Packing tips please!! What will we need for holiday abroad??

[Hellokittycat]

Never been abroad with children before. We are off for 2 weeks in August with 3 children!
How many clothes will we need for children and us?? Any other must haves that I might not think of??

Where are you going?

Menorca so beach/pool hol :-)

Take things that you can wear for different things - eg a vest top can be day or evening wear, a shortish skirt looks nice in the evening but can replace a pair of shorts on the beach.
I always need more shampoo / shower-gel than I expect...
Cut back on the shoes - just get a pair of flat sandals with a sparkly bit on them and again you can wear them day and night. Shoes take up a lot of room!

Sun cream, a few first aid type things - anti-histamine for bites, anti diarrhoea stuff, headache tablets, sticking plasters, anti-histamine cream.
Clothes - in /august you won't need much - swim things, shorts, vest tops, dresses, flip-flops and a pair of sandals for walking about/evening, whatever the children wear in hot weather. Towels. Sunglasses. Sunhats.

I always take a decent camera because IMO phone cameras don't take such good photos (but I am a bit particular).

A copy of your holiday insurance policy. Obviously passports/tickets/money.

Buy bottles of water airside at your departure airport because it will be hot when you land and there won't be any opportunity to buy a drink in the arrivals hall.

Crocs for the kids. If you have access to a washing machine then pack enough for 5 days. For younger children pack lots of T-shirts/ easy pull on dresses. They don't take up much space but always seem to get covered in ice-cream or sun tan cream.

All good ideas, thanks! Am starting a list :-)

Remember to take your European Health Insurance Cards. You can get these free online. We needed ours last year in Menorca.

Handwash detergent for clothes & a few clothes pegs to dry clothes.
Ziploc bags to pack toiletries in & to put food in to take to beach/swimming pool (put crisps etc in a sealable bag).
Any favourite snacks for plane & beach (took 10 packs of yogurt raisins for dd one year!).

Babywipes, for wiping hands poolside and at beach.
Fill a bucket with sea water and slosh your feet as soon as you leave the beach, before you start walking. This gets rid of the sand.

I think it's good to worry about this in April.

Not worrying about it, just excited about our first holiday and planning ahead :-)

I get your excitement, and was the same when we first went

Just thought of something else - a electric socket/plug thingee that will mean you can plug anything in you need to charge, or use, as the electricity supply over there is different.

Mosquito spray or wipes or bands (or eat marmite for a few months beforehand - they won't bite you then)

the electricity supply in Europe is exactly the same as in the UK. It is the plugs that are different so that is why you need the adaptor.

the marmite thing is a myth. DEET.

I don't know what's worse, wasps or marmite!

Just going on the fact that when 4 of us were bitten (despite wearing the wrist band things) and only one of us never got a bite all holiday - the one that never got a bite was the one that has marmite everyday for breakfast. Had read about it before and dismissed it, but after that, asked people and have found quite a few who had the same experience where the marmite eater was the only one not bitten.
Not a scientist, and no idea why it works, but it does seem to.
Still, if you don't like marmite, then you'd probably prefer the mossie bites

Eating Marmite doesn't work for OH or a great many other people. Also, wrist bands are a waste of money. That has been proven scientifically BTW.

The only way to prevent being bitten on holiday is to cover every square inch of bare skin with insect repellant.

the marmite-eater happened to be someone whose body chemistry is disliked by the mossies.

30% DEET or more works. Nothing else does unless the mossies don't like you.