At the beginning of last year our family took a trip to Mexico for a month. During our trip I had several items I deeply regretted not having. I also had several items we brought that we didn’t use during our trip. I hope this list helps you to make sure you bring everything you might want and not pack unnecessary items. 

Related: What To Buy For A Warm Trip With A Baby

Neosporin

I would have liked to have this just in case, I didn’t actually want to use it at any point or need it, but it’s just one of those just in case items.

Sun Glasses

I kept looking for a pair, but apparently I’m too picky. 

More Bandaids

I only had 3 and we had to go buy some because I used at least 7 if not more during the trip. Make sure you have lots of bandaids when you have toddlers.

Ibuprofen

My dad needed some, but I didn’t have any.

Coverall

Something so my mom stomach was more covered would have been nice to have.

Spot it

My kids love this simple and compact game so it would have been nice to have.

Mesh baby carrier

I really regret not having this, almost every day. My youngest loves to be carried and a light weight carrier would have been great.

Tea bags

A cup of tea at the end of the day would have been perfect. We did end up finding some, but it’s not a popular drink in Mexico.

Wyze cam

We actually had my parents bring this when they joined us for a week of our trip. Seeing what your kids are doing in your Airbnb is a good thing.

Book light

Sometimes I wanted to read at night when my husband was sleeping. I also could have brought another 2 books because I finished the 3 I did bring.

2 pairs of pajamas for kids

We ended up buying more pajamas for our kids while we were there since one pair of pajamas per kid  wasn’t practical for our family.

Sleeping shirt

Apparently I forgot to pack a shirt to wear while I slept. I bought a shirt while we were there but I haven’t worn it once since.

Googles

We brought goggles for our kids, but my husband wanted to have a pair. He bought a pair while we were there but they weren’t high quality and he used the ones for our kids more than the ones he bought for himself.

Stain remover

It would have been nice to have a ride to go pen for small stains. Especially with small kiddos. 

DnD character sheet

While we were traveling we stayed up late a few nights to play dnd remotely with our friends, however we forgot to bring our character sheets and we didn’t remember some of the information that was on them. We did recreate them to the best of our abilities, but it wasn’t the same.

Sinking pool toys

Our kids were just learning to swim while we were in Mexico and some fun pool toys that would get them to look underwater would have been great to have.

Tape

There are a surprising amount of things to tape when you’re traveling. We bought some tape while we were there. 

Screw drivers

We bought some while we were there, but it would have been so much cheaper to have brought what we already had. Also at the Walmart the screw drivers were all locked up which seemed strange.

Super glue

This wasn’t a huge regret but when you want to glue something it’s nice to have some super glue. We did use the tube we purchased.

Zip ties

I regret not packing a few zip ties to use for odd jobs; when you need them you need them.

On our next month long family trip we will likely bring a small bag with handyman type tools like a screwdriver, super glue, tape, zip ties, and possibly a Wyze camera. 

Related: 15 Non-Essential Travel Items

What I Regret Bringing On Our Trip

We also brought several things we didn’t use or need on our trip some of which we bought specifically for the trip.

Floaty things

We got 2 floaty things that are supposed to attach to a toddlers back to help them swim. The kids called them their “tablets” and played with them but never really wore them on their backs. 

Baby floaty thing

We bought a floaty thing for our youngest but again we tried it and she hated it so we never used it and we ended up leaving it at our Airbnb.

Laundry hamper

We bought two collapsible hampers off Amazon for our trip but our Airbnb ended up having hampers so we never used the ones we brought. 

Cooling towels

We bought these specifically for our trip, but it was never really too hot and we never used these, so they just took up space in our luggage. 

Bib

We brought a bib for our youngest, but we wouldn’t bring it to the places we were eating so it wasn’t really useful. 

Light switch covers

We bought baby proofing covers for the light switches so our kids would leave the lights off, but we didn’t end up using them.

Sound machine

We brought a sound machine, but it didn’t get put to good use. Maybe if my kids were a little younger we would have used it more.

Drying line

Our Airbnb had a built in drying line and although the drying line we bought was compact, it wasn’t useful during our trip.

Tracking watches

We bought AirTags for our kids and we got them bracelets to wear. But our kids wouldn’t keep the bracelets on. For our next trip we plan to get shoe liners that can hold the AirTags instead.