As you may know, we had decided to embark on a cross country trip. The planning for this type of undertaking is by far the worst part. It all fell to me, as my husband was putting in as many hours as possible in preparation for taking the 3 weeks off from work. Anyhow, he tends to be more spontaneous. For him, packing is throwing an extra pair of undies and a clean t-shirt into a grocery bag. The logistics of a cross country trip with 3 kids involve a little more forethought than he would generally give a vacation.
My first order of business was to get a AAA card. I then contacted them for help planning our route. May I just say, AAA was great. They sent us tons of maps, one for each state, and every big city we would pass through, all for free. The membership cost was more than paid for just in maps. Not to mention I locked my keys in the car several days before we left. Money well spent for the membership (I just hope we don't need it again for a while).
One thing we didn't do was make reservations at hotels. This again, is my husband's spontaneous side. He prefers to drive, see how far we can get, and then book hotel rooms from our phones along the way. I did sign up for the Hotels.com rewards program, so we should end up with a night free at the end of all of this. (edited to add we did, but still have yet to use it 10 month later)
As we got closer to our departure day, I made a spreadsheet. The list was quite extensive. I made a check off box for each of our sets of shoes, and for the sum total of suitcases, to be sure nothing got left behind. One trick I learned a while ago is not to pack a suitcase for each family member, but pack a suitcase for a day, with one set of clothes and PJ's for each family member. I had 4 small carry-on size suitcases, so I was able to do 4 days worth. I then packed 2 bigger suitcases, one for the kids and one for myself and the hubby, with our nicer wedding clothes, and extras of everything for our week long stay at our eventual destination. I had all of our bathing suits in one bag, and sweatshirts and rain gear in another, in order to be able to quickly grab for everyone at once when they were needed.
My first order of business was to get a AAA card. I then contacted them for help planning our route. May I just say, AAA was great. They sent us tons of maps, one for each state, and every big city we would pass through, all for free. The membership cost was more than paid for just in maps. Not to mention I locked my keys in the car several days before we left. Money well spent for the membership (I just hope we don't need it again for a while).
One thing we didn't do was make reservations at hotels. This again, is my husband's spontaneous side. He prefers to drive, see how far we can get, and then book hotel rooms from our phones along the way. I did sign up for the Hotels.com rewards program, so we should end up with a night free at the end of all of this. (edited to add we did, but still have yet to use it 10 month later)
As we got closer to our departure day, I made a spreadsheet. The list was quite extensive. I made a check off box for each of our sets of shoes, and for the sum total of suitcases, to be sure nothing got left behind. One trick I learned a while ago is not to pack a suitcase for each family member, but pack a suitcase for a day, with one set of clothes and PJ's for each family member. I had 4 small carry-on size suitcases, so I was able to do 4 days worth. I then packed 2 bigger suitcases, one for the kids and one for myself and the hubby, with our nicer wedding clothes, and extras of everything for our week long stay at our eventual destination. I had all of our bathing suits in one bag, and sweatshirts and rain gear in another, in order to be able to quickly grab for everyone at once when they were needed.
DVD Player
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VTechs
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Basket
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Game Boys
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Basket
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Chargers
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Basket
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Ipad
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Lap Top
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Camera
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Basket
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Batteries
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Floaties
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In Van
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Towels
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Cooler
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In Van
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Snacks
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In van
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Fruit
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Cutting Board & knife
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Cork Screw & Can Opener
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Benedryl
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In Van
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Advil & Tylenol
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In Van
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Epi pen
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Sunblock
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In Van
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Sunburn Stuff
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Bug Spray
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In Van
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Rain Ponchos
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In Van
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Sweat shirts
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In Van
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Pillows
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Blankets
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Laundry stuff
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In Van
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Insurance cards
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Wallet
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Coloring books
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In Van
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Bingo
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In Van
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Maps from AAA
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In Van
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First Aid Kit
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In Van
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Wipes
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In Van
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Paper Towels
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In Van
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Kids Maps
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Folders
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License Plate Print Out
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Folders
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Scissors
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In Van
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Duct Tape
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In Van
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Toilet Paper
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Tampons/Pads
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Shampoo/Conditioner/Gel
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Contact Stuff
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Deodorant/Soap
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Make-up
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Clinique
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Jewelry
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Socks
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In Van
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Flip Flops
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Sneakers
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Dress Shoes
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Suitcases
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