How We Pack for an International Family Trip: A Comprehensive Overseas Trip Checklist

It's always exciting to travel with the family.

But the thought of packing for a trip abroad, especially with a toddler and an infant involved, can be overwhelming, even for parents like us who are somewhat very organised.

Putting together a comprehensive international travel checklist helped us with our packing.

By sharing this with you, we hope it can help you navigate packing–– from important travel documents like passports and travel insurance to clothing.

International Travel Packing List

Valuable Items

Important personal belongings, such as wallets, smartphones, and personal or over-the-counter medications, and essential documents, such as a valid passport, a boarding pass, and a health insurance card, should be kept within reach.

So, we ensure each adult has a small personal bag where these items can be kept and accessed quickly.

Clothing

We're natural overpackers, always bringing more than we need on holiday to avoid forgetting anything.

Our bags are often stuffed and overweight, but it wasn’t an issue until we had kids.

Now, with even more to carry, we’ve learned to be more intentional.

Here's what we do to maximise space in every checked luggage and carry-on bag, and avoid overpacking:

Plan Outfits Carefully

When packing, we focus on two main factors: our planned activities and the weather.

To avoid overpacking, we plan a detailed daily itinerary and pack versatile outfits that suit our activities. This includes casual wear for daily excursions and dressier options for special occasions.

About two weeks before our holiday, we closely monitor the weather forecast to help us pack accordingly.

Whether it’s swimwear and UV-protective gear for sunny beaches or insulated jackets and thermal layers for cooler climates, we ensure to choose clothing that suits the destination's weather. 

However, since forecasts can be unpredictable, it’s smart to pack a rain jacket even in hot climates.

If it turns out to be warmer than expected, it’s much easier to rely on a T-shirt or light jumper instead.

Use Packing Cubes

When we didn’t have kids, we had no packing system. This made unpacking difficult and often left us unable to find things.

Now, we found an excellent solution: packing cubes.

Packing cubes help maximise luggage space and organise clothing. These also make it easier to find what we need without unpacking everything.

We roll clothes instead of folding them to save space while reducing wrinkles.

We sort clothing by outfit type or family member. It can also be organised in any way you find most convenient for the whole family.

For the kids, we use a foldable shoe rack with multiple compartments instead of luggage cubes. This allows us to sort their outfits per day.

Upon arrival at our accommodation, all we have to do is unfold the shoe rack and hang it–– the kids’ clothes are now sorted per day, so we can simply pull out their outfits for each day.

Keep Essentials in Our Carry-On

In the worst-case scenario, if any of our suitcases go missing or misplaced by the airline, we'd want to have at least a set of clothes for each family member in our personal or carry-on bags.

Toddler & Infant Essentials

General Items

Our kids don't really have a favourite stuffed toy or comfort item that they can't sleep without at night.

But if there's anything that would comfort your kids and help them sleep well at night, it's best to bring those items with you on your trip.

Remember, the kids will be sleeping in an unfamiliar environment for a few nights, so you’d want to make them as comfortable and at home as possible while on holiday.

We also pack a first-aid kit for our kids on holiday abroad. It offers immediate access to necessary medical supplies for minor injuries and common ailments, so we can provide prompt care to our kids when needed.

With a handy first-aid kit while away from home, we can easily deal with potential health issues like insect bites or sunburns, which are more likely to occur during travel.

At the very least, this travel first-aid kit should have child-safe medications, band-aids, antiseptic wipes, insect repellent, and prescription medications, if any.

Lastly, we pack appropriate sleepwear, such as onesies or sleep sacks, suited to the climate of our destination to ensure the young ones stay comfortable while sleeping.

For Toddlers

We pack a variety of healthy toddler-friendly snacks, such as granola bars, dried fruit, crackers, or puffs, that are easy to carry and consume on the go.

We also bring spill-proof sippy cups or water bottles that are easy for small hands to hold, ensuring our toddler is hydrated throughout the trip, especially during long-haul flights.

Further, we include lightweight, durable cutlery and small plates or bowls for meals. To minimise waste, we bring reusable ones that are easy to clean.

To keep mealtime messes manageable, we bring bibs. Burp cloths are advisable for younger toddlers who may still need them during feeding.

Of course, we need to keep toddlers entertained in flight. In our case, an iPad with kid-friendly headphones works best for our two-year-old son.

For Infants and Newborns

We pack the right amount of baby bottles, along with nipples suitable for our infant’s age.

Those who are breastfeeding must bring a complete breastfeeding kit, including a breast pump and storage bags.

If you're using formula milk for your baby, consider bringing it with you and check if the destination country has suitable products available for purchase upon arrival.

Of course, a bottle brush and dish soap are essential for cleaning bottles during the trip.

Burp clothes are essential to handle messes during mealtime.

It's essential to pack enough diapers for the entire trip, plus a few extras for emergencies. A large pack of baby wipes and diaper rash cream are also important for quick changes and clean-ups.

However, to save space, consider buying diapers at your destination if suitable products are available.

Additionally, we bring disposable bags designed for diapers to manage waste while we're out and about, ensuring cleanliness and odour control.

A portable crib or travel bassinet is crucial for providing a safe sleeping space for our infant while away from home. To avoid having to bring one, we opt for an Airbnb or hotel that can provide a portable crib or bassinet for free.

Lastly, we pack a swaddle blanket to keep our baby cosy during sleep time.

Toiletries & Personal Care

Bringing the right personal care items and toiletries is critical to ensure everyone stays clean, comfortable, and healthy while away from home.

In our case, we only like to bring our toothbrushes and bath sponges.

The rest of our personal care items, such as toothpaste, soap, dental floss, mouthwash, deodorant, moisturiser, sunscreen, makeup remover, and feminine hygiene products, are bought at the airport of our destination. This means we don’t have to pack liquids and can avoid problems like leakage, which is possible during a long-haul flight.

Anna, however, makes sure to pack all her skincare and makeup for the holiday since buying these products at the airport can be expensive. She ensures that they are packed securely to prevent any spillage.

Electronics & Gadgets

One of the things we love the most is capturing and sharing our favourite moments with our loved ones and you, our audience.

So, during our holidays, we need to bring our vlogging gear, which includes multiple cameras.

Nevertheless, smartphones will do for the purposes of taking photos and videos you can look back to and share with your family and friends.

Of course, we also need to bring a charger for every device. So, we recommend getting a dedicated organiser where all chargers can be kept.

For backup and long days out, we like bringing power banks during our trips.

We always bring our universal adapter and make it a habit to check the plug types used in our destination countries here. This resource about the different plugs and sockets used around the world is also helpful.

If you don’t want to bring a universal adapter, you can ask your Airbnb host or hotel if they provide one for free.

Miscellaneous Items

If we're going on a beach holiday, we consider packing flotation devices for kids. Alternatively, we can purchase some when we get to our destination.

Neck pillows can make our trip comfortable, especially if we're hopping on a long-haul economy flight.

To keep our personal belongings secure while exploring, we like using lightweight day bags.

Wrapping Up

A well-organised packing list is a good way to transform what can feel like chaos into a streamlined process.

By being prepared with a holiday checklist and taking things one step at a time, we can easily pack for a family holiday abroad.

What steps do you take when packing to travel abroad? How do you ensure every family member has what they need? We'd love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to share them below!

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