Packing light with a small human feels impossible until you have a system. After enough road trips up and down the California coast, here's mine.
The one-bag rule
Everything for both of us goes in one carry-on plus a snack bag. The constraint is the whole trick — it forces me to pack the things we'll actually use.
Snacks that survive the car
Nothing that melts, nothing that shatters into a thousand pieces. My spill-proof snack cup has genuinely saved several drives.
The hour-buying toy
One new, small, slightly novel toy saved for the moment things go sideways. Never reveal it early.
It's not glamorous, but it works — and it means more time looking out the window and less time digging through a bag.
