WGJ Travels: Travel Must Haves

Week 3 in my WGJ Travels series and this week I am sharing what I think are some must haves when you are on vacation.  

Perhaps in another life, I was a girl scout because I always like to be prepared for as many situations as I can be.  When packing for any vacation, I always start with a list with the staples and move on from  there. These staple items are the items that you always pack and will always be useful. Packing for me can be stressful so having a list of staples that I know I will use is super helpful to alleviate the inevitable stress of packing. Here are some of my travel must haves:

Snacks. No one likes you when you get Hangry (small reminder for me) so snacks are perfect for keeping everyone on an even playing field and sometimes you just need a pick-me-up.

Blanket. I tend to get cold quickly and travel blankets make it easy for me to warm up and I can double as a pillow if need be. 

Sneakers. You need comfortable sneakers. Travel days are usually long and hard so you want to be comfortable and sneakers are the easiest way to ensure that. ALSO if you wear your bulkiest items, ie sneakers,  you will have more space in your luggage to pack more clothes. 

Portable charger. My phone holds a pretty good charge but sometimes, it can run out of battery quickly. Having a portable charger makes life easier and you will be able to charge on the go. Having your charging cable with you, if you will be in the car for a while is also a smart idea. 

Packing cubes. I have used these on previous vacations and I totally get the hype, they make your life so much easier and more organized on the go. I read one person takes the packing cubes, full of clothes, out of the suitcase and places them right into the drawers so you don't have to your suitcase open ALL THE TIME. How smart is that?!

Sanitizing wipes. My mom was toting these around WAYYY before COVID and to be honest, they always came in handy. Wiping down shared surfaces on the plane, in hotel rooms, in cars etc. The possibilities are endless and those flat little packs that fit easily into your luggage. ADD.TO.CART.

Hand Sanitizer. My mom was toting around this too WAYYY  before COVID (I remember her having handi-wipes in her purse back in the 90s!) and sometimes you just want your hands to feel clean. Bath and Body Works still is my favorite  place to buy hand sanitizer in those cute little bottles.  

Pouches. Emily Ley talked about using these when traveling in her podcast and I love using these in my everyday life. It helps keeping things organized especially little items that could get lost and grouping like items together. Makes life easier to pull out a pouch that you know has lipstick in it rather than dig through three layers of crap at the bottom of your purse.

Reusable Water Bottle. I drink my fair share of water during the day with my Camelbak water bottle. Its so easy to pop the straw up and drink. I looked into a different lid for my Camelbak- one that doesn't expose the straw to everything, (#travelgerms) and found Camelbak has two other options- a water 'chute' and a carry top that are interchangeable with the Eddy+ bottles. 

Small Notepad and Pen. I am a pen and paper kind of girl. As much as I love technology, something about writing things down or doodling to pass the time is soothing. It does not have to be anything fancy, it could be something as easy as a few note cards stapled together and stuck in a pouch with a pen/marker. 

This was a fun, random list to put together and it helped me think about some overlooked items that I need to pack for my trip. Thanks for reading along today. What are your Travel must haves? Let me know in the comments.

Be sure to come back next Friday when I share exactly what I'm packing and how it fits all in my carry on suitcase. (Prayers are needed for making it all fit, please and thank you!)

Did you miss my previous WGJ Travel posts? Catch them here: Planning; Destination Bucket List.

[[Life's not meant to be lived in one place.]]