Deciding on what to include in your carry-on luggage for international travel can leave you in a standstill. However, if you have access to a handy checklist of carry-on luggage essentials, the task becomes a whole lot easier. Here is a guide to necessary items for international travel:
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READ MORE: TRAVEL CHECKLIST: ITEMS TO NEVER FORGET BEFORE GOING ON A TRIP
Necessary Items for International Travel – Travel Documents, Cash and Cards
It helps to have a travel documents organiser where you can secure your passport, Visa (required by some countries for entry), customs documentation for expensive items you will be bringing with you (like your camera), and prescriptions (if you need to travel with prescription medications). This will save you a lot of time and trouble when you get checked at airports. It would likewise help to bring with you another form of identification aside from your passport, cash, credit/debit cards, insurance cards/documents, itineraries and reservations, and emergency contacts. You would want duplicates of these documents, along with electronic copies.
Necessary Items for International Travel – Comfort Basics
Traveling internationally means long flights and several hours on the road. To make your travel experience less gruelling, it makes a lot of difference to bring comfort essentials with you. These include a neck pillow, travel blanket or scarf, ear plugs, eye mask, lip balm, lotion and water bottle. It can be dry in high altitudes and you would want to fill up your water bottle once you pass through airport inspection. And don’t forget to have some traveling snacks in your carry-on!
International Travel First Aid Kit
While it would be best not to need one, it still helps to have a small first aid pack for your international travel. You wouldn’t want a tummy ache or some minor injury to take the pleasure away from your trip. So make sure you pack some adhesive bandages, a pair of tweezers, some antiseptic, antibiotic cream, pain relievers, and medications for diarrhoea, nausea, allergies and colds. Moreover, it helps to have some disinfectant wipes and sunscreen in your kit.
Technology Essentials
Make sure you pack your mobile devices and chargers in your carry-on bag. It would also help if you bring some travel electrical adapters or converters with you – you never know what plugs or voltages are used in foreign countries. Make sure you also have digital storage devices in tow, like an external hard drive, memory card and memory sticks. Traveling with kids? It’s best to have the best tablet for toddlers in your pack. These technology essentials are also useful gifts for backpackers, so you might want to hand one as a present to your traveler friend.
READ MORE: CELL PHONE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL – USE YOUR PHONE EVEN WITHOUT NETWORK
Guidebooks and Maps
Guidebooks and maps can be very handy during international travel. And it would be great to have them in portable form, as well as digital. An added plus would be to have your guidebook come complete with translations, especially when it comes to standard menu items.
Travel Entertainment
While in between destinations, it can become very easy to get bored. You can chase boredom away through packing some books, magazines, travel games or a deck of cards with you. Or if you are into journaling, make sure you don’t leave your pen and travel journal at home!
READ MORE: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL LUGGAGE RESTRICTIONS: A GUIDE FOR CARRY-ON LUGGAGE
