There are things the seasoned international flyer will have in his or her bag that you wouldn’t put much thought to. Take the number 10 mark for annual trips and more, and you’ll see they pack differently.
The thing at #1 on this list is one of those items you won’t know the value of until you are in a bind somewhere and kicking yourself for not having it. Put off booking your next overseas flight and read this to the end first.
25. A Pen (Not a Phone)
It is funny in a way. You get to Tokyo or Mexico City and find out paper customs forms are still very much in vogue. A veteran of the skies has a cheap ballpoint pen in the front of the carry-on.
When the attendant puts out the call for a pen there is invariably one hand in the air. That person has been here before. You can be too.
24. A Physical Backup of Your Hotel Address
The phone goes dead. Or you can’t find it at baggage claim. Or the local SIM won’t connect till you are well outside the terminal. Those who fly with some frequency have a printed card with the hotel’s name and number in the language of the country.
Hand it to a cabbie and there is no need for a translation app. It is as simple as it gets and it never fails.
23. A Stainless Steel Water Bottle With a Filter
In many places the tap water will put you out of commission for the first couple of days. The risk is not worth it. An experienced traveler will have a filter water bottle on hand to make the water in Ho Chi Minh City or the Greek countryside palatable.
Make use of the fountain after you clear security and you won’t be shelling out $6 for plastic every few hours. Nor will you be without water on a lengthy connection.
22. Melatonin in a Clearly Labeled Container
Jet lag from a long-haul can put two days in the tank. Not if you are flying internationally on a regular basis. They will have melatonin in its original labeled bottle to sidestep any questions from customs and pop one at bedtime on the first night.
It is a minor detail but you will be up and about while the rest of the tour group is nodding off at lunch.
21. A Micro Luggage Scale
Airlines are particular about what you can bring on board. Some limits are 7kg, not 10. or 15. Seven.
To avoid a surprise at the gate or having to reorganize in the check-in line, frequent flyers use a pocket digital luggage scale that comes in at under 50 grams. Weigh the bag in the hotel room. You save yourself $80 in fees on a budget carrier.
20. A Portable Doorstop Alarm
If you put in 60+ nights in hotels abroad you have heard of this; most haven’t. It is a rubber wedge with an alarm for under the door. Someone tries to open it and it lets out a scream.
The locks on a budget place in South America or Eastern Europe can be flimsy, so this gives you peace of mind. At less than $15 it has been a staple for years.
19. Compression Socks (Real Ones, Not Drug Store Ones)
An 14-hour run from LA to Sydney will do a number on your legs if you aren’t careful. Frequent flyers don’t go for the drugstore type of sock. They wear medical-grade compression socks in the 15–20 mmHg range.
Your ankles won’t swell and you won’t be shuffling off the plane as though you have aged 10 years. You land feeling like a human being. For a long route it is the best investment for your body.
18. A Reusable Silicone Bag for Liquids
That TSA zip bag from the store is good for three trips before it splits. If you are running through international security twice a month you want a reusable silicone quart bag of the heavy-duty sort.
It doesn’t leak and it has a way of standing on its own. No more fishing a crinkled piece of plastic out of your bag at the checkpoint.
17. An Offline Maps Download for Every Destination
Don’t count on mobile data when you are overseas. Plans fail, SIMs don’t work and the airport WiFi won’t get you to the cabs. The smart move is to have Google Maps downloaded for the city offline before you even touch down.
You can put the maps to work with zero connectivity. There is no need for a signal to make your way from the airport to the hotel, and when you are on your own that is hardly an option.
16. A Spare Set of Clothes in Your Carry-On
Airlines will misplace your checked bags. It is more of an occurrence on international flights than domestic. Any seasoned traveler has had to stand at a baggage carousel and watch it go round in circles.
As a result they make sure there is a full change of clothes in their carry-on. A clean shirt, some socks and underwear. You do not want to be in the same attire for a meeting in a new city because your luggage was three days in coming.
15. A Multi-Plug International Travel Adapter (Not a Voltage Converter)
If you cross more than one region in a year, a single-country adapter is of no use. The frequent flyer has a universal model on hand for 150 or more countries with two USB-A ports and a USB-C to boot.
Be mindful of the distinction between an adapter and a voltage converter when using something with a motor such as a hair dryer. While most of today’s electronics are dual voltage, it is best to check the label first.
Read More: 19 Things Americans Get Wrong Before Their First International Flight
14. Noise-Canceling Earbuds (Not Headphones)
There is nothing practical about over-ear noise-canceling headphones. They are too big for a jacket pocket and you look like a tourist before you have even left the gate. Those who fly regularly made the switch to compact earbuds years back.
They stow in your pocket and are fine for calls once you touch down. They block out 90% of the engine drone so you are not left with a tension headache after 14 hours in the air.
13. A Packable Rain Jacket (Not an Umbrella)
An umbrella is no match for hard rain or wind, and you can’t run with it. The international regular has a lightweight packable rain jacket that goes down to the size of a grapefruit and tucks into the top of a carry-on.
You stay dry at the taxi queue and at the carousel, even in a city where the weather took you by surprise.
12. A Small First Aid Kit With Prescription Meds Labeled
Falling ill in a country where you cannot speak the tongue or find a pharmacy at 2am is frightening and costly. So you see the old hands with a labeled kit containing ibuprofen, antihistamine, Imodium, rehydration sachets and any prescriptions.
All in original packaging with their name on it. It has never caused an issue with customs and you will not be making a trip to the pharmacy at midnight.
11. A Slim RFID-Blocking Card Wallet
In the busier cities of Europe and Asia, electronic pickpocketing is a fact of life. Contactless skimmers are to be found in markets and restaurants.
To avoid having your card skimmed in Barcelona or Marrakech, keep your foreign currency in an RFID-blocking holder in a front pocket. It is simple physics and it works.
10. A Battery-Powered Portable Safe (Cable Lock + Lockbox)
Do not trust the average hotel safe; the code is likely factory default and a reset button will open it. Anyone who has been robbed abroad knows this. Others have learned from them.
They bring along a portable travel safe with a steel cable to secure to the furniture for their passport and backup cash. At 400 grams it has prevented losses worth thousands.
Read More: 23 Ways Your Hotel Room Is Less Secure Than You Think
9. A Decoy Wallet
The value of a decoy wallet is well understood by those who have dealt with distraction thieves or worse while overseas. Real money and cards stay in a hidden pouch or money belt.
In the back pocket or bag there is a worn-out spare with an expired card, a phony loyalty card and $20 in local notes. Should someone make a grab for it, you let them have it and come out unscathed. It is standard equipment for the experienced and free of charge.
8. A Silk Sleep Sack
There is no guarantee of cleanliness with the budget sheets you will find in hostels or low-rated hotels in Eastern Europe and Asia. One can never be sure when they were put through a washer.
A silk travel sleep sack is the answer to that, no inspection required. It is light, coming in at under 200 grams, and packs down flat while putting a sanitary layer between you and the bed.
Those who have made the switch report better sleep for the simple reason they know what is there before them has been left alone. Once you have tried it, it will be in your bag on every subsequent trip.
7. A Portable Bidet Bottle
It may seem like an oddity until you are two weeks into a stay in some part of the world where toilet paper is either unreliable or you won’t find any at all.
Bidets are the norm in much of the Middle East and Southern Europe as well as Asia; toilet paper is not. The seasoned international traveler has a compact travel bidet bottle for just such an occasion.
It goes in the toiletry bag and is filled from the tap. There is no more wondering what a foreign bathroom has to offer. If you know about it, you don’t leave home without it.
6. A Faraday Bag for Your Passport
Consider your biometric passport. It is sending out data wirelessly and anyone with the means and the right vantage point can read it without so much as touching you. This has been done at border crossings and airports, it is not some kind of fiction.
That is why regulars on the international circuit put their passport in a Faraday-lined travel pouch to block NFC and RFID. The data stays put unless you open the pouch and hand it over. At under $20. for the pouch, the peace of mind is a good value.
5. A Personal Water Purification Tablet Pack
Your filter bottle will do for most things. For the rest there are tablets. Should you be in a rural area with poor water infrastructure or your filter is lost, iodine or chlorine dioxide water purification tablets are your fallback. They are negligible in weight. With 50 of them you can treat 50 liters.
I was told by a retired nurse from Seattle that in her time in 44 countries she has not had one night of illness from the water thanks to them. You will be convinced you don’t need them right up until the moment you do.
4. A Global eSIM Loaded Before Departure
There is a particular kind of panic that sets in when you arrive in a new country and your phone number is not working. Your carrier’s plan has let you down and the line at the local SIM kiosk is two hours long.
No Uber, no way to call the hotel. An experienced traveler has already sorted this by activating a global eSIM from Holafly or Airalo before departure.
It covers 150+ countries at a flat rate and is live the instant you touch down. No queue, no kiosk, no stress. Your connection is on before you even get to the carousel.
3. A Hidden Money Belt (Worn Under Clothing)
You will see money belts recommended in every travel blog, yet few put one on. Then you have the ones who’ve had their wallet lifted in Rome or their pocket picked on the Metro in Paris and now they wear one daily.
Tucked under the shirt, a slim neck or waist money belt is where the real passport and emergency cash go, leaving the decoy to handle the rest. You can’t take what isn’t visible.
After 30 minutes of getting used to it you don’t even notice it. Those who don’t wear one tend to remember their trips for the wrong reasons.
2. A Doorstop Wedge + Portable Motion Sensor Combo
The doorstop in item #20 is fine. But put a clip-on battery-powered motion alarm with it and you are covered. Solo travelers make a habit of using both for a physical barrier and an audio one.
In less than 60 seconds it is set. If anything crosses the threshold the alarm puts out 130 decibels. You can rest in a budget hotel as you would in your own room.
Ask anyone who has woken in the middle of the night to the sound of a door handle in a strange land and they will tell you this is preparation, not paranoia. Serious business. Though not as much as what you’ll find at #1.
1. A Pre-Loaded Emergency Contact Card in the Local Language
The Most Important 10 Grams You’ll Ever Pack
Your medical history and allergies are with you. But if you are in shock or unconscious after an accident in a country where language is a barrier, the staff in the emergency room can’t access any of it. Fly internationally a dozen times a year and you have a laminated card, no bigger than a credit card, in English and the local tongue.
It has your blood type, medications, insurance details and the words “I need an interpreter”. A Denver flight attendant with 3 million air miles to her name put it this way: “I’ve seen passengers who couldn’t tell doctors they were allergic to penicillin. I’ve seen people who couldn’t explain their blood pressure condition. The ones with this card on them got treatment faster and safer than everyone else.” “You can have the card made in 20 minutes with a free template and a translation app.
Laminate it, put a copy in your phone and in your passport holder, and make sure someone at home has the info.” It is nothing in terms of weight or space. Yet in the worst of circumstances abroad it could be the only thing to get you the proper help in time. We put this one last for a reason.
Pack Like Someone Who’s Done This 50 Times
This is the right gear, selected by those who have learned what is important the hard way. You don’t want more of it.
Get three of these in your bag for your next flight and you are traveling with more sense than 90% of the people at the gate. Send this along to anyone making plans for their first trip overseas; the agent won’t be telling them half of it.
Comments
The opinions and views expressed in the comments section are solely those of the individual users and do not represent or reflect the opinions, views, or positions of HumbleTrail. HumbleTrail does not endorse, support, or verify the accuracy of any user-generated content.
By posting a comment you agree to receive related emails from HumbleTrail in accordance with our Terms and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
