A friend asked me for some travel tips and ideas recently. One of their questions was on what types of things do I actually carry on the road, both for work and personal trips. Since I travel a lot, 18 trips so far this year, I decided to list out a few products that I’ve found helpful and why.
One thing to note is that these are things permanently in suitcases or laptop/backups. I have separate items at home and never mix the two. That’s a good way to inconvenience myself somewhere.
Cables and Adapters
Number one for me are multiple cables and adapters. Many of us live with devices and keeping them charged when you’re busy and moving can be a challenge. Here’s a few things I keep around:
- USB A and C Fast Charger – I started carrying two of these around since modern devices use lots of power. I keep one in my carry on and one in my roller, so they’re handy if I’m in a hotel, gym, or a convention center.
- USB-C cables – I’ve found these long ones to work well. I have multiple ones, usually 3 foot and 10 foot lengths in my carry one and a 3ft and a 1ft one in my carry on. I find these die periodically, so I keep spares in bags. Home has separate cables
- Garmin Watch charger – I have a Garmin, and this is a weird cable, so I have one at home and one in my carry on. My wife has a Samsung one and I’d certainly keep a spare Apply Watch charger around if I used that brand.
- Worldwide power adapter – I’ve used a few iterations of these over the years. Not sure if it’s always this brand, but I’ve used this style for nearly 10 years. It’s been great to be able to plug in multiple things. In airports, I’ve even gotten someone to let me have the plug and they can plug into my adapter along with me.
- Power Banks – I carry two. I used to have a third, but I gave this one to my wife. She loves it. Now I have one of these large Anker ones and a credit card sized one. The big one is for airplanes or airports or anywhere I can set it down. Handy when power plugs in planes don’t work or I’m at some event. The credit card one I carry in my pants, and it’s small and light and doesn’t bug me. It also doesn’t do a lot of charging, but it’s for emergencies.
Clothes
I’m a casual traveler, and I don’t need to worry about slacks and suits. However, I do often find myself away for multiple days, and I want packing simple, so I have a couple things.
- laundry bag – I usually try to just pack what I need, but sometimes I have extra clothes. This is a great bag that lets me stuff worn (or sweaty) stuff into a separate bag. Plus, if I do laundry on the road, it’s handy to carry clothes around outside a suitcase.
- packing cubes – The jury is out if I want more of these, but I got these three small ones. I carry two permanently in my suitcase and stuff one with socks and one with underwear. It keeps those small items together and easy to access. I pull these out in hotels and set them in a drawer, quickly letting me store them and access them.
- clear toiletry bags – One of my best tips is to keep the health and beauty stuff you need in your suitcase. At least if you travel more than a few times a year. I can’t tell you how often I’ve forgotten something I need. I keep two of these in my bag: one for wet things, one for dry. Wet is contact solution, spare contacts, tooth brush, toothpaste and shampoo (wrap that in a zip lock). Dry is my razor, deodorant, electric razor, batteries, nail clippers, etc. Easy to grab these and drop them in a hotel bathroom and easy to pack them up and put them in my suitcase.
- gloves – I never know if the weather in a remote city might be unpredictable, so I carry gloves, just in case. I have these, but pick your favorite pair and leave some in your bag.
- hat – I don’t have this specific one, but I keep a couple in my bags, usually one in the carry on and one in the roller. I’m lacking hair, so I find I need these if it’s colder than expected. In the past, I’ve usually purchased one of these on a trip, so I carry a Norway one in my laptop bag and an Alaska one in my roller. Usually I’ve stuffed a UVA one in a jacket as my Mom has gotten me a few of these.
- Windbreaker – I keep one like this in my roller, in one of the front pockets. Handy if I’ve forgotten a jacket, or it’s rainy.
- Umbrella – I have a Redgate one, but I think a small one is helpful to have to cover yourself, your gear, or a friend.
Misc
These are random things I tend to keep with me.
- notebook and pen – any old notebook for me, but Andy and my daughter like Moleskin. A few pens as I find taking notes to be easier on paper and it helps me remember. I don’t take a lot of notes on the computer when I’m doing something in person.
- swim goggles, towel, and swimsuit – Pick your spare suit and add it. I don’t often use a pool or hot tub, but I do sometimes swim when I’m near the ocean or a big pool. Laps are relaxing to me and I’ve swum outside at the Rose Bowl and Jesus Green. The towel is also handy if I need one, especially in a cheaper hotel where their things might not be clean (ugh).
- medicine – It can be hard to find meds on the road. I keep Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen with my for pain. Benedryl of allergies act up, Pepto Bismol tablets for my stomach, and dayquil/nyquil in case I feel sick. It can be surprisingly hard to find these things on the road. Sometimes availability, sometimes because I don’t have time, sometimes because I’m in a foreign land.
- currency – I still run into places that don’t, or don’t want to, take credit. It’s fewer and fewer places, but it happens. I try to keep currency in my wallet for the places I go. That means US Dollars, Euros, Pounds, and I randomly have Kronor, HK dollars, AUS dollars, and NZ dollars. A few rupees as well. Usually $20-50 of local money. I keep a couple change purses to separate out UK and EU money.
- Readers – I am getting blind as I age. I can’t see with my contacts anything on paper and not much on my phone. I like these travel ones.
- sunglasses – I love Shady Rays and with the hardcase in my Everki bag, I keep a pair there, as well as separate ones in each car and one for chores. Free replacements if they break, which I’ve needed a few times.
- bottle opener – I use Redgate ones, but they’re like these. It’s come in handy if I grab a soda or beer to relax in my room and they don’t have any openers.
- water bottle – I got an aluminum one as a gift and I carry it. I try to avoid the plastic ones now and reduce the waste I generate. Choose one that fits in your bag. I like the Contigo ones.
- snacks – I’m partial to Power Crunch bars (right now) and peanut butter packets. I find airlines sometimes don’t have food, or what I want, or they’re delayed. I try to keep food with me, just in case. I’ve found myself saved by these things during long delays, or when I’m stuck somewhere that isn’t serving food.
There’s likely other stuff that I have in my bag. I need to give it a cleaning, and remove things I don’t need. However, this is the major list of things that I try to ensure are with my on every trip.
If you have your own things, let me know.