You’re not overthinking it: there’s a ton to consider when planning overnight trips with your family. With some forethought, and building up some simple systems, however, family trips run smoothly and are as enjoyable an experience as possible.

In the beginning, packing for our trip felt like days. The amount of ideas I was trying to keep in my head made it spin. It felt like it took days to plan for a trip. I’d repeat the same process. Make a list, add to said list over the week while I think of more to bring, pack our things, and go. It’s silly in hindsight, but I used to make the list over. and over. and over.

Eventually I got a hold of my packing game. We take frequent trips to NY from NH for long weekends or extended stays over the summer. I’ve flexed my packing muscle many times since we take these trips 12 times or more per year.

Now my system is down to an exact science. Our bags are packed in half an hour. From here the system has expanded to include our other adventures.

Packing Lists

It’s no secret that master lists reduce our mental load. I’m here to tell you, however, that even though I knew this, it took me some time to believe it and to finally make a master list. Sometimes these small tasks can feel huge even though they save us so much time. Still, I’m going to give you some tough love and say stop procrastinating and make the dang master list already!

I’m not going to share a printable with you because even though they look pretty, they truly aren’t the way to go. You need an editable Google sheet so that you can tailor the list to your own needs, and change your list as you travel and your family grows. Printables are pretty, yes. But Google sheets are practical. When it comes to the monumental task of planning and executing a family trip, you need practical. Trust me.

Let us help you get started. Download our family’s packing list and customize it to suit your family’s needs.
: How I Learned to Seamlessly Plan and Pack for Overnight Family Trips

Packing Plan

It’s so helpful to have a packing plan so you can chip away at what you need to do over the course of a couple of days. For us, trip preparations begin 2 days before we depart.

2 Days Before You Depart

Wash all the laundry. Trust me on this one- you can wash all the laundry the day before you pack, or you can try to pack while washing laundry and simultaneously try to remember what in the wash you need for each family member to slip into the bag once it’s been washed and dried. The latter is a hard pass for me if I can help it.

Print out your packing list, so you can jump right in the next day. OR you can print and laminate your list and attach a dry erase marker so you can skip the printing step. One less thing.

Fold all the laundry in the evening. My husband mainly handles this one since I’m often prepping homeschool lessons in the evenings, but before a trip this becomes a team effort. It’s an oddly enjoyable bonding experience as we like to chit chat about our upcoming adventure and make sure we are both on the same page with all the details.

In the morning, all systems are a go for packing to commence!

1 Day Before You Depart

Please, for the love of all things peaceful, do not pack your bags on the day you leave for a trip. Packing requires energy, physical and mental, and in my experience that precious energy is best reserved for the car ride with little ones or settling into your new destination. Instead, pack the day before no matter what.

Packing is much easier to do without excited kids in tow. Tempers are less likely to flare when you’re not packing in a frenzy. Packing in advance also makes space so you can pack with your little ones. Little people love to have some ownership over their experiences and letting them help to pick out clothes and shove it in their suitcase is an easy way to let them in on the preparations.

Clear out the fridge the day before your trip. You probably don’t want to come home after a trip to find your fridge smells terrible and you need to clean it before you restock it. It’s nice to come home to a clean, clear fridge.

The Day You Depart

Relax. Have a slower morning if you can. Pack last minute items you might need, but be sure to enjoy the morning together because technically your trip starts on this day.

Packing Tips

Grab-and-go Bags

I’m a big fan of grab-and-go bags. One of the best things I’ve learned to expedite packing is to create a grab-and-go toiletry bag. It has all the toiletry essentials for nights away from home. So instead of making a long list of what we need, gathering supplies from multiple bathrooms and packing them neatly into a toiletry bag every trip, I grab this bag and put it in the car. Done. Ours cost around $20 to build, and it’s been well worth the investment. Tip: Make sure everything is TSA friendly so you can grab and go for flights as well. You’ll save so much time and sanity on this one.

• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Floss
• Deodurant
• Shampoo
• Soap
• Hairties
• Hairbrushes
• Contacts / meds

Use Packing Cubes

Before we jumped on the packing cubes bandwagon, our clothes would end up a jumbled mess in our suitcase. The entire family of four is packed into one suitcase, so you can imagine what it looks like at the end of trip when we’ve been searching for various outfits for members of our family.

Packing cubes cleared up that issue. Now, each person has their own packing cube and so if we need clothes for one family member, we don’t need to rifle through the suitcase. If we need to sleep in different rooms, we can take our cubes with us and they fit neatly in a dresser, if putting clothes into dressers without needing to deal with the suitcase is your thing.

These packing cubes are deep enough to allow for efficient folding methods. They also have a buttery smooth zipper, which I appreciate, and a screen so you can easily see to whom the cube belongs.

Bottom Line

The fact of the matter is that trips require much energy to execute. However, the energy we expel planning, packing, and executing is ultimately up to us. It doesn’t need to be a marathon to the finish. With a few tweaks and planning ahead of time we can create systems that help us get out the door and on to our adventures like a well-oiled machine. Ditch the days of frenzied packing and stressful departures goodbye. Download and edit our packing list to your individual needs to make it all easier for yourself and your family. Play around with a packing plan until you find the sweet spot for yourself. Try out some of our tips to make it all a bit more pleasant. Trips, after all, are joyful adventures. We wish you the best as you simplify your packing experience to amplify your adventure experience. What will you do to amplify your wild and precious adventures?