Times, They are a Changin'

We have taken our kids on many trips over the years. From the time we had just one child until now with six, we've always gone somewhere or done something that required packing. Mostly, our trips have been camping, but every now and again we've gone to visit relatives too.

Either way, I've got packing down to a science these days. It doesn't make it any less time consuming (or even chaotic at times), but it's pretty straightforward and not overly stressful. Part of the trick is to have the right stuff to pack with. If you don't have adequate luggage and the like, then you're going to be asking for a major headache really quick.

I mean, who really wants to search through 15 dinky plastic grocery bags to find what you need? That's IF they don't break on you the first day!

But I've noticed that over the years my packing methods have changed a bit. Particularly in the area of toiletries. We've never used one of those luggage style toiletry bags for some reason. I've always used something more sturdy like this...

I had a wire version of one of these. It was great for carrying your stuff to the public showers at campgrounds, and it didn't matter if it got wet. But this was ALL we used to use for holding our toiletries!

A few years later we moved up to something like this:

And this did the trick for quite a few years. It kept stuff from contaminating the clothes if they spilled, and you could carry and pack it easily. This large one held a ton of stuff, BUT.....

We now need and USE something more like this:

This little gem is the Cadillac of toiletry bags! It holds everything from toothbrushes to diaper packages to full-sized shampoo bottles! And it fits very well standing up in the back of my van--to the point where I could leave it in there and get stuff out of the drawers that way if I needed to.

And I trust that we won't be moving into anything else anytime in the near fut....

Ummmm.....NEVER!

I mean, unless we had a few more indians running around here (which is all but impossible), then I doubt we'd have to invest in one of THESE any time soon:

PHEW! I'd have to get a UHaul just to bring this thing camping!

Ah....I think I like my 7-drawer cart just fine...thank you.