Travelling the world with 4 children  for 1 year with just 6 “carry on” size backpacks is definitely going to be a challenge right… so where do we start…what should we take??? Firstly we decided that although the 2 youngest boys are probably too small to carry their own packs we would get them packs that are the same size as ours so we can maximize the amount of gear we can take.  We knew that both Carl and I would end up carrying 2 packs each all the time but this was just really going to be through airports and into taxis and buses and from accommodation into transport. Lets face it, we have no plans of trekking through the rain forests of the amazon, or climbing mountains in the Himalayas, so carrying two 35l packs for short distances was never going to be a problem.

Six 35L backpacks weighting 7KG each was what we had to work with.

Essentials….

Clothing was easy

• 3 x shorts
• 3 x short sleeve tops
• 1 x long sleeve top
• 1 x pjs

Underwear, togs, one pair of socks and a hat….clothing done!!!

Starting in South East Asia meant we didn’t need any warm bulky clothes which is perfect and anything else we need along the way we will buy at the local seconds shop (Carl and I both bought 1 pair of workout clothes each too)

Other essentials we decided upon….

• silk travel sheets (essentially a silk sleeping bag)
• travel towels
• 4 x ipads
• 1 x laptop
• 1 x cellphone
• 1 x kindle
• all charges/cords associated with electronics + a large 4 way multi-plug to charge everything at once
• smoke detector which we can place on a shelf in any place we sleep
• 1/2 size self inflating mattress in case we don’t have enough beds for everyone
• a large array of anti spews, anti poos, anti infection and anti inflammatory drugs and potions from the travel doctor
• a collapsible bowl (my kids love having a “sicky bowl” when they feel sick)
• a few zip lock bags
• 12 folding clothes hangers for drying clothes on
• 1 x pair of jandels and one pair of trainers each
• small amount of toiletries

Non essential items…

• swimming goggles
• skim ball and hand ball
• pencil case with colour pencils
• 1 x writing book
• 4 x travel card games
• couple of exercise bands (TRX)
• 1 x cuddly toy each

That’s a wrap of everything this family needs for one year on the road. I’m sure the packs will get added to along the way and other things will get discarded. The less we have then the less we need to worry about.

35 litres, 7kgs and a whole lot of love and adventure…PACKED!!!