My family is about to depart on a long vacation, but does that mean that we won’t be using cloth? No! I am dragging our whole load of cloth diapers with us.

There are three things I consider essentials when traveling:

PlanetWise Hanging Wet/Dry Bag - This large bag is perfect for traveling with cloth.  The front dry pocket can be used for clean diapers and wipes.  Then, the wet section of the bag can be used for dirty diapers.  The entire bag can be hung by the handles on a doorknob or even a hanger in the closet.

ImseVimse Flushable Diaper Liners – When away from my diaper sprayer, I want to be sure I have an easy way to get soiled diapers clean.  I love using these flushable liners that make clean-up as simple as turning the diaper over above the toilet.

Cloth Diaper Detergent - It is so easy to forget the detergent, but I do not want to scramble in a place I don’t know.  We always bring our Rockin’ Green Detergent because I know it works well in any machine.

My first long trip with cloth diapers came last fall on a weekend trip to California for a family wedding. I was anxious, but it worked out great. We rented a house with a lot of different family members, so we were lucky to have a washer and dryer on site. We flew, and so to avoid extra luggage fees, we shoved the bag of cloth diapers in the same bag with my son’s car seat.

This trip is actually three trips in one. We will be spending time staying with my parents and in-laws, which should make washing easy, and I will be in charge of diapering my son.

For the second leg, my kids will be staying with their grandparents while my husband and I take a trip together to California.  This is definitely going to be the toughest leg of the trip for cloth diapering.  In order to help my parents, I am providing a typed out list of directions on exactly how to wash the diapers, and I am only sending two different types of diapers to make matching up the inserts easier.  I am finding myself wishing I had some bumGenius Organic All-in-Ones so that the steps would be a little bit easier.  I guess we will see how it goes!

For the last leg of the trip, we will be traveling to a friends’ home in Texas.  The trick for this leg of the trip will be that there are going to be so many people staying together in the same house – 6 adults and 10 kids!  My friend is a saint for hosting us.   In any case, I am hoping that the washing machine will be accessible.  Hopefully it won’t be a problem if I do it at night…

I am letting you know about my travel worries and concerns so that you know that even cloth diaper “experts” get anxious about traveling with cloth.  But I want you to know that it can be done!  I will report back on our success.