Take THIS Essential on your Next Vacation!

I promise I will get to my recommendation for what to take with you on vacation, but first, let’s talk about vacations in general. It’s sooooo important to make time to do them, even with young kids. I know it’s hard. Like, super hard. Hard to plan, even harder to execute. If you have kids with you, I realize that sometimes, after a vacation, you wonder why you even did it. However, I think everyone can agree that it gives you a sense of accomplishment and helps you not forget that you strive for eventual “normalcy.” And it’s good training for your kids. To be good at traveling requires practice!

Considering these things, I planned a last-minute vacation. Already, I was off to a bad start, having begun the planning two weeks prior. My parents were coming to visit us in Seattle for a week, and I decided, all cavalier-like, to fly back with them (because Lord KNOWS I can’t fly with all these of these monsters alone). Then, I would buy my mom a plane ticket to fly me back at the end of my 5 days in their town.

Oh, the insanity about to ensue here.

Our trip day arrived. I had prepared everything by myself. Now pay attention here: I packed a suitcase for the girls and one for me, two carry-ons which included all of the snacks, milk, and novel toys and entertainment we were planning to dangle in front of the children during the nearly 5 hour flight from Seattle to Atlanta. My husband was working, so it was just me getting everything sorted. I planned an Uber XL to pick us up at just the right time, leaving us a 1 hour cushion. Well, we weren’t (read *I wasn’t*) quite ready when the Uber arrived. Already we were frantic. I decided to be in charge of installing our car seats in the Uber while my Dad loaded the luggage in the back. He and I finished around the same time, loaded the kids in the car, and…away we go!

My oldest has a lovey and blanket that travels with us eve.ry.where. This is nonnegotiable. And you’d better believe we’d be in for a terrible trip if owl and owl blanket were not with us. Well, 15 minutes in to our drive, we realized they, in fact, were not with us.  They were under the kitchen table.

So, now maybe you’re thinking the thing you need on vacation is your child’s lovey?! Well, yes and no.

$30 and about 30 minutes later, we were back in the same spot, still trucking along to the airport. But now our cushion was dwindling to a lousy 20-30 minutes. We finally arrived at the airport, got a luggage cart, headed to the Delta check-in counters. I was feeling quite accomplished when the gal behind the counter asked me how many bags I was checking. “Two,” I said. Then, I looked back at pile of luggage, saw the suitcase I had packed for the girls, and then in seemingly slow-motion realized… what do you know…

MY SUITCASE WAS NOT THERE. My suitcase did not make it to the airport. My suitcase was in the entryway in our home.

No, no, no, no, no. Just, no.

I blamed my Dad, who blamed me. I will accept shared blame.

Despite whoever was at fault, I’m now faced with three terrible choices: 1. Get on airplane and go on vacation without any of my things: clothes, contacts (I’m blind as a bat), makeup, toiletries, shoes. I was wearing boots and we were going to Alabama in July. Whhhyyyyyyyy would I do that?!! (*shakes fists in air*), or 2. Try to jet back home, grab suitcase, return before flight, or 3. Screw it all. Call another Uber and head home with my girls and without my parents.

I reaaaallly wanted to do option 2. I tried it. I had my parents keep going towards security with the kids, and I went outside, called an Uber, and waited 5 minutes a the curb. While waiting, I did the math, and realized I would need to, in fact, be Superman, with a cape allowing me to fly as the crow flies, at close to warp speed, in order to make it back in time. Then what, I miss the flight and all 3 of my kids are now on a plane, with my parents, flying to Atlanta WITHOUT ME?!  That would be significantly less acceptable than no suitcase. Then option #3 also didn’t seem palatable, as the idea of rescheduling after having done all of the work to be there at that moment made me want to vomit all over those Alabama-in-July boots. So, I took a deep breath, headed inside the airport, and found my parents in the security line. A dozen more impossibly bizarre things went wrong, but I won’t bore you with the details for now. After a 2:30am Wal-Mart shopping trip for necessities, we ended up asleep at 5:30am that day. My Dad scored some contacts for me from his buddy who happens to be an optometrist.

There were some upsides! 1. I got to use like 112 new makeup products, borrowing from whoever I was around in the mornings, and some of them were awesome! I ended up buying the same mascara my cousin uses and LOVE IT (Loreal Voluminous FTW!) . 2. I realized that Wal-Mart’s $5 sunglasses are bomb. Still using them as well. 3. Also from Wal-Mart, the $.98 flip flops may not be exceptionally durable, but they are COMFORTABLE!!!!!! I lived in those bad boys.

So, the #1 thing to take with you on your next vacation?!

YOUR SUITCASE.

Definitely do that.

I won’t be forgetting mine again anytime soon.

(And surge protectors – take a few of those, too. 1 surge protector for every 2 travelers. You’ll be glad you did, I promise 😘)

Hope your next vacation is the BEST!

Honestly,

AM 🙂

More About Me: Hi! I’m Ann Marie, a blogging mama of 3 tiny gals, and a wife to a busy Orthopedic Surgeon. You can find me right here for a weekly smattering of inspiration for your motherhood journey, home, marriage (I see you other medical wives!), style, and beauty. You’ll find me most active on Instagram or Facebook for life between blog posts. And I truly can’t wait to see you there, friend. ❤️💋

To connect, shoot me an email at honestlyannmarie@gmail.com ❤️

PS: Enjoy a few pics from that trip that I’m SOOOO glad I took, despite the drama!

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