Packing Essentials: The Things I Couldn't Live Without on the Road

We travel with one suitcase each, a roller carry-on and a backpack.

And honestly? It's still too much.

I probably haven't worn half the clothes I've brought.

Because the truth is, you don't need much to travel. After years of being on the road, I've learned that most things you think you absolutely need are things you can easily live without.

But there are a few things I wouldn't want to be without.

Not because they're necessities. Because they make wherever we are feel a little more like home.

I think of it as covering the senses: something to see, something to hear, something to smell, something to touch and something to taste.

These are my road-tested essentials.

1. A Frameo — See

Our little digital photo frame might be my favorite thing we travel with.

Everyone in the family can send photos to it, so the pictures are constantly changing. One minute it's the kids and their friends, then a Christmas past, a birthday from many moons ago, friends' smiling faces.

It sounds like a small thing, but it makes an enormous difference.

Put it on a table in whatever house, apartment or hotel we're staying in and suddenly, it feels a little bit like home.

2. Something cozy — Touch

I always travel with one big shawl. It comes on the plane, gets thrown over my shoulders in a chilly restaurant, becomes a blanket on a long car ride and gets wrapped around me on a cool evening.

I like having something soft and familiar with me.

And if I have room, I'll throw in something ridiculously soft too: a pair of cashmere socks.

You don't need them but sometimes feeling at home is just being cozy.

3. Compression packing cubes

Not just any packing cubes. I'm very particular about these.

I like the ones with the double zip that compresses everything down, but also opens up into little square compartments.

The best part? I don't actually unpack.

The cubes become little drawers. I leave my clothes in them, and when it's time to leave, I zip them up and put them back in the suitcase.

4. A hanging toiletry bag

A big, compartmentalized toiletry bag that hangs from the bathroom door or a towel rail.

Everything is visible. Everything has its place. No rummaging around in the bottom of a toiletry bag looking for tweezers at 6 a.m.

5. A little jewelry organizer

I like a small jewelry organizer with separate compartments so necklaces don't become one giant, impossible knot.

It keeps earrings, rings and necklaces together and, more importantly, keeps them from disappearing into the bottom of a suitcase.

6. My little travel pharmacy

Thankfully, we haven't had to use much of it. But when you need something in the middle of the night, somewhere unfamiliar, you will be very glad you brought it.

And there is one thing in this kit that gets top billing.

The freaking charcoal.

Of everything in my travel pharmacy, activated charcoal is the thing I most want with me.

If you've ever been violently sick from something you ate or drank while traveling, you know the feeling: What the hell did I just consume?

I don't just want something to make my stomach feel a little better. Activated charcoal can bind certain substances in the digestive tract and reduce their absorption, which is why it has legitimate medical uses in certain poisonings.

But this is important: it isn't a cure-all for food poisoning or every stomach bug, and it isn't appropriate for every type of poisoning. If I think I've actually been poisoned, I get medical advice rather than trying to treat it myself.

Still, that little bottle of black powder has earned its permanent place in my suitcase.

Alongside it:

• Pepto-Bismol
• An antacid
• Arnica homeopathic pills (for jet lag & tumbles) and arnica cream for bruises, sore backs and necks
• Painkiller of choice: Tylenol/acetaminophen, Advil/ibuprofen or aspirin
• An antihistamine
• Antiseptic cream
• Hydrocortisone 2% — something I ask my doctor about before we travel, particularly for itchy bites, rashes or other inflammatory skin reactions
• Antiseptic wipes
• Band-Aids
• Tweezers
• Nail cutter
• Little scissors or a Swiss Army knife
• My personal emergency medications, including an inhaler and EpiPen
• Altitude medication such as acetazolamide (Diamox), if appropriate for the trip and prescribed/recommended by my doctor

Before heading somewhere new, I also check that our routine vaccinations are up to date and look at the health recommendations for that particular country.

Tetanus is an easy one to forget. I forgot to check when I last had mine and, after getting an infected mosquito bite in Tahiti, I ended up needing a shot.

Depending on where you're going, other vaccinations such as Hepatitis A may be recommended too.

7. The little things that save you

These aren't glamorous, but I never want to be without them:

• Hand sanitizer
• Bug spray
• Sunscreen
• A travel mosquito net
• A tiny sewing kit
• An eye mask
• Black electrical tape

Yes, electrical tape.

It takes up practically no room and has rescued us from all sorts of little travel disasters. A loose cable, a broken suitcase bit, something that needs holding together, a light that is shining directly into your eyes at night. It's one of those things you don't appreciate until suddenly you need it.

And then I adjust depending on where we're going.

Hot and beachy: water shoes, a rash guard/swim shirt, a hat and a waterproof phone case with a cord so I can take my phone onto a boat or into the water.

Buggy: extra bug spray and a mosquito net.

Cold: warm socks, a puffer jacket and layers.

8. Noise-canceling headphones — Hear

No explanation necessary.

Planes. Airports. Long bus rides. Noisy hotels. Construction next door.

9. A UE Boom — Hear

This is perhaps less essential and more about happiness.

Music changes a place.

A little apartment in Mexico, a rental house in the Cook Islands, a hotel room somewhere we've never been before... put on some music and suddenly it has a personality.

It's one of those things that makes a temporary place feel like yours.

10. A luggage scale & AirTags

The least exciting thing on this list is one of the most useful.

Because there is nothing quite like discovering at the airport that your suitcase is five pounds overweight and having to perform emergency suitcase surgery on the floor while people stream around you.

Weigh it before you leave.

AirTags. We put one in each suitcase, and I also like having one in my carry-on and purse. When you're constantly moving from place to place, being able to open your phone and see where your luggage is takes a lot of the panic out of travel.

Problem solved.

11. Something that smells like home — Smell

This one is less about practicality and more about the senses.

A little scented candle. Essential oils. A favorite scent.

Something that makes you walk into a strange room and immediately think, ahhh.

I've become convinced that scent is one of the quickest ways to make somewhere unfamiliar feel comfortable.

12. My little tech bag

One small bag with compartments for all the things that otherwise disappear into the depths of your luggage:

Chargers. Cables. Plugs. Adapters. Power banks. Whatever strange little piece of technology we suddenly discover we need.

I also carry a backup battery pack and a MagSafe charger. Because discovering that your phone is dying when you're trying to find your way home in a city you've never visited is not a situation I want to experience twice.

Everything goes into one bag. Everything comes back into the same bag.

This is the difference between being organized and spending twenty minutes saying, Where the hell is that charger?

13. Starlink Mini

We travel with one for work, and we've only actually needed it in a handful of countries.

But when you need it, you really need it.

There have been places where the internet was so unreliable that having Starlink meant we could actually work.

It's small enough to travel with, and because we only activate the service when we need it, we don't have to pay for it when we're home.

One thing I always make sure we have with it is a high-output car charger, so we have a way to power it if the electricity goes out.

14. A traveling kitchen — Taste

We always travel with a few little kitchen essentials because I like being able to make something decent wherever we land.

It doesn't have to be much. A few carefully chosen tools and spices can make a rental kitchen infinitely more usable.

Maybe for you it's simple: a few tea bags, your favorite mints tucked into your backpack.

For me, the traveling kitchen deserves its own list.

---

And perhaps that's really what I've learned about packing after all these years:

You don't need more stuff.

You just need a few things that make life easier, a few things that make you feel at home, and a few little comforts that remind you to enjoy wherever you happen to be.