Trip Tips: 31 Travel Essentials for Your Family Vacation

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Overwhelmed about your next family vacation with the kids? Check out our best trip tips for families and favorite must-have travel essentials.

Are you getting excited and feeling overwhelmed about your next family vacation with the kids? Today we’re sharing our best trip tips for families including our complete list of favorite must-have travel essentials to make it less stressful for you!

Before you pack a single bag, make sure you have the Clutter Keeper Road Trip Planner. It has everything you need – printables, tips, and how-to’s that save your sanity. If you aren’t taking a road trip, then get the Travel Planner. It is perfect for any trip you take.

Whether your flying or driving on a road trip for your next family vacation, this list of favorite travel essentials and trip tips is a must read! It's chock full of great ideas and things you need to know as you plan your dream vacation with the kids.

The thought of going on a family vacation can be intimidating to any parent. What do you need to pack for you and the kids? What do you leave behind? How to do you avoid overpacking?

If these are the questions plaguing you right now, grab a handy dandy notebook and hold on tight! We’ve packed all of our best trip tips for families into this blog post. Plus we’re sharing our favorite must-have travel essentials for any family vacation. Today’s post will help take some of the guesswork and stress out of trip preparation.

Best Trip Tips for Families

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links for products or services we think you’ll like. This means if you make a purchase from one of these links, Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® will make a small commission at no additional cost to you so we can keep the great ideas for the home coming your way. All opinions expressed are derived from personal experience.

Whether you’re flying or driving to your travel destination, we’ve shared many family travel tips and tricks that will make life easier for you. If your travel plans specifically include a theme park, amusement park or any big tourist attraction with large crowds and a lot to see, we’ve got trip tips for that as well.

While the majority of our family trip tips specifically talk about our experience traveling with babies and toddlers, many of these ideas would work great for older children as well.

Whether your flying or driving on a road trip for your next family vacation, this list of favorite travel essentials and trip tips is a must read! It's chock full of great ideas and things you need to know as you plan your dream vacation with the kids.

31 Travel Essentials for Family Vacations

These are the most important things you will need when you travel as a family.

#1 Umbrella Stroller

If you’re traveling with kids under the age of 5, don’t leave home without an inexpensive umbrella stroller. Umbrella strollers are light-weight and compact so you can easily fold them to gate check at the airport or to pack in the back of a mini-van or SUV.

#2 Water Bottles

No matter where you’re going, the kids are going to get thirsty. Often. We love these Nalgene Tritan Grip and Gulp water bottles because they don’t leak and come in a multitude of colors.

#3 – Snack Cups

It goes without saying that you need snacks on your trip, but these Munchkin Snack Catcher cups are awesome because the lid keeps the treats from spilling all over the place. You know, like on the plane, in the car, or when the kiddo is tooling around in their stroller. Our boys are 7 and 4 now and we still use these when we travel.

#4 – A Strap

And speaking of things spilling all over the place, the Booginhead Sippigrip Strap is a must-have. There’s velcro on each end so you can tether your child’s water bottle, snack cup, or favorite toy to their car seat or stroller. This keeps you from losing the treasured item repeatedly and your child can also easily retrieve whatever goes overboard.

#5 – Electronics

I know, I know, there are numerous studies saying we should limit the amount of time our children spend on iPads and other electronic devices. But you and I both know that sometimes we just need to let the kid play on a LeapFrog tablet or some other device so we can breathe for a minute.

#6 – Headphones

Now if you really want to maintain your sanity on your trip, the kids are going to need headphones to go with those electronics. We really like the Kidz Gear wired headphones because you can limit the volume to protect their precious little ears.

#7 – Protective Cases

Some electronic devices like the Kids Edition of the Amazon Fire Tablet come with a protective case. If your tablet or device doesn’t have a durable case that can withstand the wear and tear of kids dragging it around, you must get one before your trip.

We’ve had a Gripcase on the iPads our boys use for several years now. It’s held up amazingly well. More importantly, though it’s made our iPads nearly indestructible! We cannot rave enough about how awesome the Gripcase is.

#8 – Waterproof Phone cases

Having a waterproof phone case is great for family vacations to water parks, cruise ships, houseboats, camping along rivers or lakes, canoeing, kayaking, and other water sports. In fact, you can even take it one step further and get a waterproof cell phone case that floats.

#9 – Comfortable Shoes

Everyone in the family needs good, comfortable shoes for your trip. We personally love Keen Newport H2 sandals because they have good foot protection and arch support. They come in several colors for both kids and adults.

Plus I love how versatile these shoes are . They’re stylish enough to wear with most summer outfits. But they also have good tread to wear hiking along a trail in the woods and are comfortable when we wear them standing in lines at airports, theme parks or anywhere else our travels take us. I usually just pack my Keens and a pair of black Croc flip-flops for most of our family vacations.

activities to pack for kids

Believe it or not, sometimes the kids get bored playing with their electronics or just need something else to do. Here are some of our favorite activities to bring along on any family trip.

#10 – Crayola wonder books

The magic of the Crayola Color Wonder Books is in the paper itself. The markers appear clear until they’re used on the special paper. This means they’re mess-free and won’t mark up the car and airplane seats.

#11 – MadLibs

I used to love MadLibs as a kid! We recently picked up a book of MadLibs for our spring break road trip. Now that our 7-year-old can read and understand basic parts of speech these were SO much fun!

#12 – Puppets

Sometimes a little magic from puppets just lightens up the mood when traveling with the kids starts to feel stressful. We took this small chicken puppet on spring break with us. It was great for entertaining the kids with songs during traffic backups from road construction.

#13 – Travel Joke Books

Are travels getting tense? Break out a joke book and the whole family will be laughing again in no time.

#14 – Blank Notebooks

Our kids love to write and draw when they’re bored. You can even keep a small spiral-bound notebook in your purse or backpack that the kids can use when you’re waiting for food to be served at a restaurant or other places.

#15 – Coloring Books

I always like to bring along one or two new coloring books the kids haven’t seen before.

#16 – Colored Pencils

Our favorites are the Crayola Twistables Erasable colored pencils. They won’t melt in a hot minivan or rental car like crayons might. Plus when the tip gets broken or dull, the kids can just twist them to get a fresh start.

#17 – Sun protection

Most family vacations involve some sort of fun in the sun. Don’t forget to pack your sunscreen, wide-brimmed hats, or whatever you like to use to prevent sunburns. We personally like the Coppertone Continuous Spray Sunscreen SPF 50 for kids because it’s fast and easy to put on the kids, long-lasting, water-resistant, and doesn’t sting if it accidentally gets in their eyes.

#18 – Small First Aid kit

Despite your best efforts, someone is bound to get hurt at some point during your family vacation. There are some great travel-size first aid kits you can buy on Amazon. At the very least though, make sure you tuck a few band-aids in your purse or backpack.

#19 – Backpack or Travel Bag

You need some sort of bag that’s comfortable, yet large. You’re going to want something large enough to haul all your travel essentials for a day. Think about what you’d want if you were running between gates at the airport or lugging all your stuff around a theme park or tourist attraction.

We prefer to bring along a decent sided backpack with padded shoulder straps and mesh side pockets to hold the kids’ water bottles. These Rustic DIY Luggage Tags are the perfect way to keep track of all your bags while you travel.

(By the way, if you’re eyeing that adorable suitcase in the photos, it’s the Stephen Joseph Rolling Luggage Blue/Red Airplane design. Our four year old loves his!)

Two kids' backpacks

#20 – Small Mesh Zippered bags

We use several of these on all our trips. They’re great for organizing small toys, colored pencils, first aid supplies, or whatever else we need. We’ve found that zippered pencil pouches with a mesh window work especially well. You can see what’s inside them. Plus they’re safer and more durable than resealable disposable plastic bags, like Zip-Loc.

#21 – Wipes

Kid’s anti-bacterial hand wipes or baby wipes are handy on trips for cleaning up messy hands and faces. We’ve also used them on plastic toys, tray tables, dining tables at restaurants, and numerous other hard surfaces that could use some sanitation and cleaning.

#22 – Hanging Travel Bag

A small bag for all toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other toiletries are essential for your family vacation. You could easily use one of the mesh zippered bags I mentioned earlier for this.

We prefer a hanging toiletry bag like this Victorinox travel bag though. It has compartments to separate different types of toiletries, but we especially love the built-in hanger. Hotel bathrooms often have small counters so this allows you to hang all your family’s toiletries on a towel rack or on the back of the door for easy access.

What You Need to Know If You’re Flying 

If you’re flying with children, you’ll want to read our 10 trip tips for stress-free air travel.

Need to bring a car seat with you on the plane? We’ve explored a variety of options for flying with car seats as well as the pros and cons of each one.

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Additional Travel Essentials for Air Travel

Here are some more things you should think to bring with you if you are flying as a family.

#23 – stroller or baby carrier

Over the years, we’ve used several different tools to help us get the kids easily from point A to point B at the airport.

When they were babies we hauled them in a front carrier. We’ve also used this airport car seat travel cart, which allows you to turn a car seat into a stroller.

At times we’ve taken a large double stroller to the airport so our older son could sit or stand as we hustled between gates. Most of the time now though, we just take our lightweight umbrella stroller. If our younger son feels like walking (and we have enough of a layover!) then we just use the stroller to hold one of our heavy carry-on bags.

#24 – Car Seat Protection

Nowadays, we always use the JL Childress Wheelie Car Seat Travel Bag when we check our car seats as luggage at the ticket counter. We actually have two of them and they’ve kept our car seats clean and free of damage through numerous flights. Plus the bag is roomie enough that we can throw a few extras on top of the car seat like our winter coats so we don’t have to stuff them into our other checked luggage.

What You Need to Know If You’re Driving

Road trips with small children can make even the best parent cringe with fear and anxiety. Who wants to be trapped in a car with a screaming child for hours on end? Try these 10 road trip tips to help you survive your next adventure on the open road with the kids.

Additional Travel Essentials for Your Road Trip

If you are taking a family road trip, these products will make your experience so much better. We use them every time.

#25 – Cell Phone Holder

It’s important to stay safe and hands-free if you’re using your cell phone to get directions to your destination or to call the hotel to change your reservation. We also enjoy listening to Amazon Music Unlimited or a podcast while we’re on the road.

Kent just got this Universal Car Phone Mount for his phone and loves it. The holder actually uses the CD slot in your car stereo to keep it more stable and secure than other car mounts.

#26 – Car Seat Tray

Kids can play with toys or eat snacks easier if they have a good tray for their car seats. Our preference is the Taby Tray which has a built-in cupholder and a slightly raised edge so things don’t roll off. What I especially love though is that it’s a hard surface so it easily wipes clean from snack crumbs and spills.

#27 – Waterproof car seat protection

If you’ve got a kid potty training or currently in diapers, this is a must-have. When they’ve got to go, they’ve got to go and sometimes it’s a long way to the next rest area.

We used a Diono Dry Seat Car Seat Protector on many, many road trips. It’s protected the car seat from more leaky diapers and drink spills than I care to remember.

#28 – Large Storage Totes

While you can always pack your clothes and travel essentials in luggage and tote bags, we prefer to use these large storage totes from Home Depot (If you prefer to shop on Amazon, these storage bins look the same to me).

These big plastic tubs with lids are easy to stack in the back of a minivan or SUV. This allows you to fit more into the back of your vehicle than if you try to pack a bunch of separate bags and suitcases for your trip.

#29 – Car Top Storage

We’ve typically been able to fit all we need for a road trip into large storage totes. But we recently bought the Keeper Waterproof Roof Top Cargo Bag to have when we travel with my parents or in-laws in our vehicle and need more storage space. It got really great reviews on Amazon so we’re excited to give it a try.

What You Need to Know If You’re Going to an Amusement Park (Or any place with big crowds and a lot to see!)

If Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios or some other big exciting amusement park is part of your travel plans, you’ll want to review our 5 theme park survival tips for families. Most of these trip tips would also apply to any super large tourist attraction like the Grand Canyon, the Mall of America, Times Square etc.

Additional Travel Essentials for Theme Parks

Finally, if you are heading to a theme park as a family, you don’t want to forget these essentials!

#30 – A Way To Track Your Child

Before entering a large theme park or tourist attraction, we always review our cell phone numbers with the kids. We also point out the “helpers” in the area, like police officers, security guards, and park workers with name tags.

If your child is too young or might panic and forget their phone number if they were lost, these lost child tattoos/stickers are essential. They gave me real peace of mind a few years ago when we went to Walt Disney World with my husband’s whole family to celebrate his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. I was so afraid we’d lose a kid!

#31 – Double Stroller

Got two small kids with you at the theme park? Then you need a double stroller. We’ve got a Joovy Caboose Stand On Tandem Stroller that we’ve used for our boys.

Our double stroller might be more cumbersome to travel with than our umbrella stroller. But it’s been a lifesaver when our older son used to beg us to carry him on vacation.

With the double stroller along, we could give him two choices — does he want to walk or does he want to ride? When kids feel like they have a choice in the matter it puts an end to some of the whining and tears on a long hot day in the park.

So there you have our best trip tips and all our favorite things we use on our family vacations! Did we cover everything? What are some of your family’s favorite travel must-haves? Please comment below and share. We’re always looking for new ideas!

While you’re here to be sure to check out other family travel ideas on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –

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Whether your flying or driving on a road trip for your next family vacation, this list of favorite travel essentials and trip tips is a must read! It's chock full of great ideas and things you need to know as you plan your dream vacation with the kids.

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3 Comments

  1. Thank you has always the tips and ideas you provide are very helpful. To the diy name tags I added different colored yarn pompoms for each person since my Granddaughter is only two.

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