Summer is upon us, the curriculum has been stored, the swimsuits have come out of hiding, and perhaps you’re anticipating some travel and vacationing! If so, I have a tip to make clothes-packing simpler: enter the packing cubes!
If you haven’t tried packing cubes before, I highly recommend them. As a mom who values simplicity, I was initially skeptical. But these cubes have truly transformed our family’s travel experience. We started with a few basic sets by Bagail on Amazon, and they have become an essential part of our travel routine. No matter the destination or the duration of our trip, we never leave home without them!
Why are they such a worthy investment? First off, ease of access while” en route.” When we travel to a place where we can access a washing machine, I prefer to travel light and pack myself and the kids in one bag. Packing cubes allows each person to have their own “bag” or cube. No more digging through your neatly organized carry-on at the airport or rest stop, upsetting the rest of the bag to get a clean t-shirt. You can grab that person’s cube, take out what you need, and pop it back in the suitcase. I like to roll/fold and line up the items file-style for kids’ clothing.
Second, the packing cubes keep items organized by category. The kids all get one giant packing cube each, but I like having several cubes for myself. I lay my tops and dresses out flat, with the items in order from greatest to least wrinkle factor (greatest being laid down first), then fold them in half, tuck in the sleeves, and place the thick pile into a cube. Shorts and pants are file-folded or stacked in another cube. Unmentionables, socks, and swimwear go in their cube, and I usually have a separate cube for pajamas. It’s so easy to hang my tops and dresses and then place the cubes in drawers when we arrive at our destination. And if drawers aren’t available, the cubes are their own organizers and containers.
Third, cubes make laundry more effortless to do when the trip is over. This past spring, I took our four children on a journey to visit friends in Arizona. I packed the five days’ worth of clothing for each child and gave them their own drawer/or spot for clothes at the hotel. They were instructed to keep their cube on the right and throw their dirty clothes on the left of the drawer. At the end of the trip, I stuffed the dirty clothes into the cube and tossed them into the suitcase, and when we got home, I emptied each cube into the child’s laundry hamper. No post-travel laundry pile! When we have a washer/dryer, I might do the laundry while on the trip and hand each kiddo their cube to unpack at home.
Bonus Tip: I like to have a cube dedicated to our swimsuits so that if we are waiting for a room to be ready at our destination, we can grab that cube and head for the pool.
When traveling with a family, having a few systems to minimize stress is nice. So, pack early, weigh those bags ahead of time, take only the essentials (for the kids at least), and do yourself the favor of buying a couple sets of packing cubes! I hope you enjoy the carefree timelessness of being on an adventure with the family God has blessed you with. Marvel at the beauty of His creation, look for opportunities to share the Gospel with those you meet along the way and cherish the people you have traveled so many miles to see. The memories will last a lifetime. Bon voyage!