We've all had the version of a summer day that goes wrong. Someone's out of water by noon. The food you packed is warm. Nobody has a hat. You reapplied sunscreen once, at 10am, and everyone's pink by 2.
I've had all of those days. I've packed the same bag enough times now that I've stopped thinking about it. Here are 5 things in it.
- Water. More than you think you need.
A liter per person for a half day, more if it's over 85 degrees. I bring stainless steel bottles so I never have to worry about a plastic bottle purchase.
The mistake I made for years was bringing one bottle and refilling it at whatever fountain was around. Now I just bring enough.
- Easy, portable food.
Anything that needs refrigeration is a gamble. What actually holds up: whole fruit, nuts, cut vegetables, homemade trail mix, Truvani bars and protein single serves, crackers, hard cheese if it's in a cooler, a sandwich made an hour before you leave.
What doesn't: anything with mayo, that melts, or anything you packed the night before and forgot in the sun.
- A hat with a real brim.
Almost always I have my wide-brimmed summer hat on. Baseball caps leave your ears and the back of your neck completely exposed. They're the two spots nobody ever remembers to protect.
A wide brim covers what sunscreen usually misses.
- Sunscreen your kids will actually let you apply.
This is the one that changed my whole summer.
For years, sunscreen was a fight. Cold lotion, sandy hands, kids twisting away from me on a towel while I tried to get their face. Half the time I gave up and did a bad job.
Then I found the Water-Resistant Performance Mineral Sunscreen Stick from Active Skin Repair, and the fight ended.
It's a stick. You swipe it on. No squeezing, no rubbing in, no getting it on your hands and then on everything you touch. My kids apply their own, which is the only version of sunscreen that actually gets reapplied.
Non-nano zinc oxide as the active ingredient, so it sits on top of your skin instead of soaking in. Jojoba oil is in the formula so it goes on smooth instead of dragging. No oxybenzone, octinoxate, parabens, phthalates, or synthetic fragrances.
Water-resistant, reef safe, and HSA/FSA eligible.
It also fits in a pocket. Mine lives in the side pouch of the bag, which means I actually have it at hour three when everyone needs a second coat.
Use code FOODBABE to save 20%.
- Something to sit on.
A towel, a blanket, a cheap folding chair. Hot benches, wet grass, and gravel have ruined more afternoons than weather ever has.
It's the item people skip and then regret at hour two, when the only shade is over a concrete ledge nobody wants to sit on.
That's the whole list. Water, food that holds up, a hat, sunscreen you'll actually reapply, something to sit on.
The bag takes 5 minutes to pack and it's the difference between a good day outside and going home early.
Xo,
Vani
P.S. The reapplication is the part everyone skips. Sunscreen wears off in about 2 hours, faster if you're swimming or sweating. A stick in your pocket is the only reason I ever remember to do it.
P.P.S. At Food Babe, we only promote products we love to use. If you buy a product we link to, we may earn a commission.
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