What to take/Packing lists?!

[QforCucumber]

I feel like I've never been on holiday before - first holiday as a family of 4 in a few weeks. DS8 and DS4. not been away 'properly' (i.e. more than a weekend in Centre parcs) since pre covid (so ds4 hasn't ever flown)

We're doing 9 nights, All Inclusive, beach/pool type holiday. 4 hour flight.

What on Earth do I need? I used to be so organised, now I feel like I'm looking at a blank sheet of paper with no idea where to begin. Help!

Try and do a capsule wardrobe so everything goes with something.

I tend not to get too dressed up on holiday. I’ve got my usual bikinis and cover ups for during the day. I take a couple of pairs of shorts and plenty of t shirts or a slightly smarter top/blouse and a couple of dresses. I always take plenty of underwear. Not sure why but we seem to go through loads of underwear on holiday! Flip flops and a pair of sandals. I wear trainers on the flight.

For the DC, it was pretty much shorts and t shirts all the way. One evenings outfit became the next days outfit to the pool type thing. They lived in crocs all week and again flew in trainers but they were never worn beyond that.

I wear minimal make up - just a tinted moisturiser, mascara and a bit of bronzer. Tinted lip balm. Then pack the usual such as books, card games, sun cream, toiletries etc.

Consider buying some packing cubes. Then you can put each family members clothes / bits and pieces in their own cubes and as things get dirty on holiday, you can sparse the clothes out into the cubes to just chuck in the wash once home

Here's all my random extras that make things so much easier:

Extension lead so you only need a couple of adapters but then plug everything into the extension.
Pool toys / sinkers
Dustpan brush makes desanding everyone / everything so much easier
Canvas bags / plastic carriers roll up very small and help so much once you're there.
Day bags for everyone (plane hand luggage / carrying water / suncream / books / toys)
Cuddly toys
Small toys
Pack of cards / Dobble
Plain paper, scissors, sellotape, felt tips
Books
Bluetooth speaker
Chargers!

Try headers for the paper:

Toiletries
Beach
Pool
Entertainment
Day clothes
Evening clothes
Socks / pants / PJs
Plane
Room

This - then mix up cubes into different cases so if you lose a case at least everyone has some clothes.

On that point, pack swimmers and essential medication in hand luggage.

We have just got back from our first holiday like this (wish I was still there!).

One of the best things I did was bring a large laundry bag (got from Ikea - with zip) to put all dirty clothes. Then at the end of the holiday just lumped that straight into a suitcase. I did consider packing cubes but in the end I put all the clothes in drawers/ on hangers at the hotel so not sure I would have needed them.

A list to consider:

• check passports
• check when you can check-in (we paid extra to choose our seats with our kids so we didn’t have to faff around asking people to swap on the plane)
• entertainment for plane (we brought tablets and headphones/ books/ stickers etc)
• snacks for plane and return (I wish we had brought more stuff for the return journey. Airport food was ridiculously expensive).
• armbands/ flotation vest for younger one
• suncream
• calpol (unfortunately we did need this)
• insect bite cream/ repellant (depending on where you’re going)
• more than one swimming costume (wish we had bought the long sleeve ones, was hotter than I expected!)
• swimming goggles

Oh these are great thankyou! no idea why my mind has gone blank, it's like I've forgotten ow to holiday! (I'm sure I'll remember very quickly once we arrive)

And you could always go as OTT as I go and pack medications

I'm going to the Seychelles in November and I'm already making a little list! I will take antibiotics (generic ones that will treat a urine infection as I dread getting one of those abroad as once happened and ended up costing me £100!) , painkillers, blister plasters

In fact I won't list everything out but trust me - I'm usually well prepared!

@FusionChefGeoff this is amazing! Dustpan brush makes desanding everyone / everything so much easier and I'd never have thought of it, thankyou!

A lazy place mark for me. We’re also going on an all inclusive sun holiday in June.

Sun hats and suncream are top of my list

Somebody also told me to get packing cubes in Primark - one for swimwear, one for casual, etc

hah @ClaudiaCattipuss I take Fluconazole (thrush meds) EVERYWHERE as I always seem to suffer at the most random of times!

I've heard of packing cubes but never tried them. Just googled them and they look bulky to me?
I am not one to travel light because I like to have nice things on holiday and don't want to be washing pants out every day. I also have a load of health conditions so as well as a bag of prescription meds I have a lot of just in case stuff.
I also have packing lists saved as far back as 1997 when travelling with a new baby... Packing lists for weekends, all inclusive, self catering etc.
Once you have a basic list you can tweak it for the next holiday.

I find that most hotels have USB ports now so there is less need for adapters.
Take more suncream than you think, especially if you have a brand preference.
Sun protection clothing is worthwhile as it saves you constantly applying cream. When DC were little I packed some old t shirts for swimming in and binned them.

I have a holiday packing list saved in Word that I update every year. My original one mentioned Pampers and armbands for DS, subsequent years don't. It's sweet seeing the changes over the years!

Anyway, my list comprises:
Travel Documents & Electronics: Passports x 3, Flight tickets book/printouts, Cash (Euros), Travel Insurance docs, Global Health Insurance cards, car park voucher airport, car hire documents, Driving Licence, chargers, phones, etc etc.
Sundries: which would be books, pool toys, teabags, plastic bags for dirty laundry, scissors, multivitamins, holiday purse, etc.
Outdoors: Sun hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, hamam towels, sliders/swim shoes, beach bag, etc.
The Kid: T-shirts x 10, shorts x loads, pants x whatever, swimmers x 2, trainers/joggers/long sleeve top (for the plane), socks, PJ bottoms, sandals etc.
Toiletries & Meds: Toothpaste, Calpol, Audisol spray, Anthisan cream (bites & stings), shampoo, toilet bag with nail scissors, tweezers etc, hairbrush, contact lens stuff, any medicines, etc etc.

Obviously not an exhaustive list (it's staggering how much is on mine! ) but I recommend you have one of your own. The second page has details on it about what worked and what didn't, where things are stored, the dates on our passports and the latest they'd need to be renewed, sizes of cabin bags, things I need to do the day before we fly, all useful information like that.

When we come back I update the list and make a note of anything significant, like one year my suitcase got ripped so I made a note to get a replacement before we next travelled. I would never remember from one year to another and would get caught out in July needing a new suitcase at the busiest time of year...

@TheNoodlesIncident this is amazing, thank you - I'm an excel lover (thanks accountancy career) and so this is likely to be my new project over the next few days, why did I never think to do this before? (4 years of no holidays is likely the reason actually)

As well as those big pegs you can buy to keep you towel on a lounger (often quite cheap in resort) I always take a couple of normal clothes pegs. So far I have used them for: helping to keep a curtain closed that didn't quite meet in the middle, sealing bags of open snacks so they don't spill in your bag, and for pegging stuff up to dry, and for keeping cables in place. Really useful, and really small so won't take up space.

And yes to packing cubes - I'm not sure what you mean by being bulky, they really aren't!

Have a fab time!