Traveling with kids is easier if you can count on good travel gear. However, you don't need to break the bank or carry excessive amounts of stuff just because you now travel with children in tow.

When it comes to family travel products, I fully embrace the idea of quality over quantity and over the course of the years I have selected products that I believe are actually worth the money.

My rules for picking great family travel products are:

Pick family travel gear that is versatile

My first rule when it comes to travel products is: pick those you can also use at home.

As much as it can be appealing to have a new piece of gear that is just for your oversea adventure, I find the best things are those that keep giving also at home and not just because of budget concerns.

Children often like what they know and being able to rely on a tried and tested piece of gear they recognize from home, can make them more relaxed and your trip easier.

Choose portability

This is probably an obvious one but I still remember a piece of advice I was given once: 'this is a great travel stroller, you just need to take the wheels off when passing through security in the airport and buy a golf bag to protect it when checking it in'.

Sorry, what?! No, there is no way that something that requires that much effort and an extra purchase is a good investment for travel!

What you need when you travel with kids is a piece of gear that saves you time and hassle, not create some!

When picking, make sure the item is easy to fold and unfold (if relevant) easy to carry and self-contained: any additional piece you need is an additional item to carry and you really do not want that.

Choose quality

The other big thing to look at is the quality of the piece. While you do not want to invest a lot of money in an item that can get battered on trains and planes, going too cheap can easily backfire.

A very cheap stroller whose wheels fall off at the first cobbled street is definitely not a good travel purchase!

In all the list I create and that you find at the bottom of this page, I put an effort to strike a balance between quality and budget so you don't end up buying the same item over and over again.

Think carefully what you really need

Most of all, make sure you know what you need and do not go for appealing but unnecessary stuff. You will find my list of baby travel essentials here and lists for older kids plus a detailed buying list of each type of item below.

I hope you find this selection of family travel gear useful. Happy browsing!