Travel Essentials

This article focuses on the what are the essentials to bring for a trip.
Some people appear to me to lug their entire “home” with them when they go on a holiday (Recall: a tourist dragging a huge luggage down a flight of steps – Thump, Thump, Thump). Is it  necessary? More likely than not, they over packed for the trip and the only “benefit” they will get from this is a sore arm or a sprained back.

“Everybody can travel but only a few can travel light.” (Myself, 2017)

Let me share with you the essentials I take along for a trip.
Passport: Don’t forget this.
Cash and Credit Cards: Remember to exchange some currency before your trip and also remember to activate your card’s magnetic strip for overseas use.
Camera: Photos! Selfies! Wefies!
Laptop: For last minute planning or browsing of the web generally (or if you are unfortunate enough a means to have access to your work email and documents)
Powerbanks : You will thank me later for this. Sometimes you just forgot to charge your phone the night before at the hotel or you just took a wee bit too many photographs during the day. A powerbank will help tide you through until you get back to the hotel.
Power adaptors and multi-socket plugs: Not all countries use the same plug. Be sure to check out the applicable plug type and pack an adaptor for your trip. While newer hotels are adding in universal plugs in their hotel rooms, this may not be the case for your chosen hotel. Consider bringing also a multi-socket plug/extension. Hotels often only have 1 to 2 spare sockets and you may not have enough slots for all your devices.
Toiletries:  Don’t bring those large bottles of shower gel or shampoo with you. Either consider buying a small travel sized bottle (more than 100ml) or consider downsizing to just (less than 100ml – So that you dont even need to check-in any luggage). For me, my toiletries can fit into a small bag. Depending on whether the hotel has basic items, my bag of items varies:

Money Saving Tip
Consider taking home those bottles of shower gel and shampoo. These are good bottles you can reuse for your next trip. Fill them up with your own preferred shampoos or shower gel. You can avoid spending unnecessary money buying a travel kit.

Towels : Normally, hotels offer towels for guests to use. For a budget traveller, hostels sometimes do not or will instead rent you a towel. Consider whether you may want to bring a small face towel in your luggage.
A secondary bag: A small hand carry size travel bag that can be rolled up and packed into your luggage may be useful. It doesn’t take up too much space and if during the trip you need additional storage space, you can always pull out your spare bag.
Clothes: If off for a holiday, consider picking clothes that can be matched with other items. This will add variety without having the need to bring different pieces for different days.
The general rule is to not over pack (I survived a 9 days’ long business trip with just 3 work shirts that I rotated and washed on a daily basis!). You can always buy any items you missed out in the destination country.
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Let me know in the comments section below if you have any helpful comments that I may have missed out.