be fancy monogrammed bags.  In fact, I’d strongly encourage you to resist the urge to monogram anything with the words The Winter Clothing Bag.  They just aren’t pretty words.  You can use what you have.  But soft sided bags are best for the Swim Gear, Winter Clothing and Empty Bag ideas.  These bags can even be compactly stored under toddlers’ feet or behind seats as they do not require easy access.

Even the cute simple fabric shopping bags work great for some of these choices.  Our Rain Gear Bag stays in the back of the car year round actually and is an old corduroy bag I bought at Old Navy before any of the kids were even born.

The Backpack Rule

This idea goes along with The Bag System.

In order to keep baggage to a minimum and to encourage personal responsibility, the general Road Trip Rule in our home is The Backpack Rule.

Each child owns a backpack.  On a road trip each child is allowed to put inside their backpack whatever they want.  Books.  Stuffed animals.  Coloring books.  Matchbox cars.  Dolls.  You name it.  If it fits, and it isn’t perishable or breathing, you can shove it in your back pack.  IF IT FITS.  And – if it is in the backpack, it is YOUR responsibility.

This eliminates excess carrying of toys and whatnot.  The backpack is generally stored at the feet of the backpack’s owner.  When a child asks, “Mom, can I bring ……” I simply ask if they can fit it into their backpack.  If the answer is, “My backpack is already full.  Will you put this in your backpack?”  I will shake my head no.  Hey, you have to draw the line somewhere, folks.

Other Bags

At this point, the kids will have an individual bag each, as well as the grown ups.  In the individual bag will be your primary clothing choices for the main stay.  It’s so lovely now that each child can carry their own bag.  When my children were younger they did not have individual bags.  Instead, I packed most of their clothing in joint bags since I was assigning their clothing to them daily.  Now that the kids pick out their own clothes, they also carry their own bags packed with their choices.

The Return Trip Home Bag

If you have another single night stay on your drive home, it helps to go ahead and pack that separately.  That way you won’t have to unload the entire car and carry in multiple bags for a late night, short stop at a hotel on the last exhaustingly long leg of your journey home.

If you are like me and your children simply don’t own that many clothes, just reuse your first night bag for this purpose.

While you are at the week long stay, unpack the first Overnight Family Bag and add in the new set of clothes for the stay on the drive home.

That’s really all there is to it.

The Bag System works for us because it eliminates extra items in each child’s bag.  It allows me to know that certain weather conditions are taken care of as I pack the swim gear and winter clothing and rain gear bags so I know that the kids will be appropriately geared up for the climate in which we find ourselves.

Did I leave anything out?  Any questions?

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