Prepping for Iceland/Europe

Zappos plus Amazon Prime with free returns is a dangerous thing. Left to right: Patagonia MLC (which I've had for years), Osprey Porter 46, Osprey Porter 30, Osprey Farpoint 40, Minaal 2.0 CarryOn. Some good options here, but we're gonna add a Farpoint 55 (detachable 15L daypack) and a Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 before doing final reviews. #travelbag #travelbackpack #onebag #rtwpacking #familytravel #travelwithkids

Zappos and Amazon boxes packed with returns means that I've finished evaluating seven top carry-on sized travel backpacks and chosen the setup I think will work best for our family to spend 10 weeks in Iceland, Netherlands, France, Spain and Portugal this Fall. Swipe for a couple pics of the winner (IG multiple pics? Whaaa?) but the link to the reviews and our final three bag setup is in my profile or the upper right column of the blog. #travelbag #travelpack #travelbackpack #travelwithkids #familytravel

Well, we've been home for a few days. Time to start planning the next adventure...
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We've already booked with @happycampers_ for the Iceland portion of our Fall trip. Now we need to figure out how to get to Lisbon after our flight to Amsterdam. After one particularly "trying" dinner out with the kids recently, we realized that without a camper for that portion on the trip, we'd be eating out with kids three times a day for about a month. Add to that French waiters and a potty training toddler and there wasn't much question left.
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Now to decide between the smaller van platform or a motorhome. Van is 5.8m long (19 ft in American), Moho is 6.38m (< 21 ft). Moho is 4" taller and maybe a foot wider, but... that space adds two fixed beds in the back, one more over the cab and lots of room to stash the car seats when parked. Prices are close enough not to be a big issue.
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Do we dive into the Euro vanlife or just slightly downsize and Eurofy our US travel style? The van is "cooler" but the Moho's more like what we're used to.
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#nomadproblems #homeiswhereyouplanwheretoparkitnext

I guess there are a few things I wanna see in Iceland. Or a lot to see and only a few I can pronounce. 😂#planningaddict #jonesingfortravel #iceland #iceicelandbaby <-- I knew we were late to the Iceland party but that last tag already has 982 posts, so...

Still trying to figure out how to pack for a family of four for everything from planes to a campervan to taxis and trains. My vision of the minimalist carry-on bags has proven impractical. Just not enough capacity since kids can't carry their own and anyway, I'm not sure *I* even want to carry that much. I figure each adult needs about 45L of capacity (warm clothes and waterproof boots for Iceland are bulky!) and kids need about 25L. The total 140L we need and the desire to keep daypacks light and ready for a hike or city exploration, mean we're considering bigger rollers, a combo of a couple medium rollers or even a duffel on a folding luggage cart. Left to right: Dakine Split EQ 75L (love the two 50/50 zippered sides for keeping each person's stuff organized, we'd need two), our trusty Timbuk2 CoPilot XL (105L and the same clamshell design as the Split, but at that size it's hard to keep under the airline weight restrictions when packed, and we'd still need another small bag), even more trusty North Face Basecamp duffel (95L in the large size, bombproof but one big opening makes organization tough, would roll on a collapsible luggage cart and also has backpack straps, we'd still need another bag) and two Timbuk2 CoPilot Medium rollers (52L each, streamlined bags with 50/50 clamshell openings but not enough space without overloading the day packs, they don't make a L, just S, M and XL). To sum up, we still have no idea. 😂 Fams with young kids (too small to pull a roller or carry their own clothes), what works for you? #familytravel #travelwithkids #travelbackpack #travel #travelluggage

The @ups guy *killed it* today. Our new @fujifilmx_us T-20 and 18-135mm lens for waterfalls and tiny horses, quick dry Turkish bath towels for hot pools and the latest @campendium shirt for just standing around in camp being cool. #terribleminimalist

Yes, please. Downloading offline maps (in between stocking the iPad for the kids on the plane). Counting down the days! #iceland #familytravel #googlemaps

After all that deliberation on how to pack for a family of four on a 10 week trip that would include glaciers, cities, sunny beaches and holidays with family, we ended up going with the @thenorthface basecamp duffels I’ve had for 20 years. We’ll strap them to two small folding luggage carts and flip a car seat upside down onto each. After check-in, we’ll keep the carts to wheel the seats (and any backpacks the kids decide are too heavy/scratchy/bouncy/pink/etc) to the gate where we could either gate check them or more likely, take them on board for the kids to sleep in on the plane. We’ll each carry a small daypack as well with some tech gadgets, books and snacks. Swipe to the other pics for what’s inside the two duffels. #familytravel #travelwithkids #packingcubes #packingporn #iceland #weleavetomorrow!