How I Packed for a Trip Around the World With My Toddler

My first actuality verify got here earlier than we left the US. Flying from the Twin Cities to Los Angeles, I noticed how woefully insufficient my suitcase—Away’s The Medium, which inserts 68.6 liters—was and made the eleventh-hour choice to commerce up for one thing greater. Away’s The Giant Flex is simply as sturdy and has an expandable design that will increase its carrying capability from 99.2 to 110.2 liters. Whereas the additional house didn’t remedy all of my packing woes (I nonetheless shipped souvenirs from 5 totally different nations and finally bought a second bag—Bric’s X-Travel Spinner—in Greece, our tenth cease), it was a serious improve from the place I began.

I’ve been a fan of packing cubes for ages, pledging my allegiance to the sturdy ripstop nylon variety from Eagle Creek years in the past. However this journey made me a Peak Design convert, principally as a result of I like its cubes’ stretchier materials. The pliability of the nylon mesh suits extra odds and ends (a number of pairs of toddler footwear, say, or a stack of leftover night time diapers and Cerebelly pouches) and the translucent cloth makes it straightforward to establish what’s inside with out unzipping each pouch.

Meet the Swiss Military knife of tech-junk organizers. Its origami-style folding pockets and elastic accent loops marshaled our many (many) charging cords plus battery pack, cellphone, earbuds, and different smalls (chapstick, chewing gum) that will in any other case disappear in a handbag or carry-on. I additionally recognize the water-off-a-duck’s-back recycled nylon canvas shell, which stood up mightily to quite a lot of spilled milks.

This straightforward but sturdy set of luggage was indispensable for organizing my son’s toiletries: tear-free shampoo, hair brush, teething meds, diaper disposal baggage, toothbrush and toothpaste, melatonin dietary supplements, and so forth. Once more, it’s all in regards to the see-through mesh and never having to rummage by way of the abyss to search out one thing in a pinch. Plus, I just like the square-bottom design, which retains the loaded bag standing upright as a substitute of flopping over like a tuckered-out toddler.

Talking of toiletries, none was extra versatile than this travel-sized tube of do-it-all ointment. When Julian scraped a knee within the Outback: Aquaphor. When the bone-dry air on a long-haul flight from Madrid to Medellín cracked his lips: Aquaphor. When diaper rash proved inescapable in mercilessly scorching India, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia: Aquaphor.

I can’t stand the scent of citronella oil, a go-to ingredient in lots of pure insect repellants. In looking for another for buggy locations I knew we’d be visiting, I examined each mosquito-repellent bracelets and stickers. The previous, which appear to be scrunchy phone cords, have been ripped off instantly by my toddler; the latter misplaced their stickiness as quickly as we bought close to water, which after all is the place the peskiest pests prefer to congregate. Finally I discovered this spray from Babyganics. It’s lower than 1% citronella however you wouldn’t realize it as a result of it’s so properly balanced with different pure repellents reminiscent of rosemary, lemongrass, geranium, cedarwood, and peppermint. It goes on silky-soft, smoothing over the pores and skin like an opulent child oil, however extra importantly, it retains the biters at bay.

Resort laundry is outrageously costly ($15 for a T-shirt, actually?), so I attempted to be picky about which clothes I’d ship off for the royal remedy. All the pieces else—socks, underwear, no matter Julian didn’t splatter with meals (or worse)—bought hand washed in lodge sinks and hung as much as dry. These phosphate-free liquid detergent packs added virtually no weight to our bag, have been nice for delicate pores and skin, and delicate sufficient to make use of on darks, lights, delicates, and all the things in between. One packet washed as much as three objects; 4 packets took on an entire load.

No matter will get you thru the flight, I say, and what bought us by way of 28 of them have been these raspberry-flavored gummies laced with L-theanine (an amino acid present in some teas and mushrooms) and natural extracts like chamomile, passionflower, and lemon balm. With our pediatrician’s blessing, I’d feed them to my son half an hour or so earlier than I needed him to relaxation. (We referred to as them “airplane gummies” and he wolfed them down like sweet.) Whereas the sleep complement didn’t at all times work as shortly as I’d have preferred, and typically he’d get up in an actual rage, I’d say they have been 85% efficient.

One of many trickiest issues about packing for a three-season, six-continent journey is selecting appropriate clothes for various climates. Julian and I have been on the street from late August by way of Thanksgiving, with temperatures starting from the high-30s to low-100s. These windproof, water-repellent puffer jackets pack down tight and are available in additional than a dozen colours. Layered over a sweater, it was a very good answer for chillier days in Spain, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, and the hood got here in helpful when it drizzled for many of our time in Amsterdam.

Julian and I spent many afternoons splashing in hotel pools and frolicking on seashores. Our vampiric Japanese European roots make us fast to burn, which is why I slather us in SPF 100 and gown him in UPF 50+ swimwear, blocking 98% of the solar’s dangerous UVA and UVB rays. These modest-coverage, mock-neck swimsuits are available in a spread of sizes (from three months to 3T) and 10 lovely prints. The zip-front closure makes dressing a snap and the stretchy cloth is quick to dry.

Looking for youngsters’s clothes overseas—koala jammies in Sydney, breezy thobes in Cairo, kurtas in Delhi—was numerous enjoyable. Sneakers not a lot. Whereas toddler Crocs stands out as the waterproof selection for a lot of youngsters this age, the comfortable foot strap gives my son blisters; he additionally freaks out at any time when a stray rock or twig worms its approach into the foot holes. The closed-toe design of Toms’ velcro-strapped slip-ons, against this, don’t chafe his ankles and are straightforward to get on and off when visiting temples and mosques all through Asia and the Center East.

The opposite creature consolation I like to recommend bringing is your little one’s favourite stuffie. For Julian, that’s Bruno—a cuddly chimp I picked up from the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary whereas on assignment in Sierra Leone in 2023. Bruno accompanied us in all places on this journey and was instrumental in getting Julian enthusiastic about making an attempt new meals (Bruno “ate” them first), making new buddies (he’s a incredible icebreaker when youngsters don’t communicate the identical language), and sporting seatbelts on planes (Bruno is huge into security).

I’ll by no means knock display screen time in terms of journey. It’s how I stored my child sane by way of 28 flights (some up 12 hours), in eating places, and on lengthy automobile/prepare rides. The iPad Mini is the right measurement for little palms. I preloaded Julian’s with enjoyable, academic video games like Homer, Pok Pok, Sago Mini World, Khan Academy Kids, and Crayola Create and Play+; downloaded Frozen and Moana to the Disney+ app and a bunch of movies to his YouTube Kids account; and signed up for a NordVPN plan so he might stream his favorites in overseas nations. Did Julian spend extra time in entrance of a display screen overseas than he would have at house? Completely. But it surely was value it as a way to an finish: the superb IRL experiences solely journey can afford us.

Just like the rugged military-grade cellphone circumstances this firm constructed its fame on, this factor has survived numerous falls, throws, and dropkicks. The case itself is dishwasher-safe and the chubby deal with converts to a stand. There’s additionally some psychological voodoo at work right here: The playful colours are like broadcasting to the world that my son is enjoying scholastic math and vocabulary video games and never simply watching dumb movies about ice cream finger households (although he’s positively doing that, too).

Hell hath no fury like a toddler whose iPad runs out of juice mid-flight. To make sure that by no means occurred, I carried a fully charged battery pack with a built-in lightning cable and USB-C wire.

The least horny merchandise on this checklist is arguably essentially the most helpful as a result of it saved us scores of meltdowns. We stayed in additional than 30 resorts on the journey, most of which served breakfast. However like many toddlers, my son usually refuses to eat meals when it’s conveniently positioned in entrance of him. No, he’d fairly wait till we’ve returned to the room or moved onto a brand new exercise to declare himself famished. That’s the place carrying empty snack baggage turns out to be useful. No matter Julian rejects at breakfast goes in a bag for later: strawberries, muffins, croissants, waffles, granola bars, you title it. (Facet word to folks: the Anantara hotels in Thailand have the best breakfast buffets for toddlers.)

Julian has not mastered the artwork of sipping from an open cup, however many resorts and eating places have moved away from single-use plastics. That’s nice for the atmosphere and horrible for toddlers who gnaw by way of paper straws like feral canine. Carrying my very own metallic straw was the very best workaround—a cinch to stay in no matter drink I needed him to attempt (lassis in India, ayran in Saudi Arabia, Kopi C in Singapore) and fewer messy than dragging round a leaky tumbler. Scorching tip: All the time purchase a multipack since you’re certain to neglect a number of in cafes and planes alongside the best way.