I know that some people can find packing stressful. What if you forget something important? How do you pack for hand luggage only? Luckily, I seem to have got the whole packing thing down to a tee and I never have to worry about it anymore. There’s some essentials that I always have with me, whether I’m flying with just hand luggage or taking a big suitcase on a train or coach.
All of these items can easily be picked up online and you don’t need to spend a fortune.
Packing cubes
These are an absolute life saver. Since I discovered packing cubes around 7 years ago, I’ve always used them. They should be amongst everyone’s travel essentials. It doesn’t matter what bag or case I’m using, or how much I’m taking. They’re always such a big help.
If you roll your clothes up inside a packing cube, you can fit a lot more in. You’re also saving your clothes from getting horribly creased in transit. Once the cubes are full, they can easily be slotted into a suitcase or bag. When I’m flying with just an under the seat bag, I use one travel cube for all my clothes. It then fits at the bottom of my backpack and leaves enough space for everything else. If I didn’t use a packing cube, my clothes would be taking up the whole bag.
If I’m going away for more than a weekend, I’ll use one cube for clothes and another for underwear. You can also use separate cubes for tops/bottoms to keep things organised.
Portable charger
If I’m leaving the house for more than half a day, I will always have a portable charger on me. I love my iPhone but the battery life isn’t the best, especially when you’re constantly using it for maps, music and photos. It’s best to spend a little more on a portable charger and get one that can charge your phone a few times. The chargers you can buy in shops usually only charge your phone up once and are generally around 5000mAh. My current portable charger is 2000mAh so I never have to worry about it running out. I also use it for my AirPods and my Apple Watch if that gets low.
Tripod
As I like to travel solo quite a lot, I need a way to get myself in photos. If there’s nobody around to ask, or I feel awkward then I use a tripod. My favourite kind of tripod is the JOBY GorillaPods. I can fix my camera to it or I can use an attachment for my phone. These are so small, they easily slide into your bag and weigh next to nothing. If you’re also a solo traveller, then a tripod should be one of your travel essentials.
Bum bag
Depending where I am, I will often use a bum bag. I like having my valuables close to me and A bum bag is safer than a backpack. You can see if anyone is trying to tamper with it unlike a backpack. Luckily, they seem to be coming back into fashion as well.
The bum bag that I have is very spacious – it can fit a lot more in than you’d think. On a daily basis, I’d have my phone, a small purse, my passport, a portable charger and phone cable, hand sanitiser and perhaps a snack in there. All my travel essentials will fit in there. This still leaves me room for any souvenirs I want to pick up.
Collapsible water bottle
Depending on whether the tap water is safe to drink at your destination, you might want to take along a collapsible water bottle. I bought mine for a festival but it’s a great essential for travel too. When it’s empty, you can put it in your bag folded up and it takes up barely any space. Then when you want a drink, you can fill it with tap water for free. Most restaurants and cafes will fill it up for you. This saves you money and also ensures you keep hydrated.
