The Best Travel Products to Make Traveling as a Family Easier!

The trip and preparation for our family vacation.

We just returned from 12 nights away (one night of overnight travel, two nights in Paris, a seven-night Mediterranean cruise, and two nights in Lisbon). Traveling as a family of four for this duration means a decent amount of packing. Additionally, I needed to remember the destination and the heat we would be facing.

Due to the crazy baggage fees that airlines are now charging, we wanted to have one carry-on each and one personal item. This meant we needed to be organized with our packing to ensure we had everything. I started to think about what I felt my family needed to be most organized while not leaving any items behind.

Check out some of the items that my family of four found most useful on our trip.

In general, I am a big fan of packing cubes. They keep your clothes organized and make it easier to find what you need if you don’t fully unpack. I love these packing cubes even more! They are great because they compress, which makes them tighter/smaller, and can fit in a smaller suitcase. I highly recommend these.

As a family of four (or more), there are cords upon cords! The cables feel endless, from iPhones to tablets (one Apple, one Andriod) to laptops and headphones. I finally came to terms with the fact that I am done untangling cable! This electronics organizer was a lifesaver. Additionally, it had space for our outlet adapter needed in Europe.

Like I said above, we needed an outlet adapter in Europe. I love this one because it has built-in USB ports.

I LOVE this backpack for my personal item it has different compartments, including one for shoes. The top opens to make organizing easier (do you see a theme here with the organization?). Additionally, it has a security pocket on the back where you can keep your important documents close to you. It also has a built-in charging port, I didn’t use it, but the convenience may be great for others. One of my favorite parts is that it is expandable and includes clips to compress the backpack. If your family is anything like mine, mom holds a lot and may need that compression so that it qualifies as a personal item.

My husband and I take various daily medications or vitamins/supplements. However, carrying all the bottles when we travel has been a pain. We each bought our pill organizer (pink for me and blue for him). It took up less space, we could fit more than the needed number of pills, and it came with labels to keep it clear and organized.

I am so glad I bought these collapsible water bottles. I may not have used them as much as the kids did, but at home, I constantly have a cup of water, which helped on the cruise. I wasn’t planning to go up to the buffet area during the night for water. When we went ashore, the kids brought theirs along, and when they were empty until we found a refill station, we could roll them up and clip them to our belt loop or wherever possible. They come in sets of two and four, in different colors, so everyone has their own bottle.

Traveling anywhere in the summer means HEAT! Traveling in the Mediterranean in the summer means A LOT of heat! This fan was great. It was easily portable (it fit in my waistbag), charged by USB, and kept the kid’s crankiness at bay! Best of all, it is almost always on sale!

I am not the biggest germaphobe, but I can’t longer do the toothbrushes in a zip lock. This may seem simple or obvious, but the toothbrush protectors were great.

Traveling or not, our family needed this Switch carry case. My son is notorious for scratching his electronics. I did not want to imagine what would happen traveling with his switch.

Related articles:

If you’re looking for ways to save money towards travel, check out my series on easy ways to save! Click here!

Wondering how we can afford to fly to Paris? Check out our post on French Bee Airlines.

For additional items related to travel that we did not necessarily use on this trip, check out our Amazon store.