Travel Gear We Actually Use
29 things worth packing, and the honest reason for each one. No gadget lists, no filler, nothing here because a brand paid for it. If it is on this page it is because leaving it at home caused a problem once.
The bag, and what goes in it
Nothing here is exciting. All of it is the difference between unpacking in four minutes and living out of a suitcase for a week.
- Packing cubes
The single biggest change you can make to how a trip feels. Shirts in one, layers in another, and you never dig again.
- Compression packing cubes
For the way home, when everything somehow does not fit any more.
- A carry-on that actually fits
Airlines have quietly tightened sizers. A bag measured to the limit saves a gate-check fee on a budget carrier in Europe.
- Packable duffel
Folds to nothing, comes out on the last day when you have bought more than you planned.
- Laundry bag that seals
Three weeks of clean and worn sharing one case is a problem with a two-dollar solution.
Power, and staying charged
A phone doing maps, tickets, translation and photos all day does not reach dinner. Ask anyone who has stood outside a station at 9pm on 4%.
- Portable power bank
The one thing we would not fly without. Enough for two phones through a long day of walking.
- Universal travel adapter
One plug for every socket you will meet. Buy it before you go, never at an airport.
- Multi-port charger
One wall socket, everything charging overnight. Hotel rooms are always short of outlets.
- Short charging cables
Long cables tangle and get left behind. Short ones live in the daypack and come home.
- AirTag or tracker
Goes in the checked bag. You will know where it is before the airline does.
The flight itself
A long flight is not something to survive. A few small things make the difference between landing wrecked and landing ready.
- Compression socks
Nobody regrets these on the way home. Especially past about six hours.
- Noise cancelling headphones
Cabin noise is exhausting in a way you only notice once it stops.
- A neck pillow that actually works
Most are useless. The ones that support the chin rather than the back of the neck are the ones to look at.
- Eye mask and earplugs
Cheap, tiny, and the reason you arrive able to do something with the first day.
- Refillable water bottle
Fill it past security. Over two weeks it pays for itself several times and you drink more.
Documents, money and not losing things
The boring category that ruins a trip when it goes wrong.
- RFID passport wallet
Passport, cards and boarding passes in one place you can find without putting the bag down.
- Money belt or hidden pouch
For the cities where pickpocketing is genuinely organised. Worth it in a few places, unnecessary in most.
- Luggage locks
TSA-approved, so they can be opened without being cut off.
- Worth doingPhotocopies and a backup card
Not a product, just the advice: a second card from a different bank, kept somewhere else, and a photo of your passport in your email.
Weather, and the walking
Most trips are walked. Feet and weather decide how the days go.
- Packable rain jacket
Stuffs into a daypack and beats an umbrella in wind, which is most of the rain you will meet.
- Cushioned insoles
Old cities have hard streets. Feet give out before the day does.
- Merino wool base layer
Warm when it is cold, fine in a heated room, and it does not smell after three days.
- Reef safe sunscreen
Several destinations have banned the usual chemical kind outright, so bring mineral or buy it at resort prices.
- Lightweight travel scarf
Covered shoulders are required in a lot of the churches, mosques and temples worth going inside.
The little things that matter more than they should
Every one of these came from something going wrong once.
- Door stop alarm
Twelve dollars, weighs nothing, and changes how a solo traveller sleeps in an unfamiliar room.
- Toiletry bag that hangs
Bathroom counters abroad are small or nonexistent. This one solves itself.
- Silicone bottles
They do not crack at altitude, which the hard plastic ones do.
- First aid and medication kit
Pharmacies abroad are fine, but not at 2am in a town of four hundred people.
- Foldable daypack
Lives in the suitcase, comes out every single day.
Know what to pack for your actual trip
This page is the general list. The packing list built for your destination, your dates and your weather is more useful, and it is free.