Essential Items to Pack, Wherever You Travel

A helpful list of must-have items for those little emergencies and annoying breakdowns on the road. 

Every traveler, sooner or later, finds themselves in a little emergency. We’re not talking about major problems here, just the annoying ripped seam, lost button, broken luggage, forgotten hat, or pesky bottles with no openers. Seasoned travelers pride themselves on ingenuity and we’ve solved many an issue on the fly. But having the right tools on hand can help enormously.

Here are some essential items to pack so that you will be prepared for the inevitable little travel breakdowns.

Duct Tape
Where is it when you need it? Wrap a few feet of tape around a pencil and you’ll have it at the ready. Plus, you have a pencil!

Bandana
You never know when you might need a good piece of cloth. A versatile bandana can act as a bandage, a dust mask, a cooling wet rag, a sun shade, an eye mask, a lavender-scented sleep-inducing pillow cover. Wow, we’ve even seen one used as a gas cap, but we wouldn’t’ recommend that!

Corkscrew
A serviceable corkscrew, better than the one you might have on your all-purpose pocket knife, not only opens wine, it makes friends! Not very likely to make it past the TSA though, so, if you’re flying, put it in your checked bag.

Matches
If you fly a lot, and you don’t smoke, you probably aren’t carrying a lighter. In my toiletries kit I keep a book of matches, just in case. Be aware, you can’t carry more than one book of safety matches in your carry on, and no matches are allowed in checked bags.

Head Lamp
Useful not only when the lights go out, but when you want to read in bed after your partner is snoozing. A lamp makes a nice old-fashioned alternative to your phone light when you need to find the biffy at night, too.

Water Bladder
If you aren’t drinking enough water, everything becomes more difficult and I become even more accident prone. Of course, I carry bandage strips, but luxury is being able to sooth the bumps and bruises of travel. My wide-mouthed water bladder becomes an ice pack to treat pain and swelling. (For super light packing, a long plastic bag that can be knotted closed is a great alternate.) If there’s no ice machine, just ask your hotel receptionist (or bartender) for ice.

Needle and Thread
Don’t overdo it. Just black thread and a needle will reattach that button or repair a seam until the professionals can step in. Don’t think that safety pins will do the job. They won’t, but if it makes you feel better you can drop a couple of those in your kit, too.

Tea Bags and Pajamas 
Home remedy. There’s no reason when you are feeling under the weather that you should forge on through your vacation or business trip. Take a couple hours, at least, to snuggle up as you would at home. This is easy if your emergency kit includes at least one item that you’d normally not wear out of the house. An old T-shirt or sweatpants can double as your gym wear and might be respectable enough for your hotel breakfast.

Multi-plug Electrical Strip
We have one with four plugs, because you can never have too many outlets when you’ve got six devices that need charging.

Now that you’ve fixed your little problems with these tools and some creative thinking, you’ve earned yourself a ten-minute break. Drink some water and remember to thank your mother and TravelPast50, for their common-sense advice.