http://graphics8.nytimes.com/bcvideo/1.0/iframe/embed.html?videoId=100000002291899&playerType=embed
I love this NYT video of Cynthia Rowley talking about what she takes on vacations, and why she prefers adventures over spa vacations. We take LL Bean duffle bags and Day Pack
UPDATE: Wendy suggests a a headlight
Apt. 11d 
She’s adorable, but I wish she was more informative about things to bring. Hm, I’m thinking about what we bring. One of the useful things we bring on trips is a headlamp. You never know when you’re going to need a flashlight to begin with, but one that you can wear on your head is incredibly useful, especially when you are sharing a hotel room with 3 other sleeping people, or you’re camping and you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
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Good tip. I’m going to add your idea to the post.
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We travel a lot as a family. I can’t imagine how the sharing clothes thing works, ’cause sharing them doesn’t make them any cleaner.
We pack the littlest ones clothes in the packing cubes. That’s been a great innovation ’cause his clothes were so small they’d get buried and lost. We do not try to pack so that we don’t check bags. I would hate it if a family of four was trying to put four carry on bags into the overhead compartment.
Our kids, now 9 & 12, handle their own bags, handle their own packing, and their own entertainment during plane rides.
My what to bring advice is to have a small kit bag with office tools (scissors, sharpie, pens, booklight). I also have a standard charger kit bag (for phones, camera, and computer). And, yes, the scissors have to be checked. I also bring a kitchen knife. And, packable anoraks for everyone.
Also, always pack a swimsuit. That’s one of the family rules. We also don’t understand the purpose of umbrellas. We are also optimistic, but, we think that if you’re out in the wet for a long time, you wear anoraks and rain gear, not umbrellas. And, if you’re in the wet for 10 minutes, you just get wet.
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Agree re the umbrella. When we absolutely needed one once in a very rainy San Francisco, we bought a couple in a CVS.
I also hate it when people don’t check their luggage. And I say that as someone whose suitcase got sort of lost once (someone else picked it up by mistake at baggage claim–distraught woman coming home for a funeral).
We’re going to do a driving trip in upstate NY this summer (shortish–too much going on with buying a house and having not one but TWO cars break down with one needing to be replaced). Charging items will be crucial. I don’t bring a laptop on trips; I content myself with the iPod Touch and my husband’s laptop (which he uses for photography). I’d say another good thing to bring is a way to carry food with you, like a collapsible cooler and those freezer ice pack things. Really cuts down the cost of travelling and lets you picnic if need be (we often picnic and supplement with fries or something easy to take out). Water bottles and some sort of lemonade or iced tea mix are also good.
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I pack an empty tennis ball can. Any and all souvenirs must fit in the can.
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If it’s a longer-term trip, I pack a few laundry pods into a pill bottle so I can easily do laundry when I stumble across a machine. A Tide pen suffices for spills at the moment. I also pack tough, dark clothing that can take a real beating.
Extra headphones and earbuds for when these break down along the way. (When that happens with Autistic Youngest, it is an emergency!) Hats – you always encounter either too much precipitation or too much sun.
I agree about the snacks: I always bring a bag of dried fruit or other munchies because I’ve had too many times when delays or closures have left me with little to no options to feed the troops at odd hours.
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We traveled extensively for the year we lived in China, and really for us, the only thing that’s indispensable are devices and chargers. They keep the whole family sane. Anything else can be picked up or you can do without. And to the point about spa vs. adventure, we make the distinction between vacations (fun and relaxing) versus travel (often difficult but typically mind expanding). I think the key is to have at least a little of both in your life if you can afford it.
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