What seems essential for one type of trip or destination may not work for another.
A money belt, for instance, seems silly for travel in Canada (I always chuckle to myself when I see tourists pulling out money from theirs where I work). I consider myself a seasoned traveller, and over the years I have adjusted the essential items I’ve brought with me. I carried a backpack when travelling throughout India, which was an absolute necessity given the amount of train and cycle rickshaw travelling we did. On the way back from our year in New Zealand, we travelled around S.E. Asia and China for 6 weeks, and our backpacks were embarrassing when we stayed at the 4 and 5 star hotels we scored amazing deals for.
When going to India, I brought far too much stuff—a lot of things that ended up not being necessary.
In addition to my list of favourite travel essentials from Muji, I recommend the following items:
1. If you’re like me, and need to or want to tote your iPad2 with you on your travels, the Waterfield Designs iPad2 Travel Express Case is necessary:
You can put your iPad2, with Smart Cover, cord/charger and a wireless keyboard inside. The added strap makes it especially easy to carry around.
1.5. iPad2
2. Also from Waterfield Designs, I like the Travel Case. This durable little case is great for all those other cords, extra flash drives and things that you need. You can also fit your PSP inside it.
3. We’ve been travelling carry-on only for a few years now, and so we’ve had to limit the number of things we’ve brought with us. Books, for example, are heavy and take up a lot of room. Our Sony e-readers have proven to be great alternatives to the dozen or so paper books we used to tote around.
4. An appropriate purse or bag for daily travel in cities. What do you like to do when you travel in cities? On our upcoming trip to the 4 Corners of the USA, I’ll be taking a Le Sportsac bag with 2 large expandable compartments and 3 outside pockets with zippers. The bag is great for more casual city travel (throughout Texas and Orlando), and great for a personal item on flights. The bag is sturdy and washable. For evenings, and for the Washington D.C. and New York portions of our upcoming trip, I’ll be using the Matt and Nat grey purse I have. I will feel more comfortable when going to nicer restaurants and to museums and galleries with this purse, but plan on taking the Le Sportsac purse to see the Statue of Liberty whilst in New York. For me, having these 2 purses (specifically on this 1 month long trip) is essential. I would not normally think so for other destinations, though.
5. What about shoes? As always, we’ll be walking a lot during our trip. I plan on bringing:
A pair of John Fluevog vegan D.O.G. shoes in black, for most city walking.
A pair of Patagonia vegan runners for hitting the gym at hotels and for travel in Orlando and parts of Texas, and for plane travel.
A pair of inexpensive flats for evening wear
A pair of flip-flops for the pool and around hotel rooms—possibly. I haven’t yet decided on this, yet.
It goes without saying, that I’ll be bringing toiletries and a small selection of clothing. I plan on only bringing half a carry-on suitcase full of stuff, with compression sacks thrown in, incase I buy a few things.
What do you absolutely have to bring with you travelling?
