So we are off on our travels again soon and what would a environmentally conscious & pretty organised, practical mamma take with her you ask? Well the list has grown and changed a little since last years trip abroad, and I’m trying to be even more compact, with a “less is more” vibe with the boys! I would also like to mention that this post is not sponsored by any brands its simply my love for my littleones and sharing some of the best products out there with you all.

Starting off with some new items I’ve recently bought to make our holiday a little easier:

Microfibre towels instead of beach towels as they dry faster and take up far less room in your suit case! Available in many colours and sizes to suit the whole family. We bought two for the grownups as the kids are already sorted with towels. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N4CA6S4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A pram organiser with shoulder strap & zip off purse which will be super handy! It also comes with two velcro buggy hooks which are so useful for shopping bags, clipping kids hats or drink bottles to for example. Also somewhere to store drink cups/bottles up high close to parents is a bonus and everything you need will be easier to find and closer to hand such as keys, phones, wallet etc.   https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BZF69QC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

New One Green Bottle’s x2 I can’t tell you enough how great these water bottles really are. Both our boys were gifted one each a 350ml and 500ml bottle at Christmas time and here we are 5 months later and they are still going strong. Easy to clean, drink from with no spills as long as you flip the spout back down of course and best of all they are made from stainless steel, so they keep nice and cool and are reusable time and time again. For this trip I decided it was time the grownups invested in a bottle each and Amazon UK had some great price offers on with FREE Prime delivery so we snapped this up.

Holiday clothes

The boys needed a few new holiday clothes so where better to buy from than H&M affordable Conscious range! Quality organic cotton clothes that will keep them comfy and cool with style! I especially love the T-shirt, shorts and sun hat set which was only £14.99 for Jackson. The T-shirt’s were only £2.99 each. Their size range is fantastic so it’s one rare time where I can match the boys outfits too. I’d highly recommend popping online or instore to check out their range. If you are a club member to H&M delivery is free and you can earn clubcard points.

I thought it would be a good idea if the kids shared a suitcase case again and their toy Trunki case aswell which is air cabin size approved with most airlines.

Aswell as the above mentioned, we’ve got quite a list below of other great items that will make days out with young ones go a bit smoother, take up less space & very importantly being Eco friendly with our re-usables of course it’s actually really easy to do!

Some of the best things we’ve used abroad and at home have to be the Eco Chic London bags as they fold up so small and are waterproof. You can buy these from various retailers online and also some high street shops. I believe there is a UK Stockist list on the Eco Chic website. https://www.eco-chic.eu

You’ll see from the photo here that we love the Blue puffin print and we have a large reusable shopping bag (seconds as a swim bag), a weekend hold-all bag,  insulated lunch bag (handy for bottles/snacks on days out), a wash bag, document wallet to use for passports etc, and because it all folds down so small its a breeze to take home again.

I also have a Cath Kidston foldaway pushchair bag which is super light weight, roomy and folds compact so I won’t always need a big heavy changing bag with the buggy, this throw it all in bag does the job well. So will the BTR parent organiser pictured above, and if we need to fold the buggy up quick and jump on a bus or in a taxi we only have two light bags to take off and carry on board.

Another brilliant tip is  taking a little washing powder and washing up liquid because let’s face it travelling with kids there could be bottles, dinnerware ,cups to wash in your room and also little accidents do happen with clothes, or if you want to get a few uses out of a garment you can hand wash and dry them outside with warm sunny weather in next to no time! This also applies for cloth nappies and wipes. We may have washing facilities at the hotel but this can’t be guaranteed so I’d rather take a back up or at least know what my kids clothes and nappies are being washed with due to sensitive eczema prone skin. We will be taking Cloth Nappy wrap covers and some Bumgenius Flip disposable inserts for the day time, as this will be the easiest and quickest set up to wash and dry much quicker than some nappies we use at home. Also cotton prefolds, bamboo boosters will be good for nights and take up much less space again than taking our full nappy stash. The disposable inserts are biodegradable, a large size, highly absorbent and can just be thrown away and then reuse the wrap cover a couple of times before washing. Modern day cloth nappies are a wonderful thing and you can throw other laundry in with them to wash perfectly well. All you need is a good size wet bag to store the dirty nappies in whilst away from home and pop it all in the wash when it’s full up.

Lastly I have organised a little goody bag of games, toys and colouring for the boys into a bag to take onboard our flight and use whilst away. Cath Kidston make various cute bags for children and this racing car one is a firm favourite here. I’ve included some cars, Uno Junior, Travel Guess Who, Quadrillion by Smart Games. We are on Holiday Countdown now and the Holiday buddy calendar plus stickers and actual teddy seems to be working well!

Our Holiday list

  • Baby Jogger city tour stroller (comes with backpack storage bag & cabin approved by most airlines)
  • Set of Eco chic London bags
  • Nom nom kids reusable pouches
  • Easy wash/quick dry Cloth nappies inc a swim Nappy!
  • Cloth wipes & wet bags
  • Non bio Laundry powder & Ecover washing up liquid
  • Reusable One Green Bottle steel water bottles
  • Stainless steel straws
  • Easymat mini
  • Skip hop lunchie bag
  • Doddl Cutlery set
  • Close pop in coverall bib
  • Trunki paddlepak (see blue bag in pic above)
  • Trunki case
  • Trunki Toddlepak reins
  • Eco hydra hand sanitiser (alcohol free! Great for sensitive hands)
  • Moo goo tail swat spray (insect repellent no chemicals!)
  • Microfibre towels
  • BTR pram organiser (comes with two Velcro buggy hooks!)

I have included a few photos of some items mentioned in this blog post and provided some web links. However please feel free to pop me a message with any questions or ideas of what your travel essentials are that may just inspire me more!

Happy travels!

Love Katrina x

Mothersons