This Summer has been a whirlwind of activity for my family and I. Between hosting iRetreat Blog Conference in Hershey, PA to visiting my sister-in-law in Canada and then sailing with Carnival to the Caribbean, we have hardly had time to catch our breath. But with all of this traveling, I have learned a thing or two on how to effectively pack when hitting the road (or the air and sea) with kids.
One of the items that I found to be invaluable during our adventures is not one you would automatically think to pack. It’s not an item of clothing or a specific shoe. It’s not bug spray or sunscreen. It’s not medicine or sea-sickness bracelets.
It was our Rayovac Virtually Indestructible 2AA LED Flashlight.
Small enough to fit into our suitcase without a problem, we packed one for each child and they proved to come in handy on each and every leg of our journey. For starters, the kids used their flashlights to color in the car to keep them occupied on a 2 hour ride. While in Canada, the girls had their own bedroom to share and loved using the flashlights to feel like they were having a camp out in their own space.
While the flashlights were great for those trips, I would highly recommend taking one on a cruise. With very light sleeping quarters, my husband and I used the flashlights to find missing items that had fallen behind the bed and also used them to navigate the space after the kids had fallen asleep (you do NOT want sleep deprived kids on a cruise).
After the sun set, my girls could not wait to take the flashlights onto our balcony and looks for marine life in the water. We spotted jellyfish and flying fish and they could not have been more excited. When it was time for bed, the girls settled into the bunk beds and used their flashlights to catch up on a few minutes of summer reading before drifting off to sleep.
With a battery run time of 15 hours, IPX4 water resistance and passing a 30 foot drop test, this flashlight is ideal for any vacation. What are your unusual travel necessities?