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Travel · Personal essay · 3 min read

Three kids, twelve outfits each. Here's how I finally stopped checking three bags.

By Rachel M.

Last Updated June 5, 2026

Three kids. Twelve outfits each, because they go through them like tissues.

 

Plus pajamas. Swimsuits. Two pairs of shoes each (the trainers and the "nice" ones for dinner, because we tried sandals last year and you can imagine).

 

The stuffed animal that my youngest can't sleep without. The blanket the other one needs for the plane. The books and toys. The snacks.

 

That's before I've packed for myself or my husband, or even thought about toiletries.

The math

Three kids × twelve outfits = 36 outfits.

 

Plus pajamas (×3 nights minimum, so really ×6 to be safe) = 18.

 

Shoes: 6 pairs minimum.

 

Swimsuits, just in case there's a pool: 6 (you need a spare, ask anyone who's tried to put a wet swimsuit back on a four-year-old).

 

Sun hats, jackets for "what if it's cold one evening," the cardigan one of them only wears when she's tired.

 

I'm at 70+ items of clothing.

 

We haven't started on the kids' "comfort items" yet.

 

We haven't started on me!

I know what you're going to say

You're going to say: just pack less.

 

Pack a uniform. Make them re-wear things. Plan around laundry. Tell them no.

 

I appreciate that. I do. But here's the thing about packing for small humans: they don't care about your packing strategy. 

 

The four-year-old who has a meltdown because the only clean shirt is the one with the dinosaur on it (and she's mad at dinosaurs today) does not care that you read an article about capsule wardrobes.

 

The seven-year-old who pours juice down her front at the airport does not care that the spare outfit was supposed to be the back-up spare outfit.

 

You pack for the trip you're going to have. Then you pack for the trip your kids are going to make you have.

 

That's not overpacking. That's parenting.

We were checking three bags

Three checked. Two overstuffed carry-ons. Plus the stroller. Plus the car seat.

Every trip, the same routine: queue at the desk, pay the bag fees, wait at the carousel for forty minutes while three tired kids ask "is it ours yet" forty separate times.

 

I'd done the math on that too. Last year alone, we spent close to $400 on checked bag fees across three trips. Not counting the trip where my husband forgot to weigh his bag and we paid overweight fees on top.

 

I knew the system was broken.

 

I just didn't see what was supposed to replace it. Packing cubes don't shrink clothes. Larger suitcases just mean larger checked-bag fees. And every "family travel hack" article I read was written by someone with one kid, an aisle seat, and an espresso.

A friend showed me her vacuum bag

A friend showed me her vacuum bag

She has three kids too. Slightly older.

 

She pulled out this kit after yoga one morning with two vacuum bags and a little cordless pump. Told me she'd just done a week in Portugal with the whole family, and get this, all in carry-ons.

 

I didn't believe her, but she told me to try it and see.

What actually happened

I packed exactly the way I always pack.

 

All 36 outfits. All six swimsuits. The cardigan she only wears when she's tired. The toy. The blanket. The lot.

 

Then I zipped up the vacuum bags and pressed the little pump.

 

Everything compressed down into flat bricks. About 60% smaller than the usual mountain of stuff.

 

I did it again with the second carry-on. I packed my stuff, my husband's stuff, and the toiletries.

 

It all fit in our carry-ons.

 

We didn't check a single bag.

 

We weren't first off the plane, because we still had three kids, but we didn't wait for anything. We walked off, and we were in the taxi.

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And the trip home

This is the part nobody warns you about.

 

Because the trip home is when you've collected the matching pyjamas they begged for, the souvenir from every gift shop within a 10-mile radius, and the dirty laundry that's somehow doubled in volume.

 

The pump comes with you. It's USB-C rechargeable, so it works anywhere.

 

I did it on the hotel bathroom floor at 5:30 am before our flight back, while the kids slept and my husband pretended to. Same compression. Same bag. Same carry-on.

 

No checked bag on the way out. No checked bag on the way back home.

 

For the first time in seven years of family travel, I walked off a plane with my whole family and we just... left.

This isn't a permission slip to pack less

You're not going to pack less. I'm not going to pack less. The kids are going to need exactly as much stuff as they need.

 

This is the system for people who've already done the math and know they can't cut anything.

 

It doesn't change what you're packing.

 

It changes what fits.

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This article is published by Ekster®. The author is a paid customer-creator. Opinions are her own.