Family Travel Essentials We Pack Every Time
Traveling with this many opinions is a logistical sport. These are the things that earn their spot in the bag every single trip — the gear that keeps the peace from the driveway to the hotel.
DELSEY PARIS Helium Aero Hardside Expandable Luggage with
This is the hard-side suitcase we pack every trip. The shell takes a beating in the car and at the airport, the spinner wheels roll straight even when it's stuffed full, and it zips shut over one more pair of kid shoes every single time.
Check price on AmazonGear earns a spot in our travel bag by solving a problem we hit every trip: running out of room, not enough outlets, or too many bags to carry at once. It has to be durable, simple to use when everyone is tired, and worth the space it takes up.
For packing, there’s the DELSEY hard-side suitcase at the top, the Coolife three-piece set for outfitting the whole family, BAGAIL packing cubes to keep each kid’s clothes together, and two Vacbird vacuum bag kits that shrink bulky clothes. For charging, the Anker Nano and TESSAN travel adapters let several devices share one outlet. And the Voipvvii folding hand truck moves a pile of bags from the car to the room in one trip.
The DELSEY Helium Aero at the top is the one we’d buy again first.
What else we considered
Also considered
Vacbird 12 Pack Vacuum Bags for Travel with Rechargeable air
A 12-pack of vacuum storage bags with a rechargeable pump, so you can compress clothes in the hotel too. Good for bulky winter layers and long trips.
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Also considered
Vacbird Vacuum Bags for Travel with Rechargeable air Pump
Another Vacbird vacuum bag kit with a rechargeable pump. Worth a look if you want fewer bags than the 12-pack but the same space-saving idea.
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Also considered
Anker Nano Travel Adapter
A compact travel adapter with multiple outlets and USB ports, so several devices charge from one wall outlet. Handy for hotel rooms with few plugs.
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Also considered
Coolife Luggage 3 Piece Set PC+ABS Hardshell Suitcases with
A three-piece hard-shell luggage set that covers a carry-on and checked bags at a lower price. A practical way to outfit a whole family at once.
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Also considered
BAGAIL 8 Set Packing Cubes Luggage Packing Organizers for
An eight-piece set of packing cubes in different sizes. Giving each kid their own cube makes unpacking and finding pajamas much faster.
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Also considered
TESSAN Universal Travel Adapter 28W
A universal travel adapter with USB-C and USB-A ports for international trips. Worth packing if your family travels abroad with phones and tablets.
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Also considered
Voipvvii Folding Hand Truck 500lbs
A folding hand truck that moves a stack of suitcases from the car to the room in one trip. Useful for big families and road trips with lots of bags.
Check priceWhy we chose it
Packing a family of eight for a trip is basically a moving operation, and for years our luggage was a mismatched fleet of hand-me-down bags with one working wheel each. Something always split a zipper at the worst moment, usually in an airport with six kids and a stroller in tow. When it came time to sort the travel essentials we actually rely on, real luggage was overdue.
The bag we now pack every time is the DELSEY PARIS Helium Aero hardside spinner. The hard shell shrugs off the pile-on that happens when everyone’s bags get stacked in the back of the van, the spinner wheels mean even the little ones can roll their own, and the expandable zipper buys us that extra inch for the inevitable overpacking. It is the grown-up suitcase in a fleet that used to be all droopy duffels.
We looked at cheaper soft-sided sets and a few premium brands that cost more than the trip itself, and the DELSEY landed where it made sense. The hardside has survived baggage handlers and a van full of kids without cracking, it wipes clean when something leaks inside, and at around $220 it didn’t require pretending we don’t have five other people to outfit. For luggage that has to survive a big family on the move, it made the packing list for good.
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