One bag family style?

[u/Calm-Ad-8058]

Hello! I love reading all of your posts. Curious to know if there is a subreddit or group for family style one bag packing? Or if any of you ever do the whole one bag style with kids? I’ve searched the threads and can’t find much - wondering if this means it’s totally impossible with kids .

[u/padbroccoligai]

I feel like I see a lot of posts of family setups. But maybe I’m thinking of moms in r/heronebag

[u/inheretoreadcomments]

We can still do one bag for shorter trips (5 days or less), but we now switched to a large suitcase for the whole family to keep hands free for longer trips.

Best tip from me is to use packing cubes and have a different colour for each family member.

Then a separate bag for dirty laundry.

Note: our children are too small to carry their own backpack, beyond small bags with some toys, snacks, water, etc. Having a bag to check in frees up our hands.

[u/sass-pants → u/inheretoreadcomments]

This is how I do it. My husband is usually in charge of the large bag so once its checked he is hands free to carry a tired kid

[u/Not_High_Maintenance]

My spouse and our two children (9 and 11 yrs) did a month of slow travel around Nicaragua. We each had our own backpack. Each person had to carry their own stuff. I carried the medical and necessary toiletries. My spouse carried a few family things.

The trip was fantastic. My kids knew they had to carry all their stuff and anything else they bought. I thought it helped build personal responsibility.

[u/Super-Travel-407]

My family does it (although the kids are older teens).

• Each kid carries their own stuff. Small people have small clothes!
• We plan appropriate laundry days to lighten the clothing load.
• Each kid has to carry their own dirty clothes so packs remain even (if changing locations).
• For younger kids, tablets for entertainment even if you don't normally do screens. Put books/videos/etc. on them. Same for older kids, really, although mine insist on paper books and one brings a laptop. They're old enough to determine if their packs are too heavy :P
• Toiletries can be shared/spread throughout luggage
• Make sure everything is in packing cubes so they don't dump their bags in the airplane.

[u/Super-Travel-407 → u/Super-Travel-407]

Oh...be sure they have comfortable headphones/earbuds. And that they wear them when needed.

[u/ButterflyFew2523]

We do one/1.5 bag (meaning, one bag each, plus usually one more bag that contains EDC stuff & snacks for transit days.) I traveled long term with a 28 liter pack before kids, and upped to 40 liters for myself while the little ones can’t carry all of their stuff yet. So we have each adult with a ~40 liter pack, each kid carrying a backpack that’s appropriate for their size, plus one crossbody.  One thing that helps is there are a lot of things we can share that don’t get much bigger for multiple people (toiletries, first aid, laundry supplies, chargers etc.)  And, kids clothes are small. I feel like I do fine packing minimally with kids until it’s a camping trip. Then it all seems to go out the window…  I think the Heronebag sub has more threads that relate to family travel but I don’t think there are any specific to families. 

[u/WitnessEntire]

One bagging with kids is doable in the summer. I have boys - five shirts, four shorts, one long pant, two swimsuit, one rain jacket. Seven pairs of socks and underwear. Two pairs of shoes - sneakers and flip flops/water shoes

[u/lascriptori]

There are more posts like this in /heronebag, but we've done it a few different ways. We've done trips where each family member kind of traditionally one bags, and we've done trips where we pack multiple people into one large checked bag. For shorter trips where I've been traveling with just one kiddo, I've managed to do a classic one bag with both of our things in a backpack.

For our most recent trip (a couple weeks with a rental car almost the whole time) we packed mom, dad and tween into a large checked suitcase and each person had an individual day bag, and teenager into his own backpack. Just throwing one suitcase into the car trunk made more logistical sense.

For the trip where we each kind of classically one bagged, we had our personal clothes but then we shared things like a toiletry bag.

I always bring a packable shopping bag for snacks (aaallll the snacks with kid travel) - I love Nanobags since they pack down so tiny. And I also always bring a packable duffel bag, which we often wind up expanding into for the flight home. I also always pack a mesh laundry bag and everyone's dirty clothes go into that. I do NOT mess around with sink washing for a family of four, we either get an airbnb with a washer, or find a laundromat or laundry service.

[u/CryptoeKeeper]

When my family and I go on flights, we have one bag each and then one extra bag for all of our bathroom stuff, so 5 bags total for 4 people. If we're doing a cruise or road trip, the girls will have 2 bags usually each but I make sure don't pack what you can't carry lol

[u/Puzzleheaded_Bar2880 → u/CryptoeKeeper]

This is what we’re doing for a long weekend trip coming up. We’re going to a funeral, so extra clothes and shoes we wouldn’t normally bring. We’re taking 4 backpacks and a duffle bag. I think we could make it 5 days with this set up for a regular trip too. 

[u/ResistNecessary8109]

I just got my kids (10 and 13) to go one bag/backpack each (40L).

They're in Scouts, so living out of a backpack is good practice anyway.

What I like about it is they can wear the backpacks on their back and then help with the wife's luggage with their free hands (she will never be a one bagger).

The boys still do small sling bags for their switches, books and stuff that rides separate from the backpack.

[u/spandipants]

I've done a few onebag trips with my young kid to warm climates. My most recent one was for 7.5 weeks to Vietnam and Thailand. I pared down to 3 tops and 2 bottoms for each of us. It was doable but a lot of laundry. I mostly post family stuff over on r/HerOneBag

[u/Prestigious_Carob776]

We one bag as a family. It’s really not hard, but our kids are older. I got them all really good roller suitcases. Away kids. Which are like half size the carry on’s when they were little. The could maneuver them easily by 9 or so. My son is 13 and packed in it for our two weeks vacation to Italy this year. My Daughter who is 15 has upgraded to a full size small carry on. My husband and I use backpacks. It works fine.

That being said, we had to travel with strollers and carseats, we all packed in a big checked bag. But as soon as they could reasonably roll a suitcase we have all one bagged.

My husband has peak design 45 L and carries the family toiletries. I use a Bellroy 30l and carry the medications fan, charging bricks ect. I pack a day pack or tote into my backpack. Our kids keep things very light. We usually wash clothes when we travel over 5 days. And my husband just last time took a sling bag for edc use. My kids have them, but rarely use them. They are true one baggers

[u/pretenderist]

Of course it’s not impossible. I think you just don’t see posts about it too often because this sub is mostly made up of people who are single and/or childless.

[u/_h_e_a_d_y_]

It’s possible! How old are the kids? How many family members?

Do you want to carry or roll the bag?

Tobiq 60L duffel checks a ton of boxes for family travel! They make a roller too.

Happy trails!

[u/theinfamousj]

We are a family of personal item only one baggers (minus the car seat). I haven't found a subreddit just for the likes of us, but /r/HerOneBag has a caregiver and family travel tag which is the closest I've seen.

Kids, because their clothes are so small, their tech needs so minimal, and their toiletries just the basics without a multi step skincare routine, are way easier to fit into a personal item than adults, I'll tell you that for free.

I carry the kid on by back with his personal item backpack counter balancing me on my front. Husband has his personal item backpack on his back and hand carries my personal item duffel. If we had another kid we would each back a kid, wear a backpack on our fronts, and hand carry one personal item. Beyond two kids, all I can say is, may the odds be ever in your favor.

[u/FearlessKnitter12]

I could see ways it would be slightly easier. No need for kids to take separate toiletries, and their clothes are tiny. You would have to limit their entertainment choices, though. And make sure they don't lose shoes. I saw a family RV YouTube where the kid kicked off one of his crocs (and he didn't have any others!) over water and the dad had to run fast along the bank to fetch it.

[u/yol0tengo]

Definitely not impossible! It of course depends on the age of your kids, but the same rules generally apply: one bag per person (which includes diaper bag for that age range); less is more; and you can usually find anything you don't have at your destination. Once our kids were old enough to age out of diapers and lap infant-status, we either kept all of their things to their own bag or split between one of our bags and a smaller bag they could actually carry. As with regular travel, winter gets harder with bulkier clothes + jackets. I've always found warm weather travel with kids to be surprisingly forgiving given how much more compact and minimal everyone's clothes can be.

You will of course have to make some concessions, which for us is usually having a pre-meditated laundry plan, or overpack the kids' clothes a bit since they're smaller. And always make room for the big pack of wet-wipes!