My travel essentials
Having done a lot of traveling, especially over the past 3 years. I’ve gotten pretty good at packing these days. Honestly probably too good, to the point where I almost always pack the night before. When I was a kid I used to way overpack. Now I only sort of overpack.
Anyways, I have a few essentials I pretty much always have with me in my backpack. And each one of these has come in handy at some point or another.
This full list takes up only about 20% of my backpack space:
- Super lightweight waterproof shell
- One of my best purchases EVER
- Very important to get a high quality one.
- They fold up into a tiny ball, and keep you completely dry in the rain. It needs to be fully waterproof (not water resistant).
- I spent $200 on a North Face Gortex jacket (that I can’t find). This Arcteryx one would be great too.
- Basic first aid kit
- Band-aids, Advil, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, medical tape, dayquil and nyquil
- Waterproof mini-speaker
- Wireless running headphones
- Pen and paper
- Portable charger
- Carabiner
- Useful when you have dirty shoes to carry outside your backpack, connecting another bag to your bag, etc.
- Deodorant
- Extra pair of socks
- Small, fast drying microfiber towel
- Exercise bands
While I was traveling in Southeast Asia and Peru I also had some go-pro gear with me everywhere I went. I have so much footage sitting on a hard drive that I really need to do something with. 🤔
I did a little research on what others bring as well, and I think I may invest in a headlamp to use as a handsfree flashlight.
Other good suggestions I found are an adjustable bungee, a smaller day bag, a foldable cup, other portable cooking / eating gear, a lock (just in case), an eye-mask (for those who like these things), and hand sanitizer.
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