Confession: I usually start packing for a trip about an hour before I leave for the airport. I’ve found that no matter how much time I designate for packing I always end up leaving something at home, spending multiple hours preparing isn’t worth it for me. With that in mind, here are the items I always include during my hour of packing chaos to make travel more pleasant.
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Pack These Items to Make Travel More Pleasant
Sleep Mask
A sleep mask can make a significant difference in the quality of sleep you get on airplanes. While it won’t help you with your seat neighbor elbowing you or attempting to take over the armrest, it’ll make you feel much more refreshed upon arrival. It’s not a coincidence most airlines provide a sleep mask in business and first class amenity kits. Pack that sleep mask to make your next travel experience much more pleasant. If you don’t already own one, here’s a link to Amazon’s offerings.
Glasses Instead of Contacts
Break out those dorky glasses while on your next vacation, and your eyes will thank you. Contacts increase the likelihood of you touching your eyes, which along with swimming, can result in eye infections and irritation. Furthermore, glasses can protect you from foreign objects entering your eyes.
Immune Boosters
While I’m not sure about the actual benefits of immune boosters on the body, Emergen-C has done a great job making me feel better when under the weather. We all know how dirty airplanes, bumping up the Vitamin regimen might just do the trick. Emergen-C is a new addition to my carry-on necessities. You can pick up immune boosters at any major grocery store, drug store, or Amazon.
Interesting Read: Here’s the CDC’s guidance for cabin crew on how to prevent the spread of disease on commercial aircraft.
Sunscreen
The number of people who go out into the sun without sunscreen, at home or while traveling astonishes me. I lived in arguably the sunniest state in the U.S., and I regularly see people going to the river and into pools without sun protection. When traveling, always pack broad spectrum SPF sunscreen to protect you from the suns damaging capabilities. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen even on the cloudy days as you can still get sunburned.
Pain or Fever Reducer
I’m not one to take medication right when a headache hits but always make sure to bring it with me when I travel. It can be hard to find medications in foreign countries and sometimes here in the United States late at night. You never know what you might contract and when some relief might be just what you need.
Umbrella
It doesn’t matter if the weather looks sunny and 75 all week long, rain can come out of nowhere! Here are some of the most popular travel umbrella offerings from Amazon.
Universal Travel Adapter
Probably the essential gadget for international travel because most countries around the world don’t have the same power plugs as us. I bring a universal travel adapter even when I travel domestically as a sweet international deal might pop out of nowhere. Get yours using our Amazon referral link before your next international vacation.
Tennis Ball
Recently we’ve heard that sitting is the new smoking, did you know a tennis ball can help you decrease the effects of sitting for extended periods? Ali Ghoz, consultant orthopedic surgeon from the London Orthopaedic Clinic, told the Daily Star, “By taking a tennis ball or a massager on the plane this will help increase circulation…If you don’t have a massager, you can use your hands to stroke your muscles from the ankles upwards which will get the blood flowing back to your heart.”
The Bald Thoughts
Traveling is not the low-stress activity, nailing down a list of items you shouldn’t travel without makes the packing experience much easier. I hope this list of items to pack to make travel more pleasant will help you out on your vacations to come.
What items can’t you leave home without?
I’d skip hauling an umbrella unless you know you’re going to a place in a very rainy season. They can be purchased super cheap on the street in most places and even can make a fun souvenir.
Tennis Ball? Sounds OK but why haul another item for limited use. I guess if I was stuck in economy on a super long haul it might be worth it along with a neck pillow. Thanks for not adding any useless Amazon affiliate links like many blogs do. These seem legit.
DaninMCI,
While Umbrellas can be acquired for cheap, if you always buy them at your destination you’ll end up with a pile of umbrellas at home lol. I agree that a tennis ball would be beneficial in long hauls. We do include Amazon links when relevant as blogging activities take up a good amount of time, the money earned helps us make improvements towards the site! Thanks for reading.
[…] your list? Guilty! This can be applied in terms of work, chores, homework, or traveling. Luckily, BaldThoughts has created a super simple list of items to bring along when you’re traveling to make life easier […]
Sorry, there is no benefits to the so called “immune boosters”. This has been well studied and they do not boost the immune system or reduce the incidence of disease. Linus Pauling was just wrong and these myths have persisted since. Expensive placebo.