Posted by admin on February 4th, 2010 in Travel

Have you ever packed for a ski trip and forgotten someone’s ski jacket?  That happened to us one year, and the ski jacket was mine.  We had to turn around and drive back home to get it, adding an extra hour on to an already long 18 hour drive.  Packing for a family can be complicated.  Packing for an “action/adventure” vacation for a family can be even MORE complicated.  I’ve learned a few tricks over the years that might prove helpful to someone.  The obvious “help” for parents of teens is the fact that technically we have children who are old enough to pack their OWN bags and be responsible for their OWN gear. 

Keep the Gear Bag Packed

I’ve probably performed the pack/unpack/pack operation hundreds of times.  There are tips for making it less hectic.  First of all, train your kids to be responsible for his/her skiing, riding, surfing (or whatever) gear and have them pack it separately from their clothes.  And, KEEP IT PACKED.  When you return from the vacation, wash whatever needs washing and put it back in the bag, ready to go for the next trip.  Before re-packing, inspect it all to see what needs replacing.  Look closely at long underwear, socks, hats and gloves – they get heavy use and kids grow out of them quickly.  You don’t want to arrive with too small gear the next time you un-pack.    In our house, we only use heavy hats, long underwear and gloves for skiing as our weather at home is mild.  However, I would invest in a extra set if we lived in a cold climate, just so I could keep the gear bag packed all the time.  It is a major time-saver.

Make a List

Make a list of what should go in each gear bag so you have a checklist when re-packing.  Here is a sample of some things we put in ours:

• boots (not ski boots the “walking around kind”)
• hat (kinds for under the helmet and another kind for just walking around)
• goggles
• gloves (2 pair in case one gets lost)
• sunglasses
• helmet
• bandana
• sunscreen
• neck gator
• long-underwear
• ski pants or bibs
• ski jacket

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