ROSE FAMILY JOURNAL

It is not easy packing for more than two weeks away from home especially when we have to bring all our things for working remotely and keeping our 6 month old child alive. Having the right piece of gear can help alleviate the stress of traveling so we are always looking for things that will make our lives easier. Here are some new items my wife and I tested out on a trip we took to to Grand Rapids, Elkhart, and Ludington. I will let you know why we wanted to try out each piece of gear and how it held up over the trip.

For more information about traveling with a baby check out our Top tips for packing and air travel with baby and check out some of our other travel posts if you are looking for some travel inspiration.

ULA Equipment Dragonfly

I hear people’s high praise of the Dragonfly from ULA Equipment from both travel and bag communities that I follow on Reddit so I was excited to get my hands on this bag to see for myself. I carried the Dragonfly as my carry on for this trip and was looking forward to this bag being light, having large water bottle pockets, and the clam shell opening to the bag’s main compartment.

My Dragonfly came in the X-Pac VX21 material that has waterproof construction and a 210 denier face fabric that allows the VX21 to strike a balance between weight and durability. This bag ended up being much lighter than the nylon bags I’m used to carrying and was still very comfortable when loaded out in the airport.

The water bottle pockets are where this bag shined for me! The water bottle pockets are so big and stretchy I could fit my water bottle in without issue while the bag was completely packed and still have room to stuff in baby toys and wipes so I could grab them quickly when needed.

A clam shell opening on a bag allows you to open it all the way and helps you be able to not only pack the bag easier but get to the bottom of he bag without having to take everything out. This was magical when going through TSA because there is just something about me and my luggage that always flags us for extra searching. When the TSA agent was looking in the bottom of my bag he was able to checkout the contents of the bottom of the Dragonfly without unloading everything.

Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray

I am a big fan of Tom Bihn bags and pouches and the Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray is no exception. I purchased this travel tray hoping that it would act as a toy bucket for the baby toys we brought with us. It excelled at this and allowed us to keep all our toys together and easily access them on the plain or in the car when needed. It also helped us keep track of our toys when we were hanging out with cousins!

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones

I work in customer support and am on the phone all day when working I needed these Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 to hold a charge long enough to allow me to take phone calls all day and provide clear call quality while on the phone. These headphones fulfilled my needs for work and proved to be comfortable to wear over the entire day as well. I was also able to use these on the plain and listen to some music while baby was with mom.