Singapore and Malaysia family packing list

It took me quite awhile to put together our packing list for Southeast Asia as a family. We have 2 adults and one 4 year old child, so we are at least beyond carrying diapers! While on Air Japan, we could check 2 bags per person for free, we were also taking Air Asia flights so we wanted to have just one checked roller bag, with full knowledge that we'd probably purchase another bag there to bring extra souvenirs home. The bags we traveled with:
  • Samsonite roller bag (slightly larger than carry-on size, but not huge) - always checked
  • Backpack-style bag (Osprey Porter 46) - checked on Air Japan, carry on Air Asia
  • Backpack for each of us - always carry-on
  • Stroller bag - checked on Air Japan, gate checked on Air Asia
Inside all of our bags, I used a lot of packing cubes and little makeup bags to contain different categories of items. Having a cute makeup bag obsession actually comes in handy when it's time to travel. Ha! 
At Changi airport on our way home, a few extra bags with legos :) Almost all Asia airports had the carts for free!  
I found the female packing list at Her Packing List for Southeast Asia very helpful, but obviously you just need more stuff as a family - so here is my modified version.
Parent carry-on bags
Our parent carry-ons contained the following items, plus some personal items such as books and magazines.
  • Small bag to take out in your seat on the plane that contains:  
    • Phone, loaded with podcasts or other offline content
    • Earbuds
    • Earplugs
    • Eye shades
    • Sleeping pills
    • Lip balm
    • Wipes
    • Kleenex
    • Birth control
    • Chewing gum, candy, or lollipops for during take-off
  • Wallet with credit cards, passport, cash
  • Inflatable pillow
  • Baggie with toothbrushes/toothpaste/floss - surprisingly many of the hotels we stayed in gave us toothbrush kits in the room, that we used to supplement our toothpaste supply.
  • Sunglasses - note you can buy these everywhere in SE asia for about $3 if you forget :)
  • Bag of various cords, including wall charger
  • Tablet
  • Makeup bag - I went very minimal with:
    • Concealer
    • Lipstick
    • Mascara
    • BB cream
    • Stick eye shadow
    • Eye liner
  • Lotion
  • Hair brushes with hair ties on the handles
  • Cameras (we have both a mirrorless SLR and a small go-pro knock off)
  • Small prizes for child - sticker books, lego, etc.
  • Change of clothes for everyone
  • Pen and small notebook
  • Car seat
  • Snacks

Kid carry-on bag

  • Blanket/pillow/stuffed animal
  • Box of small toys (legos for us, but whatever your kid likes to play with)
  • Crayons/markers, coloring book
  • Earphones

Backpack bag

Clothes-wise, we took 6 days worth of clothes for our 2 week trip and did laundry halfway though. It was easy to find a coin laundromat in Penang.
  • Mom clothes (see Her Packing List for Southeast Asia for ideas - I skipped the raincoat and jeans)
  • Kid clothes
    • 10 underwear
    • 6 socks
    • 6 shorts
    • 6 tshirts
    • 1 pajamas
  • Bag with all our bathing suits and a packable towel
  • Swim goggles
  • Extra shoes (2 pairs of mom's sandals, crocs for kid)

Roller bag

  • Dad clothes, including an extra pair of sneakers and running clothes/supplies
  • Plastic bag for big toiletries: 
    • Can of bug spray (used only a few times)
    • Extra sunscreen
    • Hand sanitizer
  • Umbrella (we never used ours, of course we didn't have it with us the few times it rained)
  • Toiletry bag that contains: 
    • Deodorant
    • Bodyglide
    • Shampoo
    • Soap
    • Conditioner (you can skip bringing shampoo and soap, but none of the hotels where we went supplied conditioner) 
    • Razor / shaving cream
    • Q tips
    • Nail clippers
    • Baby powder (we never used it)
    • Daily contact lenses
  • Sleeping mat for child (we only had rooms with 2 beds in Langkawi, seems hard to find in cities)
  • Tissues (2-3 packs should be fine, I packed too many!)
  • Extra Flushable wipes (One pack of 60 wipes was more than enough for us - almost everywhere we went had toilet paper.)
  • Medicine bag that contains:
    • Kids version of: tylenol, DiaResQ kids, childrens melatonin
    • A few doses each of: Excedrin (a few doses), Advil (a few doses), Immodium (a few doses), Benadryl, sleeping pills
    • Epi pen
    • Bandaids
    • Vitamins
  • Comfort food bag for picky eaters: 
    • Granola bars
    • Easy Mac
    • Peanut butter
    • Plastic spoon

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