Solo Packing for Transatlantic Trip

On my first solo trip I way over packed - I had a roller case to carry on and checked luggage too. Over the years I have paired down to knowing what is critical to pack and what can easily be left at home.

In an era of skyrocketing baggage charges, it makes sense to limit the amount of luggage on a trip.

There is nothing more embarrassing than coming home with clothes you never wore once on your trip - or worse something really heavy that you never used, like a hairdryer. So to save time, money and traveler's embarrassment, pack light!

Here are the essentials:

• Lots of disposable plastic bags - good for laundry, trash when there's no trash can around, and grocery runs - in the UK there is a law that you have to pay for even the cheapest plastic carrier bags at the supermarkets.
  
• Ziplock bags - sometimes leftovers from one meal can be a sustaining snack or the next meal 
• 
• Tissue 
  
• Face moisturizer/sunscreen - a combo of these is best 
  
• Soap bar or scrap in a zip lock bag, or soapless soap in your liquids
  
  
• Comb 
  
• Face towel 
  
• Brush 
  
  
• Mints 
  
• travel meds/general pain relief medication / chapstick / any medication you usually take - many a trip has been ruined by forgetting prescription medication for example anti-depressants
  
• One set of clothes with an extra set of undies and socks 
  
• One set of nightclothes which could double as backup day clothes 
  
• Laundry liquid to wash clothes in the sink every night 
  
• Hand cream - traveling often involves washing with really hand-destroying soaps - and hand sanitizer or a combo
• 
• Toothpaste 
  
• Toothbrush 
  
• Earbuds - sometimes airlines charge you for earbuds on the plane or give you low quality ones.
  
• Travel sickness bracelets 
  
• Phone and charger - you can use Wifi for free as far as your phone service is concerned; some European coffee shops still expect you to at least buy a drink if you're using their wifi. This should be treated as part of cultural courtesy. 
  
• A pen and a backup pen! 
  
• Water bottle 
  
  
  
• Sun glasses - if going somewhere potentially sunny like France or Italy especially if driving
  
• Camera 
  
• Visa documents and Passports 
  
• Documentation for everything
• frequent flyer numbers
• ticket numbers
• all paperwork and boarding passes from the outward flight

To wear:
Layers and any bulky jackets/coats
All money, passports, visa in inside pocket or hidden travel pouch
Easy on and off shoes for going through security

And that's it! All you need to breeze through security whilst everyone else on your flight lurks in baggage reclaim for ages.

Also see my what not to pick list and what I am telling my little sister about traveling in Europe alone!

The NOT to pack list

Here are the top things I have learned not to take on our outward trip.

• We rarely take gifts back for family - we order things online to be shipped directly to them. There are exceptions to this rule - for example if there is something that can only be bought abroad or is much higher quality, like chocolate. However I know from experience that 12 bars of chocolate can make a carry-on rather heavy.
• 
• shampoo and conditioner - most hotels and homes you go to will have some in the bathroom. You may want to pack baby shampoo for any babies or small children on the trip. If you are doing a hostel or backpacking tour or university dorms, you will want to pack shampoo and conditioner or maybe a combo.
• bathrobes
• jewelry or anything valuable
• towels
• electrical appliances or anything with motors - which need adapters and sometimes converters. Transformers are often more expensive to buy than just purchasing a cheap one in the UK. 
• guide books - a whole guide book can be quite heavy and do you really need the whole thing? We recommend photocopying or even slicing out the parts of the book you think you'll need. If you are only doing a week in London, why lug around the entire Rick Steve's England guide? 
• extra books. A 200 page book should take 5 hours to read at average speed. I would always prefer to take a kindle or a phone with a kindle app for the compulsive reader, or limit everyone to one book (except toddlers who usually get 3 small ones).
• neck pillows - most transatlantic flights have inbuilt head-huggers which make neck pillows superfluous or even uncomfortable
  
• pillows - they give out pillows on the flight and someone clever told me recently you can bring your own pillow slip which takes up hardly any space for the same feel of home
• pj's - try to set up your destination if it's with family or friends to have pjs and three sets of clothes for everyone. The exception is if you want to dress your kids in pjs on an overnight flight to help them feel it is bedtime. If you are a student/backpacker, try to take day clothes that are comfortable enough to sleep in so they can be your backup pair of clothes. Everything on a trip has to work double-duty!
• two costumes - this is what I packed in my bag on my first solo trip abroad! The long, flowing cloak I only wore once in a Scottish gale took two and half days to dry in my airless dorm room. It took up loads of space in the suitcase and my friend who saw me in it said, 'I hope no one else saw you.'
• Satsumas or any fresh fruit. My family still laugh about the satsuma story - when we brought two satsumas over the border and got stuck in the longest line in creation. We were only saved waiting three hours by our two babies starting to shriek their heads off and airport staff hurrying us to the front of the line. Now we ditch any fresh food on the airplane or don't bring it at all.
  
• If you have kids:
• Your kids' own packing of their backpacks. They are sure to pack their entire homemade salt dough collection, their megablocks collection and Dad's weights. I never let our kids even have their own backpacks because they invariably want me to carry them - along with their coats and half-eaten snacks.
• changing pads - I now take pieces of fabric I've cut up from sheets from charity shops. Then I can throw them away after I use them. They take up less space than these plastic ones.
• bibs - baby is not going to spit up on a bib, he's going to spit up on you or dad or your neighbor or his shoes which aren't washable. The exception is these enormous, plastic, long-sleeve painting bibs that you might only get out during Craft Time. Well pack a few of them for your trip because that's the only bib that will be useful.
• stuffed toys unless you need them desperately. I try to mentally prepare my kids for leaving behind their toys for a month in advance. If they have to take one, it is better if it's a small one and washable. So work on attaching them to the stuffed toy of your choice.
  
• if you are blessed with a direct flight, you might not need three changes of clothes per kid but I tend to pack an outfit per layover (so a two leg trip gets two sets of clothes, a three leg trip gets three changes of clothes, etc.)

The Super Dad Pack

International Travel Dad changes diapers in airplane bathrooms. International Travel Dad carries three bags and children. International Travel Dad goes without sleep for 26 hours to get his family to safety. International Travel Dad is Super Dad under cover.

D said after our first few transatlantic flights with kids that, 'Everyone else always seems so well prepared and to have everything they need. I don't know how they do it.'

So I put my mind to it and realized although we take a lot of things we need in an emergency, they are not always where we need them.

I then researched travel vests and made me own. This was good for me because it meant the essentials were never up in the overhead lockers. I could just pop the tissue out of my pockets, or the wipes and diapers.

But this didn't solve D feeling like he never had what he needed - especially if he and one or both children were far from me.

So we came up with the idea of the Super Dad Pack.

It is a collection of things that D puts in his pockets. He takes it out at Security so I try to keep everything in small baggies - no loose change. Man pockets tend to be bigger than lady pockets so he can usually fit:

• money in different currencies - airports take any but we usually have a certain currency that is cheaper to buy or we have coins that need using up
• phone
• phone charger
• mints
• earbuds
• tissue
• wipes - I repackage 5 wipes into a small ziplock baggie and replenish this baggie as needed
• a pen
• a small notepad / sticky notepad
• a rubber band or two - good for closing up packets of food we leave half-eaten or letting your kids play with for hours, shooting it across airport lounges
• a disposable spoon
• a travel toothbrush in a case 
• ziplock bag
• a surprise! (in photo below happy/sad face stickers which might occupy the children or which might give Mom a laugh if he sticks an 'unhappy sticker' on the forehead of a squalling baby)

Travel has a way of throwing unexpected circumstances at you but with these essentials you can battle many foes.

Choosing Seats and Battle Mapping for Transatlantic Travel with Multiple Small Children

Where's the battle strategy? Clearly it's all in the positioning.

For under 5's, we recommend the parents divide and conquer on transatlantic flights.

Here is a normal plane - it has bulk head seats at the front of sections, first class at the front of the plane, toilets and the golden area in the back where food and drink are available.

Look at the red seats. This looks like  an ideal situation - bulkhead seats for mom with lap baby, dad and older child. But you cannot get in and out without disturbing neighbors, esp if there are any bags or tables and drinks set out. You do have more leg room, easy access to the toilet and more attention from the flight crew.

This scenario has happened to us more than once. One lap baby and four people in a row of three. It is a little harder to get the flight attendants' attention. The toilets are still nearby. You have easy access to the aisle. You have to check before you lean your seat back and you have to be aware of the people in front as well - they might lean their chair back unexpectedly while your baby is on your lap. The best thing about this scenario is that one of the kids can sit by the window!

This is the safest part of the plane - near the furthest back exits. It is also blessedly near the toilets. Flight attendants and therefore unlimited bottled water are within easy reach. You still have to keep tabs on whether the kids are kicking the seats in front. Ideally the kids are not sitting next to each other as they will probably keep each other awake. You have easy access to one aisle and best of all you can lean your seat back without worrying about cramping the person behind you!

This is the most difficult scenario - two inner row seats with two lap babies. You won't be able to get out to use the toilet without making at least one person stand up or cringe back as you hop over them. You are cramped with people in every direction. This was about to happen to us once and we felt blessed to be moved to a bulkhead in the first half hour of the flight.

This 3-1 scenario can be tricky with one parent in the row behind the rest of the family. We thought it would work well for us to take turns being the parent on duty but as it turned out after 10 minutes of managing two kids you suffer extreme fatigue. It is hard to concentrate on two and make sure that neither is kicking the seat in front and that their basic needs are met.

This is the other 3-1 scenario. Dad and Child 1 behind and Mom and lap baby in front. Each parent looks after one kid to keep a consistent management. This scenario is usually a result of too many moms with babies being on the flight so they only give the bulkhead to the mums and the dads get stuck in elsewhere. Another benefit is that Child 1 can sit behind mom and not inadvertently kick the chair of a stranger who might be reticent to complain. It actually works well as long as dad has everything he needs. 

It's better if you can gauge one kid the whole time if possible. It depends on seating and the mood of the passengers around you of course. And there's nothing wrong with asking your spouse to watch your charge while you go to the bathroom.

If you do one kid the whole time, you can have consistent strategy (one gift or sweet an hour) and keep tabs on how many diaper changes/bathroom trips he's taken and how much he's eaten and how much he's slept so when he's bad you can target the area he's most deprived. For example 'Your brother has had a nap on this trip but you haven't tried that yet, I think you'll be much happier if you do.'

For Under 3's

Try to get both kids in the same nappy/diaper size - it works if your kids are close in age and just two sizes apart. We traveled once when Z was size 5 and Y was size 3, so we packed loads and loads of size 4 nappy/diapers. That helped us faffing about looking for the correct size in frantic changing situations.
Clearly this won't work if you have a newborn and a 3-year-old but sometimes if your children are 18 months apart or less, at certain stages, this works a treat.