We recently went on a trip with our 4 kids under 6 years old. We traveled to Hawaii and Japan in April. In Hawaii it was in the 70’s every day as it usually is and in Japan the temperature ranged from 30 to 75. Coming from Alaska in winter, it was weird to have such temperature fluctuations. So here are some things we would have liked to have, that we regretted, and that were definitely worth bringing for two climates.
Related: Spring Necessities For An Active Toddler
Things that would have been nice for Hawaii
Sun cover/ umbrella for baby– it was hard to protect our baby from the sun at times
Large bag for beach things– we had a lot of beach things that were hard to put under the stroller, it would have been nice to have something outside of under the stroller for carrying all of the things
My spork– my husband brought his and used it a few times while we were in Hawaii, it would have been nice to have mine as well
A muslin blanket– we brought one to Hawaii, but didn’t bring it to the beach
Things I regret bringing to Hawaii
Sun dress for my baby– we were only in Hawaii for one day and the kids basically stayed in their swim suits.
Extra shirt for my 4 year old– for some reason I thought I needed an extra shirt for my son
Sunglasses– while it was sunny, it’s nothing compared to the sun in spring in Alaska as it sits staring at your eyes and glinting off the snow, so we didn’t use sunglasses during our entire trip
Shorts (kind of)– my kids lived in their swim suits during our time in Hawaii, they wore their shorts for the first hour or two of the day while we went to the pearl harbor memorial and a grocery store.
Things I’m really glad I brought to Hawaii
Sand free towel- It was great to be able to sit down with the baby on a towel that repels sand
Only one towel– we dried off in the sun most of the time and didn’t need more than one towel for our one day at the beach
Swimsuits for everyone– When you go to Hawaii you most likely need a swimsuit, this was definitely true of our one beach day
2 swim diapers for my 2 year old– We put my 2 year old in a swim diaper and it was used, so we used a second, on our Mexico trip we didn’t bring any, but it would have been a great decision
Sandals for everyone– everyone needs something on their feet, sandals are the best choice in a hot climate. We have sandals with a strap around the heel for our kids
Stroller– our stroller has been a lifesaver on our trips. In the hot sticky climate, having a baby strapped to you can be too much, the stroller helped keep both of us cool in the heat
Oatmeal packets– this was a great breakfast for us
Sunscreen– we brought sunscreen but probably should have applied it more than 2 times on our long day
Aloe Vera– after we all got sunburnt, this helped us all cool our burnt skin
Related: How To Enjoy Japan With Young Kids
Things that would have been nice for Japan
Acetaminophen for kids– our 2 year old had a fever on our first day and ended up in the hospital. Japan has strict laws on medicines and the one we had in the states wasn’t allowed in Japan. In the future we would probably immediately go to a drug store to have acetaminophen on hand
Food containers– We used plastic bags to store items in the fridge at our airbnb, but we have collapsible ones that would have been nice to bring with us for our trip
Camera– a camera to watch our kids while they were asleep upstairs in our airbnb would have eased my mind
Another small ultra compact reusable grocery bag– we have lots of kids who eat lots of food, having a second reusable bag would have been nice for transporting food back to the airbnb
A second sleep sack– I only had one sleep sack for my 5 month old which just made logistics complicated for when I needed to wash it
An extra charging cord/ plug– we had a good amount of electronics with us on our trip, a second cord and or plug would have been helpful when we wanted to charge everything up
Honey chamomile tea– I love our honey chamomile tea and would have enjoyed it in Japan
Sewing kit– we bought one and used it over 4 times on our trip
Stroller phone holder– we needed instructions on our phone a lot, but pushing a stroller and holding a phone can be challenging, a magsafe phone holder for our stroller would have been helpful
Things I regret bringing to Japan
All the stuff for Hawaii– the stuff we brought for just Hawaii took up a lot of space
Sound machine– we didn’t end up using our sound machine
Huge sketch books for the kids– we thought our kids would love to draw a lot on our trip, so we bought large sketch books for each of them, only a few pages of each were used
Way too many colored pencils for the kids– we would probably only bring 10 colored pencils for each kid in the future
Tiny toys– I brought some toys from home that were small. Some of them I didn’t even let the kids use because there were so many tiny toys that they got while we were there
A too cheap water bottle– I brought a cheap light weight water bottle for our trip, but it died and started leaking before we even got to Japan
Things I’m really glad I brought to Japan
Reusable bag– we used our reusable bag for a grocery trip every few days
Hand towels– bathrooms in Japan don’t have paper towels or blow dryers, they expect you to bring a towel to dry your hands
Stroller– our stroller saved our backs and all 3 of our girls used it at different points of our trip
2 baby carriers– our youngest 2 used these carriers a lot
Power bank– we used our phones for directions, or Pokémon a lot on our trip and having an extra way to charge our phones while we were out and about was important
Lots of pants and underwear for my 4 year old– my 4 year old has a struggle with wearing clothes that are a little dirty or having some accidents, so having lots of extra pants and underwear helped make sure she wasn’t throwing a fit or walking around in stinky clothes
Pop up laundry hamper– the washer and dryer was downstairs, so having a pop up laundry hamper helped us to carry clothes up and downstairs
