For those who are intimidated by all the gear that people may say is needed for travel, I want to encourage you to resist the pressure to go buy a lot. Showing children the world does not require fancy or expensive equipment. We don’t have much travel-specific gear (like a stroller just for travel). Instead, we travel with the items that we use daily at home and pack minimally.
Travel gear does not have to be expensive to work well
Often, simple items will work just as well for travel as their expensive counterparts. And with the less expensive gear, I don’t have to worry as much about items getting damaged during travel. We like to use what we already have rather than buying travel-specific gear. We pack minimally so we don’t really have room for extra gadgets. For the most part we only travel with essentials.
Here are some basic pieces that we use on our trips. You could spend a small fortune on some of these items, but we find that the more budget-friendly options do just fine.
- Simple backpack-style diaper bag. While you could spend hundreds on a fancy diaper bag, our simple diaper bag from Amazon has served us well at home and on the road for many years.
- Basic luggage pieces.
- Travel bassinet for under $50 (Baby Delight Snuggle Nest Bassinet)
- Basic baby monitors. These simple VTech Baby Monitors without video or wifi are durable and reliable.
- Instead of fancy, brand-specific travel bags for our strollers and carseats, we use inexpensive generic bags that we purchased off Amazon, and just use large clear plastic bags to protect our double stroller during air travel.
Find used gear
Whether it is clothes or baby gear, I am a big fan of buying second-hand items. Some of the many things that we have bought used and taken on our travels include:
- Strollers. I rave about our Bumbleride strollers (single and double), all of which we have purchased second-hand on Marketplace.
- Baby/child carriers
- Clothes
- Outerwear
Before you go out and bust the budget purchasing new travel gear for your upcoming trip. I encourage you to shop your closet, get creative, and don’t shy away from taking items that you use every day at home. If they work well for your family at home, they will probably work just fine for your family on the road.
