I had a great conversation the other day with a friend who is getting ready to travel to adopt their son internationally. She was asking what some of my favorite items we took were so I thought I would share a list here! For reference, we adopted from Vietnam and our son was 3, so some of those items are location and age appropriate but hopefully these will give you a good jumping off point! If you don’t want to read, here is an easy to shop Amazon list of our favorite must-haves! 
disclaimer: I receive a small income from links in this post
1. GB Pockit+ Stroller– We had two items that I would say were our must-haves and this was one of them. The airports, the streets, even in the hotel, I was SO glad we had this. This stroller folds up to be smaller than a backpack and is super light weight. It made it so easy for taking around and carrying. Our flights in Vietnam only allowed small bags and this easily fit in their luggage requirements. Toan was a little afraid of it the first week but we tried again after a week and he loved it, which saved my back.
Toan can’t walk so a stroller was a must-have but a lot of newly adopted kiddos will rely on “fight or flight” and their “flight” mode kicks in tons during the first few weeks. A stroller can help avoid a lot of hard situations chasing them down busy streets or hotel hallways. Amazon seems to have the best deal on the GP Pockit here.
2. Ergo Carrier- Like I said, Toan couldn’t walk so means of transporting him were necessary. I was his preferred parent for weeks and the Ergo allowed us to be close which was amazing for bonding, without killing my back (although my back was completely shot by the end of trip). You can expect to be doing a lot of walking while you are in-country and a lot of the areas we were in were not stroller-friendly. We love the Ergo because it can be front or back carry and has a high weight allowance. It was also easy enough for me to do by myself. There are a lot of knock-offs on the internet so beware. It’s usually better to buy straight from a vendor instead of from eBay (the knockoffs have bad stories about the clips breaking).
3. Toys- You are definitely going to want to pack some items to entertain, distract, and win over your kiddo. Toys give you guys something fun to do together that is non-threatening. Remember, you are total strangers to this sweet kiddo, and having some fun things to do together can be really helpful for bonding. Here were a few of our favorites:
–Beach Balls– These take up almost no room in your suitcase, weigh nothing, and can blow up when you get there for a lot of fun! They are super cheap, so if you lose it, it’s not a big deal at all. Of all the things we bought, this was Toan’s favorite! We played catch, rolled it to each other, talked about the different colors, made it pop out from behind things, etc.
–V-Tech Dump Truck– I wanted to find a toy that had lights and noise (going for that excitement factor) but was also compact and interactive. This toy is relatively small, has balls you can pop in the front that roll down to the dump truck bed, you can pour them out, press the buttons, and drive it around. It sings a bunch of songs and talks. He loved it! We were really careful on not bringing these that took up too much room in our suitcase and this fit perfectly.
–Coloring Items- We took a pack of markers and a notebook as well as a Crayola Color Wonder set with us. This didn’t get used as much as some of the other things, but it was fun to have a good distraction at church especially. Here is the set we took.
–Lotion- Lotion might not sound like a toy/entertainment item but our International Adoption Clinic suggested bringing it and I was glad we did! Lotion is great for bonding and can help a child relax and allow you to touch them. A lot of kids from orphanages aren’t used to having much physical interaction and are very cautious or sensitive to someone touching them. Toan loved having me put lotion on him and putting lotion on my arms. Touch is a great thing for attachment!
–Stuffed Animal– This was another of Toan’s favorite items that we brought. He saw it and loved it immediately. It was definitely a comfort item for him, he asked where it was all the time and slept with it every night in country and for months when we got home. We looked for one that was really really soft and purposefully got one that looked like our dog at home to try and warm him up to the idea of our dog (it didn’t work haha). Here is the super soft puppy we brought.
–A Backpack of their own– This was a great suggestion passed onto us by other adoptive families. Most of these kids have never had their own belongings so they will be so excited to claim something as their own. Toan wanted to take his backpack everywhere and everything we gave him he immediately took and put in his backpack. We waited to give it to him until he was officially ours so it wouldn’t cause jealousy problems while at the orphanage. I’ve heard other adoptive parents say that their child actually expected to get their own backpack because they had seen other children get adopted and be given one so knew we wanted to take one no matter what in case he was expecting it. It definitely was a hit! We also took him his own water bottle which was great for on flights and trains. This little backpack is adorable for baby through pre-school sized kiddos!
–Tablet- While we aren’t huge fans of screen-time, a tablet was a must-have for our trip. It was a huge help in distracting Toan and Sawyer and keeping them occupied and happy on the long flights and appointments. We took our pre-loaded with movies and games and it was used a ton. I am so grateful that we took it, even I watched a couple movies on it and played some games on the flights while the kids slept! We got a Kindle Fire Kids Edition and I cannot say enough good things about it. A week before we left it got a crack in the screen and they next day shipped us a new one (they come with a 2-year kid proof warranty). Some of Toan’s favorite shows/apps were Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, and the balloon popping game.
–Headphones– Along that same note, take headphones! We took a pair for each of us. For Toan I got these awesome headband headphones so you don’t have to worry about them falling off the kiddos head. I have even bought another pair since because he liked them so much!
-Snacks from Home- We took a bunch of snacks from home for our trip and I’m so glad we did. Sawyer probably enjoyed them the most but there were a lot of times where we just needed something small to eat and were in a plane or at a long adoption appointment and I was so glad that we had a few snacks. I think we took granola bars, fruit snacks, and goldfish. The flights were probably the place we were the most grateful for the snacks. Even though our flights offered meals on each of them, by the time they got to us they only had one food option left and Sawyer didn’t love it so I was happy I had plenty of other things for him to fill up on.
–Cleaning Supplies– Everyone told us not to worry about laundry, that the hotels would have super cheap laundry service. Well, that was not the case for any of the hotels we stayed at. We managed to go through our entire wardrobes we had brought (5 outfits each) in the first few days. We waited to do laundry until we got to Saigon, and the laundry service at the hotel was $10 per item. Needless to say we couldn’t afford to wash four peoples entire wardrobes for that price so we ended up washing our clothes in the sink. I had brought along four travel size packs of detergent and I was so glad I did! We did have a washer and dryer in our hotel in Hanoi which was amazing. Next time we’ll probably only book hotels that have washer and dryers in the room. We also took a travel size dish soap that we used with the hotel washcloths to wash water bottles and other things. Another must-have! This awesome little set comes with dish soap, laundry detergent, hand soap, cleaner, and stain remover all in a travel size case. Such an awesome little pack!
–Medicine- This was another life-saver. Our International Adoption Clinic did a great job making sure we had a small medical kit with us. They prescribed us a z-pak, scabies cream, and a few other commonly-needed medicines for kids coming out of an orphanage. They also suggested we take advil, tylenol, and various medicines for upset stomachs. This might be TMI but the medicine that we used all of (and had wished we had brought more of) was the anti-diarrhea medicine. Let’s just say it took us a few days for our bodies to adjust to the new food.
Those were some of our favorite items when we traveled, if you have done an international adoption trip I would love to hear what yours were in the comments so other people can see them! I’ve also compiled our favorites into this Amazon list for easy shopping
Other than those ideas, if I could suggest anything it would be to pack light! We took three suitcases and it felt like so much stuff but we did use everything in them on our four week trip. Just choose wisely and leave room for souvenirs!
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