Taking Toddlers on Vacation Gives Me So Much Anxiety—But I Found a Solution That’s Already in My Phone

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Everybody, and I mean everybody, warns you that traveling with kids is hard. No matter how much or how long you prep and strategize, you will never pack enough or the right amount of things—I don’t make the rules! Naturally, I still carefully plotted a week-long getaway a few hours away in the mountains, because apparently I love a challenge.

Right out of the gate, I realized I forgot my daughter’s night diapers. And she spilled the contents of her beloved Goldfish crackers in the car, so we would be needing more of those since that (and yogurt pouches) is all she consumes.

You just don’t realize how much stuff your toddler requires in order for the day (and night) to go smoothly until you’re 1+ hour away from your house. Young kids need routine and familiarity, and when those things are thrown out of wack, all hell breaks loose. For me, without my daughter’s night time Goldfish snack, she won’t fall asleep because she’ll be too cranky. If she soaks through her normal diaper at night, she’ll wake up in the middle of the night and may not fall back asleep. This is how vacations turn into a hellscape.

Which is why after I realized my mistake, I took out my phone and pulled up the DoorDash app.

I typed in “diapers” and the dashboard immediately pulled up a screen full of options that could get delivered to me within 20 minutes.

Ordering snacks without leaving the cabin was a breeze with DoorDash—I just typed in “Goldfish” (as well as more yogurt pouches, because I might as well stock up and be on the safe side).

When you’re traveling with your kid(s), you need to account for needing more stuff, and since you’re on vacation, you need to also account for the lack of convenience. Which is why having access to DoorDash is such a life-saver. IMO, DoorDash is under-utilized as an everything delivery: In your app, you’ll see that there’s a section for Grocery, Retail, Convenience, Late Night, Beauty, and more. Whether you need an easy dinner, change of clothes, or toddler essentials, DoorDash is the *best* delivery app for your money.

And if you already use DoorDash for meal deliveries, you can look into a DashPass subscription to save: With DashPass, you pay $10 a month and get free delivery and lower service fees for eligible orders (that meet the subtotal minimum), plus other benefits, like discounted Lyft rides (so helpful when you’re traveling!) and 5 percent cash back on some orders.

Beyond diapers and Goldfish crackers, I also used DoorDash for meal delivery when it was too gross outside to go out to eat or pick up dinner myself. Getting pizza delivered when it’s snowing and you have a cranky toddler who a disrupted schedule saved dinnertime—and my sanity.

It’s just not realistic to plan for every single inconvenience when you’re on vacation with a toddler. But knowing I have DoorDash in my back pocket (literally), makes the whole experience so much less daunting.