Traveling with Twins 101

Traveling with twins 101 – DONT TRAVEL WITH TWINS!! I joke! This post is more about how I get ready to travel with the M&M twins. The first thing to do is try not to pack everything we own in a suitcase! The goal is always to be prepared for any situation yet pack smartly!

A few months ago my SIL and I spoke about doing a family trip, after having little ones as a way of having the cousins bond and become friends!  My SIL has a beautiful toddler named Lyla who we definitely want to be friends with my twins Mikaal and Musa.  We used to talk about it arbitrarily nothing concrete. Finally we decided for our first family vacation we will go to Boston a city I have been to numerous times and a first time visit for my in-laws. It was suppose to be a nice short and sweet weekend get away with me, hubby the twins along with my BIL, SIL and their sweet daughter Lyla.

We had our tickets booked and I was going to pack a day or two before the trip as for a weekend away don’t need much. Well two weeks before the trip my dear husband goes I am the best HUSBAND ever I have a surprise for you. I was expecting flowers or a small gift. He comes home and goes to me you and the twins are joining me for four days in Atlanta and then three days in Disney World!!!!

When I first heard about this trip I was literally jumping up and down with excitement. Even though we have been traveling with the twins since they were 7 weeks old this was the first trip that was going to be a week long and ending in Disney! The happiest place on earth! After 20 minutes of excitement the panic kicked in! OMG! I got to pack for 10 days for three different cites, two very different weather conditions and that too for twins, hubby and my self.

Since we have been traveling with twins since they were 7 weeks old and I am an exclusive pumper as well I have learned that traveling with kids there is no such thing as packing lightly so I don’t even bother trying now to pack light. I am not saying I am a professional packer! But with each trip I learn something new and try implement it on the next trip.

I am kind of (not kind of I am) old school. I like to write down my lists on paper with a pen. It helps me think and visualize better. I made a list. The first thing I made a list of was the days we were going what city and dates. Then I wrote down the basics, medicines and food supplies needed for this trip. Then I made three more lists of what clothes, shoes and ofcourse accessories! for the twins, hubby and myself. The lists below can be seen in the following pictures. I feel once I have my list it is much easier to take out what I need from the closets and pack it in the luggage.

I rewrote this list atleast five times before I started physical packing. I intended to pack the weekend before the trip, while the hubby takes care of the twins. For some odd reason (Mommy BRAIN) I cannot remember why I did not end up packing that weekend. So I had to figure out a way to pack during the week before the flight on Thursday night. My twins are pretty decent nappers so I figured I can pack during nap times. No big deal! Boy! Was I wrong!! Mikaal decided on Monday afternoon during nap time (while I was just taking out things to organize) to wake up and play with me. He would not go back to sleep. He would not play on the play matt either he wanted only to be held. I put him in my baby carrier and continued trying to pack after trying for 30 minutes of getting him to either sleep or play independently! After about 45 minutes of just trying to take things out with Mikaal in the baby carrier he started getting fussy again and my back started killing me so I gave up packing on Monday. But atleast I got the twins and my clothes out!

Tuesday comes around I try again. This time I was successful in getting Mustafa’s clothes out along with the luggage needed for this trip. As soon as I accomplished that both twins woke up! Twins seemed to be a in a happy mood, I continued packing! They kept playing with the piles of clothes on my bed or with their rattles while I packed our clothes.

It took me 4 days to pack for our trip and I was packing literally 5 minutes till we had to load the car and leave the house. Last minute stuff to pack was their solid meals, their milk and my pumping bag. It is a lot of work traveling with kids as it takes a lot of prep work getting ready for it. Post trip packing analysis, my list was pretty close to perfect! I had packed everything I needed for twins just wished I had packed an extra shirt or two for myself and my hubby! A lesson learned for our next Adventure!