Packing The Essentials…
Packing for a longer journey can be quite intimidating, as you’d always want to make sure you’re covered for everything. In particular, when you are travelling with children. I think the main advice I would give after close to 2 months of moving between places is: Do not overthink! And the 2nd advice would be: Pack less!
For this first leg of our journey we have the luxury of having the car with us. A car with a trunk that give extra space, even for some items we do not need regularly or not at all. This will change when we fly out to Asia, so these first 2 months were a perfect try-out phase to find out which essentials absolutely have to go into the bag for the next parts of our journey.
Clothing: Less is more. Most apartments we’ve booked, even the cheapest ones, had a washing machine and if not, “Rei in der Tube” (don’t ask me for the english equivalent please… I’m referring to laundry detergent to be used in a simple handwash sink) as a quick fix if clothing needs a wash. So rather than 7 pairs of socks and equally many underpants, make it 4 and save some space. The same goes for pretty much any other item of clothing. I packed one pair of jeans that I haven’t worn a single time, yet. Same goes for the sweater I brought. The necessity for both can obviously vary depending on where you go, but as we were travelling through the warmer months of the year, long clothing wasn’t really needed. The mountains in Serbia and Bosnia were a little chilly in the evenings, but a thin fleece jacket was still fully sufficient. We’ve all brought a longer outdoor-ish trouser, which the kids and Sarah have worn a few times, but generally, don’t overpack for eventualities. I will certainly reduce clothing before we’re heading out to Asia.
An absolute essential are “packing cubes” or “luggage organizers”. ( I am referring to something like this https://shorturl.at/WUXWJ) They’ve been a blessing and I will not travel without them during the next parts of the journey. Especially important when travelling with backpacks, and even more importantly when you try to keep the kids’ clothing organized, as well. And as much as we’d like (and teach) them to be self-responsible with their clothing and their backpacks, the reality is, in particular when packing needs to happen relatively fast, then we are packing for them. And since we jumped locations a lot, packing and unpacking happened every few days.
Our very thin and light silk sleeping bags have also proven to be a continuous companion. (https://www.dav-shop.de/productdetails.aspx?id=10000718&itemno=442001) While they aren’t cheap, I haven’t slept a single night without them. Even if the apartment comes across very clean, this thin sleeping back, especially since travelling through warm areas, allows you to feel comfy in any bed. In combination with my travel pillow, I have slept very well on a variety of sofas and beds over the last two months.
And this will be needed, as we need to pack everything into our packs, even the stuff that is currently in the trunk of the car. School books and books, in general. Leni reads a lot and Oskar has also started to gain some interest in books (thankfully…). We have to practice some school topics with the kids and whilst chatgpt is a great help with producing some practice sheets, it is very helpful to have the guidance of a certified school book, in particular for German. Child suitable literature in German will be difficult to find when abroad, so in alignment with the kids we’ve brought a selection of books that keeps them sporadically occupied. And that is of crucial importance, because the kids need to occupy themselves. We, the parents, can’t entertain 24/7 and the kids need to learn how to deal with boredom. It’s important! While instagram and co might suggest that every day is an action-filled adventure, the truth is, that down-time and “alone-time” needs to be a constant companion on this journey. The number of books will definitely need to be reduced when we rely on our backpacks, but the past months have shown that books belong on the list of essentials. The same goes for a few games we are playing regularly, such as “Tutto” and “Cabo”.
Tablets remain a sporadic discussion point. The kids are using them less than at home, but a midday break is normally spent on the tablet. Whilst this might not be ideal, I would go as far as saying that the tablets are essential, as well, as they are also used for researching and corresponding homework. Whether it’s gathering information about the next country, or the city we are currently staying in, there is a lot of sensible stuff that can be done on a kids-tablet. It’s also helpful to kill time by listening to audio-books during the several longer drives we did in the past months. Because let’s face it, even the nicest scenery remains “just another long drive” for a child.
Powerbanks! I bought an Anker Powerbank (https://shorturl.at/Qkv8e) prior to our journey and I am absolutely satisfied with it. 20.000mAh are fully sufficient to charge the phone multiple times and even the above-mentioned tablet or our laptops can be operated for a surprisingly long time if no powerplug is in close proximity. That one is an absolute essential on any journey!
What else? There are a lot of smaller things that have proven to be very helpful, if not essential, during our trip. You never exactly know what’s in your apartment and you also never know in which condition you’ll find an apartment, especially not if you are booking on the cheaper end of the scale. And sometimes, you have unfinished groceries that you need to bring from one location to the next, but not only that "closure clips” (https://shorturl.at/duYIs) have been tremendously helpful. Pretty much for anything that sits in an open bag, even though I already used them to attach a clothesline. Which immediately brings me to the clothesline itself… Whether on a balcony, through the living room or on rare occasions through a garden, a clothesline is a must have item in the bag! And while the can also serve as clothespin, it’s a good idea to have some of them in the bag, as well. You can tell… I’m a big fan of Ikea clips! We also brought our own sponge and honestly, I will make space for that in my backpack when travelling through Asia and middle America. It might be a personal thing, but Sarah and I share the disgust for used sponges, so having our own helps to feel at home in somebody else's apartment. Bog roll is another essential.. even more when flying out to Asia, I suppose ;), but already now it has proven to be very helpful to have at least one roll on the bag.
Then there is the medical stuff… luckily we didn’t need anything but a few plasters thus far, but of course we packed the essential first aid kits. That’s a no brainer and belongs in the bag!
I might update this post throughout the journey, as I am sure the next legs of our trip will bring other items to light that will turn out to be essential.
