Ten Travel Items You Need

 There are no affiliate links or sponsored recommendations in this post. These are just things I think are worth purchasing for a trip because I find them indispensable. 

1.  A portable phone charger. If you're out and about all day long, and if you're using your phone a lot, you need to be able to charge it on the go. I consider this a safety item.

2.  A hanging cosmetic bag. I'll never travel again without one of these. Instead of having to jumble through a typical cosmetic bag, I can see everything at a glance, and it's all off the bathroom counter. In many places, you might not even have a bathroom counter. I have and use the one linked here. It's a great size and very durable. 

3. A washcloth or two. European hotels don't usually provide these either. It's not that they don't use them; it's that they consider washcloths to be a very personal item. Kinda makes sense, actually. I mean, you're putting an awful lot of trust in the hotel's laundry sanitation. So, stick one or two washcloths from home in a small ziplock and wash your face with confidence.

4. Hair conditioner. For some reason, European hotels don't usually provide this. It's not something my hair can live without. If yours can, leave it off, but I always take some.

5.  Folding silicone water bottles. When we were in Rome in July of 2019, they were having a heat wave. We carried these bottles and filled them up whenever we encountered a water fountain. Now, I carry one whenever I'm going to be out and about all day. The carabiner allows me to clip it to my purse.

6.  Luggage locks. You can't use them when you check your baggage on the plane, but you can in the hotel room. And if for some reason you need to store your luggage at the hotel or at a train station for a while, you'll want to be able to lock it. Yes, somebody could get into it if they really wanted to, but this would at least slow them down. 

7. Hand sanitizer or wipes. Stair rails. Door knobs. Subway hand holds. Germs are everywhere. 

8. Folding hangers and some clothespins. Have you ever noticed that hotels only give you 2 or 3 clothes hangers? I love these folding hangers and I always travel with them. I also take a few clothespins and I can pin a skirt, a pair of pants, or something I need to hang dry like a bathing suit right on the hanger. 

9.  A couple of 2 gallon ziplock bags. I use these when I  need to pack wet clothes and also as a sort of washing machine. I don't really want to use the hotel sink where lots of other people have washed their hands/brushed their teeth to wash out my swim suit, so I put some soapy water in the bag and wash the suit in that. A drop or two of shampoo works fine as laundry detergent. I also take some smaller ziplock bags, but you probably already thought of those.

10. A Turkish Beach Towel. You can use it for so many things besides it's obvious use as a towel. I've used it as a shawl, a tablecloth, a lightweight blanket, a scarf... I promise you'll discover that it's useful. When we visited a hot spring in Italy, I used it as a towel, a barrier to change behind, and a sarong. It folds or rolls up small and dries quickly. 

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