How much stuff are you taking for a year around the world? This was the question we got asked the most. And the resounding reaction was, “That’s it?!” We set ourselves the goal of taking one rucksack each, and then a day bag for Stef and I, so 6 bags in total. We probably could have travelled with less if we weren’t working whilst away, as we did have a lot of art supplies for Stef and more electronics than we would have liked but here’s what we took with us for our family gap year.

Let’s start with luggage options! We opted for rucksacks over holdalls or suitcases just because we already had adult ones, and preferred to have our hands free for grabbing the kids if needed. For the kids, we bought them rucksacks from Decathlon which were 18l for Nyle and 28l for Alicia. These have adjustable shoulder straps so they grow with your child for a better fit. In all honesty, they struggled carrying their stuff at times so we probably should have gone even smaller for them both. For day packs for us, we opted for a good quality laptop rucksack for our electronics and then just used another 30l rucksack we already had. We also took a small 5l rucksack for small trips out - Alicia is carrying it in this photo, but we did pack it inside another bag for most journeys. We also took a small bumbags each - handy for the kids toys, and easy access for passports, money, phones.

We used compression packing cubes, and normal packing cubes, to help with our packing - clothes went in the compression ones, and then we used others for electronics, medicines, toys, water shoes, toiletries. They really help with organisation and without having to unpack a lot of stuff making repacking easier.

Adult packing list

Both Stef and I took very similar items for our packing lists so I’ll break it down as a general adult list. We probably took a couple of dresses that were too think for South East Asia and they didn’t get worn, but everything else we pretty much nailed.

• 10 pairs pants - it gets sweaty in humid climates and packing extra undies meant less handwashing!

• 3 bras - including the one we travelled in

• 2 pairs of socks - for wearing with trainers, or when it got cool on the plane

• 2 pairs of trousers - leggings and baggy/thai pants or joggers - again, one for travelling and a spare if we went anywhere cooler

• 5 dresses

• 3 shorts

• 6 tops - mainly vest tops, but we travelled in a t-shirt

• 1 set gym gear - shorts, t-shirt and sports bra

• 1 x cardi / long sleeve top (travelled in)

• 2 x shoes - 1 pair of trainers and 1 pair of walking sandals (we love Teva and Chacos)

• 2 swimsuits

• 1 set PJs (shorty)

• Sunglasses

Kids packing list

All the kids clothes fit into one packing cube each with their other items then fitting on top of their rucksacks. This list is a combo of Alicia and Nyle’s but I’ve included an image of each underneath too.

• 7 pairs undies

• 2 pairs socks

• 4 vests

• 3 t-shirts

• 6 shorts or (3 shorts and 4 dresses for Alicia)

• 1 trousers (which they travelled in) and a pair of leggings

• 1 set of PJs (shorty)

• 2 swimmers inc. UV swimsuits

• 2 x shoes - 1 trainers and 1 sandals (for the kids we always go with Karrimoor walking sandals) - travelled in trainers

• 1 hoodie (which was travelled in)

• Hat

• Sunglasses

Other items which we took

• Snorkel masks - yes we could have rented them there but from our 2019 travels we knew that the full face masks worked well for young children, and Nyle took to it like a duck to water!

• 3 sets of goggles

• 2 x cottons towels

• 1 x beach mat (a very large one which packs up small and can also be used as a picnic blanket or sunshade)

• Water shoes for everyone - very handy for hot sand, stoney beaches or avoiding sharp coral / sea urchins!

• Swiss pen knife

• Binoculars - mainly for Nyle’s adventure side!

Toys and Games

We probably maxed out with toys and games for the kids, especially games. Below are our favourite travelling games, but when we set off again we will probably take different ones to mix it up! Our kids were 5 and 8 at time of travelling and could play all of these (unless stated).

• Uno - a firm favourite!!

• Playing cards - rummy, ‘poo head’, trumps work well for our kids ages

• Triominos - we have a simplified version we made up for the whole family to play, and then when it’s just us mums we go all out! And we only take the actual tiles with us in a small bag.

• Travel yahtzee

• Kanoodle

• Dobble

• Exploding kittens

• Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza (this is a new addition)

• Bananagrams - this is more for the mums

• A selection of small cars for car-mad Nyle

• Notebook and pencil case for each child

Electronics

As mentioned, we had to take a lot of gear as we were both working whilst away, and my job requires a fully locked down laptop so could only be used for that job!

• 3 laptops (1 x Stef, 1 x Kris personal, 1 x Kris work) - this was heavy with all the 3 cables too but our laptop bag fit all three in. We may try and reduce this to 2 in the future.

• 1 x ipad

• 2 x Kindle Fire HD 8 for the kids - we also bought Alicia a bluetooth keyboard to help her with her school work on the kindle (and for messaging her friends)

• Kindle for Alicia’s reading

• 2 x Travel adaptor plug which allows 4 devices to be charged at the same time via USB ports, and a UK plug to be plugged in. We took 2 as often in Asia, we needed 2 separate rooms, or for when one of us went off working.

• 4 x USB-C chargers, 1 x micro usb charger, USB to HDMI cable (to connect the iPad to a TV)

• Bluetooth speaker

• Portable power pack (for charging on the go)

• GoPro (Hero9) and accessories

• Flexible tripod with adapters for phones and GoPro

• Stef’s good proper DSLR camera and battery charger

• USB toothbrush charger

• Over-ear bluetooth headphones - these were super for the kids and protect their ears compared to in-ear ones.

• Adult ear buds

• The pin for removing sim cards easily - this was really handy if you aren’t using esims and swapping sim cards in each country

• Mini photo printer which Alicia used for her travel journal

Toiletries

It can be a trap to try and take too many toiletries with you - they both weigh and cost a lot and you can buy most toiletries in other countries so no need to stock pile. Our favourite things we took with us included (this wasn’t our whole list more the best things, or often forgotten things):

• shampoo and conditioner bar (we love those from bodyshop and Lush)

• electric toothbrushes

• P20 factor 50 - this is our go-to sunscreen for the kids as you need to apply it max. twice a day (only once if not swimming). NOTE: sunscreen in Bali was expensive i.e. £17 a bottle for factor 50

• P20 factor 30

• 1 bottle mosquito repellent and mosquito bands

• Nail clippers and tweezers

• Headbands and sea salt spray - for curly hair girls like me!

• Lots of hair bobbles

• Tampax - NOTE: we found these very very hard to come by in Balli, and when we did find them they were £7 a box!!

Medicine kit and first aid

Kids get sick wherever you are so have a good medical kit with you so you aren’t trying to find stuff late at night. There’s no need to overstock as pharmacies in Asia are brilliant and we even got antibiotics over the counter - and for more serious illnesses then Drs are very easy to come by. This was our starter kit which we replenished:

• Nyle’s inhalers (his wheezing was so much better in warmer climates so we didn’t need to use them as much as we thought!)

• Plasters and anticeptic cream and wipes

• Calpol and kids ibuprofen

• Paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets

• Anti-bite relief pen - this was very useful

• Sudacream

• Anti-histamine for kids

• Indigestion relief

• Anti-diarrhea tablets

• Lipbalm with SPF

• Thermometer

• Oximeter (due to Nyle’s history of wheezes)

Homeschooling gear

We weren’t going to follow the curriculum but we did have plans to try and keep their maths and english going whilst we were away. Alicia was in Yr4 and Nyle in reception. We used Doodle Learning on their Kindle Fires which adapts to their ability with lessons, tests and games, and also Reading Eggs. Alicia also had a maths puzzle book which she enjoys doing. We took 20 counters for Nyle, 10-sided dice for adding and times-tables games for them both, and then used Alphablocks on YouTube for phonics, made up games such as word bingo, and used notebooks for maths and simple sentences and just made them up as we went. Alicia also had a kindle for reading.

Obviously if travelling to cooler climates you may need more warmer clothes or hiking shoes, but also remember you can buy anything (and you will buy stuff) in the countries you visit so worst case if you forget anything you can get hold of it. Shopping in South East Asia is also very cheap!