The one minor item you miss if you forget to bring

[JohnM]

A plug for all those hand basins that don’t have one.

I keep one permanently in my toiletries bag.

 

[juddles]

Scissors and nurofen. ....

excellent choice!! Completely agree. These are both small items that are invaluable when you need them, but are tedious to source

I would add to these some over-size, heavy-duty bandaids. Try walking kilometres to find a chemist in some foreign country when you have bad blisters due to boots shrinking in the dry air of a long-haul flight the day before.

These are also very useful to hide any visible bleeding (usually after a bar fight) that would otherwise raise eyebrows and perhaps prevent you catching the next flight out....

 

[get me outta here]

The one time I forgot the antibiotics I had to pay a USA doctor to tell him I had sinusitis.

 

[Denali]

Pardon me for briefly going off topic (especially because I initiated this thread) but while you may have been travelling J or even F, and perhaps were 'moving home' and hence each had a minimum 40kg luggage in the hold allowance, both those items strike me as large, and somewhat heavy. How on earth does one pack a 'large fan' in a suitcase?

I can travel 3 weeks with carry on only, so plenty of allowance for the kitchen sink hubby needs to travel with. That man never travels light. The fan was still in box when we packed it and even though we left it there, he replaced it with a very large concrete and brick DIY model of Angkor Wat that weighed more to bring home! (note, it's still sitting in the box, unopened/not put together).

I refused to take a blender to NZ over Christmas so we bought one when we got there..... Which he insisted we fly home with.

 

[Hvr]

I carry a nylon spatula, about 30cm long.

I use it as a back scratcher. Once when boarding at BKK at the final check before going into the waiting area the security guard felt it while searching the bag. Pulled it out and asked why I had it.

I asked him to give it to me and then used it to scratch my back. The other security guard present thought it was hilarious and I was let through with no further comment.

 

[eric2011]

I always have a bulldog clip so I can keep the curtains closed together in hotel rooms

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm another for spare glasses and contacts.

I always have a bulldog clip so I can keep the curtains closed together in hotel rooms

... and now I'm totally stealing that idea.

 

[Aeolus]

My NC headphones! One time, I arrived at the airport only to realise I left it on the couch and asked the driver to take me back to get them, much to his delight as I paid him 3 times the fare to the airport! In my recent trip, I checked that it’s in my bag more often than my passport!

... and now I'm totally stealing that idea.

...and me too! Do you also have a trick to block the lights from coming through both corners/ends of the curtains?

 

[Denali]

I always have a bulldog clip so I can keep the curtains closed together in hotel rooms

I saw someone use the wardrobe hangers for pants (with clip) do this and I thought brilliant!

 

[blackcat20]

Those little tubes of Gaviscon are great for travel, nothing worse than bad reflux on a flight. I find the liquid works better than the tablets and you can't exactly carry a whole bottle around.

 

[Melburnian1]

I always have a bulldog clip so I can keep the curtains closed together in hotel rooms

Many like to sleep in darkness, but my solution is to use a chair in the room, which works reasonably well. However yours is a great suggestion.

 

[Quickstatus]

If travelling to North America, we take our own 110 V electric kettle and a box of tea bags.

Just buy one over there and leave it on last day

 

[Pushka]

Those little tubes of Gaviscon are great for travel, nothing worse than bad reflux on a flight. I find the liquid works better than the tablets and you can't exactly carry a whole bottle around.

I remember running around Rome looking for something to ease awful heartburn. I’m set now as I have the prescribed tablets. Bulldog clips for blinds - excellent idea. Or the coat hangar clips - will remember that too. And blisters can cut short any walking trip so those are always packed for walking type vacations We need a list!

 

[eric2011]

...and me too! Do you also have a trick to block the lights from coming through both corners/ends of the curtains?

I use the rubber elastic bands which I use to keep my charging cables tidy in my suitcase when on the move, once in my room you can always find something on the curtain and something on the curtain track to keep the curtains a little bit taut thus reducing/eliminating the light coming in

 

[Denali]

I remember running around Rome looking for something to ease awful heartburn. I’m set now as I have the prescribed tablets. Bulldog clips for blinds - excellent idea. Or the coat hangar clips - will remember that too. And blisters can cut short any walking trip so those are always packed for walking type vacations We need a list!

I get a cracked heel if my feet get too dry so heel balm/moisturiser and XL tape strips are a must (and in the 1st aid kit)

 

[TonyHancock]

Inflatable coat hanger*


*Yes the HI at Dunstall Park is the sort of classy establishment that assumes people like me will steal the cheap wooden hangers and puts them on a "ring". (Not good when you need to hang up shirts in the bathroom to get the wrinkles out!)

 

[Antoallison]

A few medium sized plastic zip lock bags... I can always find a use for them.

 

[vetrade]

A backup password protected USB stick with all my passwords and contacts list, which I always keep separate from my main luggage

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I always have about a dozen of different sizes of zip loc bags in the zip part of the lid of my big case. And we always have band-aids, corkscrew,scissors and a sewing kit !

 

[SeatBackForward]

My favourite badger hair shaving brush.

I left it on a recent trip to Hong Kong. I ducked down to the Watson's pharmac_ near the office. The guy in the store didn't know what I was looking for because, as he explained to me "I don't need to shave myself"..