Secrets of Success

Plastic Grocery Bags. Yes. They can be used for so many things: trash bags, dirty laundry, picnic lunches and more. I stash a ton of them within easy reach in the car as well as in our food tub and our suitcases. You’ll be amazed how handy they are.
 
Wet Wipes. A travel staple for cleaning up the car and grubby hands and feet. Keep these in reach too.

Candy. I don’t like the idea of bribing kids with sweets, but let’s be realistic. It’s amazing how far they’ll walk when they’re rewarded with the occasional fruity tootsie roll. Don’t underestimate the power of sugar.

Water. My kids always seem to be thirsty and there’s nothing worse than a whiny kid who just needs some hydration and you can’t give it to them. I’ve tried lots of ways to keep water handy, but my recent favorite is to buy a big pack of disposable water bottles and refill them as needed. I used to just bring a reusable water bottle for each person, but they get lost, dirty or somehow contaminated. With the disposables, we reuse them a few times, then recycle them. And if they get lost, we have extras.

GPS. It has saved our marriage. I still follow along on a map and get in trouble at times when I don’t know where we are, but it’s not crucial. Just go where the Garmin says to go.

Itinerary. We print out a full itinerary of our trip, including addresses and contact numbers of hotels, campgrounds and excursions. We include on it the deadline for cancelling reservations in case our plans change or we’re somehow delayed, so we don’t get charged for something we don’t use.