International travel can be a scary thing, but it doesn’t have to be. Being prepared and doing your research beforehand is essential to easing travel stresses. Part of being prepared involves using the right products that will make your trip go more smoothly. There are the obvious items like headphones, shoes, etc, but there are a few other products that i think everyone should consider.
Here’s a list of some of my favorite travel items that i like to bring along on trips:
I’ll admit that i never cared about this sort of thing when i first started traveling, but it is so important to protect your belongings! Having your passport, credit card, cash, etc. stolen is a terrible thing, but trust me, it is 500x times worse when you’re in another country. This pouch is great because it clips on to your belt, and no one will ever see it. I recommend not carrying all of your important docs on you when you’re out and about, but having some of your cash and bank cards in here where no one can easily grab it will ease theft stresses.
Oddly enough, i took way too long to start using these things. I never really saw a point, i thought i was pretty great at packing and thought they were useless. I finally gave in and bought them before i took a trip to Africa because i was determined to minimize the amount of luggage that i was taking, and my coworkers swore by packing cubes. To my surprise, they really do help a ton. Put all of your under-clothes in one cube, your tops in another, etc. and you will be surprised how much more stuff you can fit in your luggage. Not to mention, they’re a great way to stay organized and not make a total mess of everything half-way through your trip.
The first time i travelled without a parent, i had no idea the effect that international travel was going to have on my body. The time zone differences can really have a negative impact on your body and overall health. I recommend taking these digestive enzymes to stay healthy and keep energy levels high so that you can spend less time worrying about your stomach ache and more time exploring!
I never knew that i needed a microfiber towel until i actually had one. Two years ago, i backpacked around Europe for a month after a graduated college. In each city that i went to, aside from one, i stayed in a hostel. This was my first experience with hostels and quite frankly, i had no idea what it would be like. I soon learned the hard way that hostel life is hard, and needless to say, super low water pressure and ever-changing climates are not a curly-haired girl’s friend.
A Travel Journal
I’m not partial to any particular brand of travel journal ( i got mine at Powell’s City of Books in Portland), and to be honest, i didn’t even decide to start journaling until recently. I really dislike feeling that something didn’t really happen, and i tend to get that feeling whenever a trip ends. I come home and go “wait, was i actually just riding a camel through the Sahara Desert, or was it just a dream?” So to help myself document my memories and write better blog posts, i started documenting my adventures in a notebook. This way, whenever i even vaguely feel that the experience wasn’t real, i have proof that in fact, it was!
This stow-away day pack by Eddie Bauer is probably one of the best purchase decisions that i’ve made in a long time. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not as great at packing as i once thought i was (see: packing cubes) and am working on being able to travel with less items, and this pack helps a lot with that. Firstly, you can fold it up into a tiny little cube for super easy storage when you’re not using it, and when you unfold it, it has a ton of space. You can fit extra clothes and whatever other travel necessities that you need in there and still have a lot of room left, not to mention the fact that it’s also extremely light weight on your back. I highly recommend this one!
What are some of your must-haves for international travel?
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