10 must have items when travelling, plus a few

Whether you travel often, or infrequently, it’s a good idea to have a ready list of items you can lay your hands on quickly

LAG Bag containing all your Liquids, Aerosols & Gels in containers less than 100ml.

• moisturiser
• lipbalm – this is also useful for rubbing around your nose when you fly at night, the air is cold and dry and this helps a lot.
• eye drops
• toothbrush & a small tube of toothpaste
• purse size tube of hand cream
• lipstick
• hand sanitiser

Pillow – We’ve abandoned the inflatable type long ago (hard and have sharp bits and the part you blow into is not easy to use or press down into the pillow. Then you have to deflate it…) Our round pillows happily fit over the handles of our pull-alongs if the inside is full and you can fold them to make a neck pillow or leave them a full round to support your head or back. At a pinch, you can also use it as a tripod or stable camera support.

Multi-way extension – With all the things we carry these days that need charging, there are usually not enough sockets (and not always of the correct type) to charge everything. With one of these (use with the travel adaptor below, if necessary) you can usually cover the charging of most things you’ll be carrying. Add a World travel adapter (and all necessary USB and other connectors & chargers) – use this with your extension cord and you can cope with most situations. A travel mouse is another handy addition.

Wet wipes – and perhaps a small highly absorbent towel. The type that swimmers often carry, you can dry them out and they roll up small and weigh practically nothing. Look for a microfibre swim towel.

Spare set of underwear – Just in case.

Perfume atomiser (and deodorant if your trip will be long and there’s a place to have a shower) You may want to drop them in your LAG bag if they’re liquid or gel.

A book (or a Kindle or other e-book) I like to take a Readers Digest – the book can slip in anywhere, it’s small and fairly pliable and the stories are short and easy to stop and start with.

Compression socks (if it’s a long flight). Travel stores and athletics outlets sell these, but the ones you can pick up at the pharmacy are generally less expensive and just as good. Put them on before you board your flight and keep them on. They are really quite tight but they stop your feel and legs from swelling and are recommended to help avoid DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis is a blood clot in one of the deep veins) which you definitely do not want.

A hairbrush – Much more useful than a comb. If you’re prone to ‘fly-away’ hair when you fly, one trick than can work is to wet your hands and run your fingers through your hair so it’s slightly damp. Brush your hair as you bend over so you get body into it. Shake it back into place when you stand up and you’re good to go.

A few assorted useful things depending on your destination – a squashable/foldable hat, an umbrella, flat water bottle and a small torch are always handy. The torch is especially handy if you are walking along a dark sandy road with lurking scorpions. A first aid kit is useful with pain relievers, disinfectant & plasters, antibiotic cream etc.