Overnights Before Arrival

We just returned from our 10-day vacation to Topsail Island, North Carolina, a few days ago.  My plan was to update the blog as we traveled, but I spent very little time in front of electronics and a whole lot of time on the beach with my family and a good book.  I'll just go to Plan B and write after the fact!

Today I'd like to touch on traveling to your destination.  Our drive was about 17 hours and there were a few stops we wanted to make on the way out.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, and the Homewood Suites in Durham, North Carolina.  Both were excellent hotels and we will stay there again if our travel plans require a stay in either city.

I do my best to efficiently pack for our trips by designating one bag for our nights in a hotel.  I use a wheeled carry-on bag for all six of us.  Each child gets a gallon Ziploc bag which contains two complete outfits and a pair of pajamas and their toothbrush bags.  This only takes up half of the suitcase.  The other half is for the adult clothes, a sound machine, and an extra crib sheet to be used for the infant cribs at the hotel since they never seem to have a sheet that is the right size.  Throw in a mesh laundry bag, too, to keep all of your dirty clothes in one place.

Bags for kids' clothes

We bring a backpack for our bathroom bags and electronics we did not want to leave in the van overnight, as well as a few sleeping bags, pillows, and a cooler to keep our picnic items cold.  All-in-all, it takes one trip to get everything we need inside and makes it relatively easy to unpack and pack the back of the van at each stop.

It's the little things that make a trip go just a bit more smoothly!

The packed suitcase