My 13 Secret Weapons for Stress-Free Travel

Travelling full time is certainly different from the occasional holiday. We’ve had to streamline certain things to make the battle winnable instead of an outright war. I’ve learnt a few things along the way that I’d love to share with you. These secret weapons are handy items we take with us on our travels that make life so much easier and less stressful. Jumping from country to country with young children and running a web-based business and a totally awesome blog at the same time sounds like a juggle, but it can be done and enjoyed. Here’s how we do it:

Potty training shower curtain

Toilet training is hard on the road, hence our knuckle-down here in Guatemala to endeavor to train our little man. While in Penang he loved to remove his nappy every night and when we went to bed we’d find him in a soggy wet bed.

Here comes our $1 purchase to the rescue. This shower curtain now lives under the kids’ sheet and is an excellent mattress protector. I cannot speak more highly of it. No need for expensive sheets and stuff when travelling with a nappy-stripping toddler, just grab yourself one of these from any supermarket or variety store.

Apple TV

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What do you do when you are living in Guatemala for a month and every channel is in Spanish? A language you have never learned or spoken? We love our Apple TV. A small box no bigger then your hand that plugs into the TV and allows anything in our iTunes account to be played on the television. Not only is it great for non-English speaking countries it also allows us to keep a tight control on what the kids are watching and better control of how long. While we were in the US watching cable TV at our family’s place both of my children grilled us on advertising - why was it on, where is the show? Then shortly after my 4 year old started with the “oh I like that, can I have that?” We are back to more controlled viewing now. :)

Apple Time Capsule

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Some hotels and even houses only have wired-only Internet connections. This handy device will create a Wi-Fi signal throughout the room, even house. It also doubles up as a wireless password-protected external hard drive. Nifty little device!

Netcom MyZone

Got no wire Internet at all? Stick a little 3G SIM card in this thing and Wi-Fi fills the room.

Phone Car Charger

We quickly learnt in Bali that the car charger at home should have been on the list. Josh was using his phone as our GPS when one day the battery went dead. It was a long, interesting journey home. Now we travel everywhere with our car charger in taxis, hire cars and friends cars.

Mophie Battery Case

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With so many gadgets one cannot be carrying and buying batteries all over the world (especially in Mexico!) so this compact charger allows us to charge batteries for our computer mice, the kids’ Leap Frogs pens, Mia’s camera - all with no hassles.

Powerboard & converter

This baby comes everywhere with us, and is generally always fully loaded. Laptop chargers, phone chargers, anything and everything. Forget carrying around several converters, use the one and get yourself a powerboard from your originating country (or wherever most of your electronics are from).

Calico/Reusable Bags

At times the luggage just doesn’t seem to fit no matter what I do. These little lifesavers are fabulous. Carry jackets, soft toys, food, whatever you need in these things and when the suitcases finally sort themselves out (generally once they are packed properly) the sturdy bags fold neatly and nicely away to be used again another day. They especially came in handy for transferring our kitchen groceries from Belize to Guatemala via bus/boat, instead of several plastic bags.

Lunchbox

Honestly I don’t know what we would have done without this piece of plastic. When the kids go to preschool, when we are on a plane, when we are travelling in cars or trains or boats. This partitioned box means I don’t have to carry several bags of half filled food items. Or I can actually carry fruit and carrot sticks without messy, dripping bags. I use this nearly everyday. Gold!

BubbleBum

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Need a booster seat in a car? How about a pillow? This little inflatable booster seat is packed neatly and carefully away for any need we may have. In Asia it’s not necessary unless you are concerned about safety, but in the US and other areas where car seats are compulsory this one goes a long way to keeping our little Miss safe.

Food staples

Wherever we go we carry a packet of noodles. It’s the perfect food to have when you arrive late in a hotel room with only a kettle.  Kids love them. We also try and carry plastic bowls and spoons/forks/knives – especially on road trips. A few other staples coming around the world are our vegemite and usually a peanut butter or Nutella. Tip: You can often get quite a collection of knives and forks from takeaway restaurants. We never throw them and have little packets with serviettes ready for when the need comes to spread some toast or eat some cereal.

iPhone/iPad apps

The more we travel the more we think how much life is made easier with a smart phone and tablet.

Read our comprehensive list of favourite apps for iOS and Android.