packing for the beach

I used to stress about packing for the beach. Now I don't.

Tomorrow we are going to Tybee Island for the week (well, almost a week. I have to come back to work for the %%$&^^ election, which I forgot about when I scheduled vacation).

Anyway, all I am bringing for each family member is three t-shirts, three pairs of shorts, flip flops and a swimsuit or two. I take all clothes in one large garbage bag. Plastic. Yes, I said a large plastic garbage bag. I bring several extra plastic garbage bags for the wet clothes and towels that will come back. I bring sunscreen, shampoo, tooth brushes, tylenol and band aids. These travel in a plastic ziplock freezer bag. Reading material and beach chairs.

That's it.

I learned this super low=stress approach to packing for the beach over years of practice as a mother taking kids to the beach. I used to bring our clothes to the beach house in several suitcases and backpacks. This assortment of luggae was unwieldy and they all came back wet and sandy. The plastic garbage bag approach works best for the beach.