Travel Essential List of Goodies
Every time I pack, it becomes a tug-of-war between “I think this might work” and “don’t stuff the suitcase with no more space”. But on this past trip, I managed to comfortably accomplish the feat of traveling around the world with a boarding case + backpack, and it was the things I brought with me that often made me sigh, “It was great to have them on the trip. They enhance the comfort of travel, do not take up space and easy to carry, is I can not help but every person will be the existence of peace, I hope that can also bring some inspiration to your packing list, so that the next trip becomes more comfortable and easy.
Sunscreen Umbrella
The weather at a destination can greatly affect the touring experience. While bright sunshine can certainly bring a better experience for both photos and tours, I can’t help but worry if I’m doing enough sun protection when walking directly into the sunlight. Therefore, in addition to preparing a strong enough sunscreen, I will also bring a six-fold umbrella to provide a certain degree of hard sun protection, while the temperature under the vinyl umbrella will also be slightly lower, making the trip more comfortable.
The six-fold umbrella is mainly because of three things: one, and the common three-fold four-fold umbrella than small enough, light enough, will not waste valuable luggage space; two, in addition to sun protection, but also in an emergency as an umbrella; three, it will come with a crossbody bag when you buy the umbrella, you can hang the umbrella on your body, both easy to get, but also does not take up backpack space, but also will not destroy the integration of the dress code. When it rains, you can also put the umbrella wrapped in plastic directly into the crossbody bag, so you don’t have to worry about water leakage or inconvenient hand pickup.
The downside is that the area of the six-fold umbrella that can shade the sun is not very large, and the shaded area is probably only enough to cover one person, so it is basically impossible to share. And the wind resistance is not strong, in windy weather, instead of playing the umbrella, it is better to suffer directly. The price of a six-fold umbrella is not cheap, you can choose a suitable price point from the vast number of flatties if you just want a crossbody.
Inflatable U-shaped Headrest
Sitting in the transport is the most uncomfortable than the lack of support for the cervical spine, if encountered more than five hours of long distance, the pain is doubled. Therefore, when you travel, bring a headrest to relieve the pressure will never go wrong.
I’ve used a neck pillow from MUJI before, it’s nice and comfortable, but the only downside is that it can only be carried around in its original size. Short trips are acceptable, but if it’s a long trip with valuable luggage, storing it becomes a problem.
After many comparisons, the final change to the inflatable style. The advantage is that it is easy to store, after inflation is a comfortable headrest, can provide sufficient support, to the destination after deflation, and it can be stuffed into a cell phone size storage bag, put in the jacket pocket directly on the plane. Choose the self-inflating style is also to take into account the possible hygiene problems with the mouth blowing, and like this press-inflatable style, in the queue waiting to get on the plane when you can easily (and without embarrassment) to fill up the air, to the seat is already “ready” state.
The outer layer of most styles is removable velvet material, which is easy to clean and comfortable enough to wear. However, in the summer close to the neck may be a little hot, it is best to wait until the smooth flight, body and mind calm, the temperature drops a little before wearing.
Cable Digital Storage Bag
All kinds of digital products have become an integral part of my travel, but how to store a variety of cables, charging heads and chargers during travel is always a headache. Fortunately, there are digital storage bags such as the existence of a magic tool to make this matter much easier. The finished product has a good part of the partition, whether it is a cable, charging head, mobile hard drive, or even iPad mini can find a place in it. And there is also a part of the partition can be customized to facilitate the transformation according to their own needs. When going through security, it is even more convenient to take the bag out directly from the bag and flip the lid open, so you don’t have to pick through the bag.
Because I do not have many digital products and do not need many data cables, so a single layer of the bag can meet my needs, and even have a surplus. I ended up with a mouse, a multi-country adapter, a 65W charging head, a Fitbit charger, a cable for each port, and a 6-in-1 charging cable. The single-layer style doesn’t leave a separate partition for each charging cable, so I actually tied the cable up with a different color hair tie. The color of the hair tie corresponds to the color of the device’s case (for example, if the iPhone case is green, the C-L and A-L cables are tied in green), so it’s easy to see when you want to use it, and you can also take a few more hair ties out for backup.
The upper mesh pocket is still empty, it is used to put “at any time may need” small items, such as jewelry, more hair strings, (cut) pills1 and eye drops, band-aids, alcohol swabs and so on, when you want to use directly in here to find will be more convenient.
Worldwide Conversion Plugs
Different countries and regions use different electricity standards, resulting in different voltages, frequencies and socket types that are not common, so a conversion plug is needed to make appliances work properly. If you are only going to one country and you don’t bring many electrical appliances, it’s not a problem to use a normal small plug. But if you go to several countries, you can have a universal conversion plug is certainly much more convenient.
I chose this one also has three USB-A ports and two USB-C ports (one of which supports 20W fast charging), before leaving to test the total power, just enough to charge all my devices at the same time, in the U.S. This voltage does not interoperate with the region can automatically adapt. The problem is that it’s too big and not too light, so it’s a bit cumbersome if you’re just traveling a short distance. But considering that its inputs and outputs can support plug types from all over the world, multiple interfaces are very convenient, and there is no significant heat generation during use, so it is still highly recommended.
Deformable D-shaped Climbing Buckle
After living abroad, I’ve grown to accept the idea of throwing my backpack on the floor. But it’s not the same at home or at the library as when you’re out and about – who knows what’s on the ground outside, so you can’t just throw your bag on the ground with peace of mind. This more than one hook D-shaped hiking buckle is to solve this problem was born, it is fixed in the bag handle almost no presence, but when needed, the outer layer out of a twist, you can “change” out a hook. When you go to the beach, you can also put your clothes, towels, slippers, etc. into the bag, borrowing its strength to hang on the trees, so you do not have to worry about them being dirty by the sand.
This form of climbing buckle has different models and sizes, I think the mini size is best used to hang mugs, more suitable for hanging bags and bags are small and medium size, used to hang backpacks and bags will not have a significant sense of incongruity, I bought the original Heroclip, the weight capacity of 22 kg and 27 kg, respectively, for ordinary people traveling luggage is also enough.
Menstrual Underwear
Aka “When you are alone at home without sanitary napkins and the nearest convenience store is an hour and a half walk away, it becomes my biggest savior”. It’s not always possible to have a clean and hygienic toilet to replace your menstrual products when you travel, so these menstrual panties can be useful in this case.
I bought menstrual panties from Uniqlo, which are made of a refreshing AIRism fabric with separate layers of absorbent and antibacterial fabric at the crotch to make them more suitable for use during menstruation. However, even with the thicker layers, it doesn’t feel stuffy in the summer, but rather feels more refreshing to just use menstrual panties because there is less layer of sanitary napkins, and even the smell is much less than when using sanitary napkins. It also absorbs a certain amount of blood clots. After wearing it for about 6 hours on the first day of menstruation, I felt like “it’s probably almost full”, but after the third day, I didn’t have too much trouble wearing it alone overnight.
The product page says that these panties can be machine washed and dried directly. If you don’t have a large amount, you can wash them by hand (but you will be tired of scrubbing). However, it is best to soak them in a tub for half an hour before putting them in the washing machine for better results. Whether you are worried about the inconvenience of a sudden menstrual visit when you go out, or for everyday use, I think it is worth recommending.
Plastic Bags for Local Supermarket
The main reason I collect a plastic bag from the local supermarket in every place I go is that I am terrified of being robbed and stolen, especially considering that most of the time I look like a skinny single Asian woman who can’t fight very well, pretending to be a local gives me a little peace of mind. Even if the mainstream local population is not East Asian, as long as you don’t look out of place, don’t speak up, and carry a plastic bag from the local supermarket, it’s hard to mistake such a person for a tourist.
The other advantage of course is the benefits of a large bag should be: convenient, can contain, whether it is a glass of water, snacks, or jackets, scarves, even to museums to receive tickets and brochures can be put directly in, the more full the bag looks less suspicious. But the success rate of this tactic is actually unknown, I don’t know if it’s because the places I go to are too safe, or my temperament and dress has been enough to convey the message that no one has really stolen or robbed so far, which is really fortunate.
But another proven benefit is the use of cheating low-cost airlines. In order to charge more for luggage, a number of low-cost airlines will weigh carry-on luggage again before boarding the plane, and once it’s over, you have to pay for it. But it I also noticed that the weighing staff didn’t care about the duty free bags, or even as long as there was a branch in the terminal, so as long as you put the heavier stuff in those bags before you get on the plane and switch to lighter items in your backpack, you’ll spend less money, which is very cost effective! If flying on a low cost airline with strict checks it is highly recommended to give it a try (no guarantee of success, please be prepared to be fined mentally and financially). What are your indispensable goodies when you travel? Welcome to share in the comments section as well.