Tips/list/ideas for packing light..

[Desnik]

I use to be an over packer and on our last trip I tried my hardest to pack light. This trip I will pack light if it kills me!!LOL!! I thought it might be a good idea for those who do or would like to pack light to list what they pack. How they keep it to a minimum and still have what they need. Also, tips for doing this with a family and/or infants and small children.

I'll start: I am the one who packs for our family. It is myself, DH, DD 6yo, and DS 19mo. We drive down and a common mistake I use to make was thinking since we are driving, I could bring everything and anything I wanted! Not the case. I bring a stroller for my DS which takes up enough space.
I only let each person bring 2 pairs of shoes. One they are wearing and one pair to pack. Not including water shoes for swimming. One jacket each.
I have a small bag filled with toiletries and other things like the following:
toothpaste/toothbrushes
hand cream
shampoo/conditioner
anti bacterial wipes
bandaids
shaving cream/razors
deoderant
medicinesepto, advil, children's motrin
gum
hairbrush/hair acces.
sunscreen
lipstick/chapstick(I don't wear makeup)
nail clippers/filers
sunglasses
q-tips
wipes/diapers
soap
detergant/dryer sheets/change
camera/charger/batteries
cell phones and chargers
insurance cards
Passporter

I pack about 6 outfits(shorts/t-shirts)(capri's for me) for each person. I also include a pair of long pants, 4 pairs of pj's, 5 pairs of socks, 7 pairs of underware, 2 bathing suits each, hat for each, excluding myself. I do laundry one time 2 days before we leave.

For the car ride:
DVD's for the TV, CD's (lots of Disney music of course!)
gameboy and games
video now and movies
activities such as word search books, coloring books, activity books, colored pencils, etc...
Snacks, small cooler with juice boxes, Pepsi, candy

For the hotel:
(in 1 brown paper bag from supermarket!)
Pepsi
Breakfast items such as cereal bars, pop tarts, small boxes of cereal
drink boxes

I also wanted to add that on our last trip I practically had a drug store with me for every ailement any family member might have!! The gift shop at most on property hotels had everythingyou could need in an emergency, or a sickness like a cold or stomach virus comes up,not expensive, travel size. They even had pedia care for infants medicine! They even had it at the Baby care centers at the parks!!

I hope this helps someone. Any other ideas?

 

[Amirah95]

Which hotel are you staying and for how many days? Where are you driving from and how big is your vehicle? We drive from NJ to FL every year so we can sympathize with you with the need to pack everything to be on the safe side. We haven't taken our new minivan down yet but I know we will have tons of space!!

We stay in FL for 7nights/8days each every time we, but we always have a washer/dryer setup so we bring about 4 outfits each. DH, DD and I all have separate toiletry bags and I customize everything to our own induvidual needs, for example, DD9 needs children's advil for headache, pepto if she gets an upset stomach, sunscreen, deodarant, a few bandaids/oitment, lip balm, small bar of soap, a few ponytail holders, one shower cap, small bottle of lotion, clip on Purell, comb and brush, repellent, tooth brush, toothpaste and a few Q-tips (keep in mind, all of these things are in travel sizes). I take five outfits for her because her clothes are small, five pair undies, one pull over sweater, one long pair of jeans, one bathing suit, a pair of sneakers and beach shoes. That's it. She is allowed to take her CD player (three CDs), her game boy (two games), one coloring book (eight crayons), her baseball cap (better luck next year Yanks!), a pair of sunglasses and it all fits (including her toiletries) in her back pack.

Basically, it's one suitcase per adult and one carry bag like a backpack or a shoulder bag for our toiletries, etc. We also take the camera bag with fits both our digital camera and video camera (included memory cards, charges and batteries). We also take the laptop and it's own bag. We take the cooler too (not too big) where we put in some juice boxes, fruits and sandwiches to take on the drive. The DVD is in the car so we only take like five of our favorite movies which we don't mind watching over and over again. I tend to buy magazines on our stops and throw them out to keep down clutter. I take two trash bags for garbage on the way down and back. DH takes his foot soaking machine too and that's about it.

It seems like a lot but it's not. I think your baggage exceeds mine by 40% percent. Try to look at what you're packing and try to cut down. I'm sure something will work for you.

 

[Desnik]

Hi!
We are staying 1 night at POR. That is the night we arrive aprox. 10pm. then 6 days at BWV, and 3 days at WL. So we will be there for 11 days total. Add A day to get there, and a day to get back. We are driving from NY. and this will be our 8th time doing so. This year I'm not sure which car we'll take. I have taken our Camry twice already and we have tv's/dvd player in it and it is comfy and roomy. But, I'm thinking we might take our Jeep grand cherokee. Both are new so no worries about car trouble. I think I am leaning towards the truck because I could put our luggage on top and have the whole trunk space for the stroller and stuff. The Camry gets much better gas mileage though....
You said my baggage exceeds yours by 40%!!! But I have a baby, which requires alot more stuff than an older child, plus I have a 6yo. Also, I will be there 3 more days than you. I always do laundry on our trip and since we are at the BWV, it's free! While it may seem like I have alot of stuff, I'm fitting it into these bags:1 27" upright for my clothing and my DH's, a 20" carryon for DD and DS clothing. A 15" tote for all toiletries, and a 24" rolling duffle for shoes, diapers, snacks and drinks for the hotel. So the way I see it, 3 large bags and one small tote, and a stroller. DD puts her stuff in a regular sized backpack. Please tell me the secret if you think I can cut out a suitcase!!! That would be great! Am I packing too much clothing? How do you pack? Roll clothes, or the ziplock bag trick?
Thanks!

 

[Amirah95]

I say cut down on the number of outfits if you'll have a washer and dryer for 6 days. I don't use any tricks to packing. I just throw them in a suitcase and what doesn't fit doesn't go.

We will be putting the lugguage up on the roof of our minivan so we'll have lots and lots of room in the inside to stretch out and sleep (taking blankets and pillows too). Yes, take the truck!

If I had a baby I would still have one bag, a baby bag and stroller for the baby (same as each of us) and still would have tons of room to spare. I used to overpack but I hated packing everything when it was time to leave the World (DH and DD did not want to help!). Also, I commend you for hotel hopping because I cannot do it on vacation. Have fun!

 

[mudnuri]

HA 1 bag each??? HOLY!

We drove to FL in April- we left on Friday- arrived on Sunday- on Saturday we drove to St. Augustine until that Friday- and then headed home- total gone 16 days.

DD's shared a suitcase- rather large....DH had a suitcase rather large, I had a suitcase rather large- then we had a suitcase for the "tinkerbell gifts"...this was to be used for souvi's on the way home, a toiletry bag, similar to a smallish duffle bag.

Then we had the coleman plug in fridge. This was all in the "way back" of my Envoy.

DD's were in the back seat- they had a backpack full of stuff, and each had a DVD player on the back of our seats. We had a collection of DVD's about 35 in all, on the seat between them.

Lest we not forget my laptop breifcase...had to upload the pics to the laptop at night...

We left WDW and went to ST Augustine- while there, we decided we'd better invest in a THULE luggage bag...which we did at Sears in JAX...ended up taking ALL the clothes out of the suitcases, packed it ALL into the luggage bag, nested the suitcases all into eachother...and drove home with an "empty way back"...cept that cooler/fridge thing and our souviners.

We brought 10 shorts/shirts each 12 pair socks, 12 pair undies..3 bathing suits (remember, the week at the beach!)..beach towels, 2 pair pants each, sweatshirts each...

I did laundry at WDW once, the last night, and then again at St Augustine the last night.

I dont pack light when I'm driving my own truck!..I can't figure out any reason too.

We went back to the pool in the afternoon- and then showered before going back to the park, not sure about you, but I'm NOT putting back on my underwear and socks from the morning AFTER I shower in the afternoon... YUCK! Also- we never put back on ANY of the clothing we had on that morning...hence, the 10 pair shorts each. All of the clothing we packed- we wore....had I packed less, we'd have done laundry twice as much...this way I did the same amount of laundry, just 1/2 the time.

Brandy

 

[pjshaff]

Brandy,


did you get the soft sided Thule or the hard sided one? Did you like it? And do you have the cross-bars on your Envoy? I'm trying to figure out if it will work on the rack without the cross-bars.


Thanks


Pam

 

[mudnuri]

did you get the soft sided Thule or the hard sided one? Did you like it? And do you have the cross-bars on your Envoy? I'm trying to figure out if it will work on the rack without the cross-bars

We got the soft sided Thule. I LOVE IT! We went to Maine for a long weekend this summer, and packed everything in it. We threw it in the bed of DH's truck LOL!...its 100% waterproof- we drove through Georgia on the way home from WDW during downpours that lasted forever!

Here's how it attaches- maybe this can help you decide. It does not sit on top of the cross bars- I slide them- 1 all the way forward the other- all the way back. Then, it fits on the roof, between the rack. On the front and the back- there are these hook things- that the straps go through...the strap goes through the hook- then around the cross bar. BUT....I just pulled it out of its case to double check- and it has the same hooks on the sides- 2 near the front and 2 near the rear. and here's what Sears says

"15 cu. ft. capacity carrier attaches to side rails or cross bars of aftermarket and factory-installed roof racks rated at 150 lbs. or more. Foam-insert construction for easy packing, clean look."


Here's the link its description at Sears

I love this thing and will NOT travel without it again. The $180.00 we paid was Soooooo worth it!

Brandy

 

[Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo]

The only thing I would question is 4 pair of pj's each! We'll only be bringing 1 pair eachk, especially since we'll all be showering at night.

 

[mbb]

Family of four...twins were 4 our first trip...January travelers...

4 Rollerboards, 2 knapsnacks.

We wore the "warm" clothes..jeans, long sleeve shirts, sneakers and jackets...

In the knapsnacks - one held toiletries, meds...the other was "plane stuff"...GBA's, snacks and tickets, etc.

In the Rollerboards, one was "all elctronics" - made going through security easier...they only ever wanted to see that one suitcase opened..in it was the Gamecube, video camera, camera, nightlight, batteries, film, and the swim goggles

The other three rollers were clothes..3shorts, 3tshirts, 4 underwear,2pj's, 3 socks, 4 pairs of sandals, 8 swimsuits (2 each), laundry tablets, bounce sheets, DH's pillow...and a very squished duffle bag so that packing all those souvies coming home..we checked that

Love my DVC W/D in the room!! Because there's NO WAY we could do 18 Days at WDW without it

 

[Amirah95]

Clarification here...it's one suitcase per person (large) and one carry bag per person for toiletries and other things. I only take about four or five outfits because we have access to a washer and dryer in our room when we visit Orlando. When I used to take ten outfits I would find a reason to keep changing my clothes (there is no good reason). We don't change our clothes on park days because we don't take a break and we always stay to closing. We only change for dinner on non-park days. So that's four or five outfits, two pairs of night clothes, we take about 5 pairs of underwears each, five pairs of socks, one sweater, one pair of pants and two pairs of shoes and that's about it for clothing. All other stuff better fit in the carry bag or it doesn't go (I have a priority list). The laptop bag goes, the cooler, camera bag, my pocketbook, three pillows, two throws and a couple magazines. We try to pack lite because packing to go home is no picnic.

 

[Kevenswife2]

Ha! I think I saw some of you at the MCO last year. I couldn't believe all the stuff people were pushing aroung on those carts. DH would have a fit if I packed that much.

We were there for 10 days. DH, Me, DD5. Managed with one large duffle bag for all our clothes, one small duffle for toiltries, DD5 had a small backpack (carryon) for her keep-busy items, I had a regular size backpack for the items I didn't want to lose (extra contacts, film and camera, glasses, all my makeup, medications, etc). And then we had a stuffbag for my DD6 backless booster seat. That was more than enough stuff to carry around...and I'm trying to downsize this year.

SpaceBags helped with the clothes and I did laundry once while there.

I found we could 'get by' wearing somethings twice without washing (shorts and jeans), and washing somethings out in the sink (panties and socks).

My daughter, who graduated from college this year, taught me another trick. She said all college students use Febreeze to 'wash' their clothes...until they can get them home for mom to launder the right way. I don't think that'll be a 'trick' I try on this vacation.