I remember back before Squirrelboy was born Mr. Engineer and I could travel for four days and bring two suitcases. For just an overnight or a weekend we might get away with one suitcase. Then after we became parents it felt like we were moving anytime we went anywhere overnight, even for just one night. We'd bring a stroller, we'd bring a pack and play, we'd even bring bottles and formula despite the fact that Squirrelboy was breastfed. Add the huge bag of cloth diapers and a few baby toys and we had quite the haul.
Just as we had begun to pare down our packing when Squirrelboy was in kindergarten, Kittygirl was born and it started all over again. We'd learned a few lessons by then. Kittygirl never really liked the stroller so we stopped bringing it "just in case." It was a whole lot easier to just throw a soft carrier into the trunk. We also drew the line at bringing things like formula that we knew we would actually never use. However, we still brought an awful lot of stuff.
Yet again, we had begun to cut back a bit when what feels like our third child was born - diabetes. Having a child diagnosed with diabetes is like having a newborn in a lot of ways. You're sent home from the hospital with a minimum of instructions and expected figure out how to do all kinds of new stuff and not accidentally kill your kid. There's also a lot of new stuff that enters your world. Instead of diapers, onesies, and breast pumps you're introduced to insulin, glucagon, and test strips.
Diabetes stuff adds an additional bag to our luggage, and I (almost) always pack way more than we're likely to need. Kind of like when I was packing for a newborn, I want to be prepared for every eventuality.
Including two days for travel, we'll be way from home for 5 days. If all goes well with sites and sensors (which is almost always does) we will need to do two site changes, one cartridge change, and no sensor changes while we are gone. We will probably have to treat 2-4 minor lows a day. Because the Dexcom is usually super accurate we may never use a blood glucose meter. If we do, we'll probably use it no more than half a dozen times.
I have packed the following:
2 Dexcom sensors
6 pump sites
6 pump cartridges
10 stickers for going over pump sites/sensors
Scissors to cut said stickers into the cat shapes that Kittygirl insists on
1 bottle Unisolve
Uncounted bag full of alcohol wipes and Unisolve wipes
1 extra glucagon (in addition to the 1 in my purse)
1 extra meter
1 extra insulin pen (just in case the pump fails and the insulin pen in my purse then fails)
2 extra containers test strips
1 container ketone strips
2 large bottles glucose tabs
15 packages fruit snacks
8 juice boxes
Tomorrow just before leaving I will add 1 Basaglar pen and 2 Novolog cartridges in an insulated lunch box with an ice pack.
Yes, it may very well be overkill. Okay, it's totally overkill. Maybe there will come a time when I just throw some amount of supplies that's closer to what we'll really need into a bag. I somehow managed to forget test strips when we traveled for Christmas a couple years ago, though, so now I'm anal about checking off more than we need of everything. Thankfully, after I posted about my need on Facebook a D-mom local to my parents whom I'd never met came to the rescue with a bottle of test strips. I have never yet forgotten insulin, which is the one thing we absolutely positively can't go without.
Even though my dad comments nearly every time we visit that his grandparents managed to move across the ocean from Europe with only one suitcase, I'd rather be overprepared than underprepared. Maybe this year we'll skip the bag of board games we never play. Then again, maybe not. You never know when a Ticket to Ride emergency might crop up :).
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Rule of thumb, pack what you need x 3. I hate feeling like a donkey on a backpacking trip. I hate being 2,000 miles away without a sensor.
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