As we said earlier this week, My Vacation Lady is going through old blog posts and recycling what is still current. while back, there was an article posted by Budget Travel on 8 things that you probably don’t take but should. As the Queen of Over Packing, My Vacation Lady realized that while a lot of these items were probably a good idea, we still didn’t take them. But since I read this, I realized that I have added a few.
So what are these 8 handy things that SHOULD be in your suitcase?
- Power strip– I actually did take one when we went on a cruise once since they are always lacking in outlets where I need one to be but I could have used one on our last trip to Barbados when hubby was trying to check email on my laptop, at the same desk (the only one with a mirror) that I was trying to dry my hair and charge my phone. Great thing to have in an airport too— you make friends really fast when you let them plug their cords into your power strip.
- Duct tape- still no but don’t bandaids count???
- Travel mug-left mine in the car after the ride to the airport again, but I do carry empty water bottles with me. Don’t I get a plus for that?
- Bandana-so many uses mentioned in the article but I do take a wash cloth with me to soak with cold water after touring many hotels in the heat.
- Moist towelettes- YES-I finally got one on the list although they were so old that I needed to add water to them to get them moist again. In the days of COVID- don’t forget to take disinfectant wipes for the plane and maybe even some high touch things in your hotel room.
- Silicon Travel Bottles- with the new TSA regulations, I have been hoarding travel sized toiletry bottles and if the bottle has a flip top, it gets reused many, many times. I should look into getting 3 ounce bottles so that I’m not dragging many 1 and 2 ounce bottles with me.
- Safety pins- YES- I have a second on the list. There is always one or 2 in my purse and I have some in my cosmetics bag. You never know when you can use a safety pin.
- Tote bag-YES-another one on their list! I always take a foldable tote bag with me. Whether business or pleasure, I always end up bringing more stuff back with me than I went. Makes a great beach bag as well.
One of the items that is NOT on the Budget Travel’s list but we always carry with us is a luggage scale.
My Vacation Lady has been known to be the Queen of Over Packing and this scale has come in handy very frequently. It doesn’t weigh much and it has saved us money many times when our suitcases were so close to the weight limit.
Do you have any MUST PACK items? Send us an email and we’ll put together a list of the top reader must pack items in a future blog post.