My Current Travel Essentials

Everyone travels differently. Some people like to bring their whole closet; others choose to bring the absolute bare minimum. I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t even know if it’s by choice. I just hate checking in bags. I’m always paranoid that they’re going to get lost. So I pack as much as I can as long as everything fits in a carry-on and a daypack. It ends up working out, though. There’s a smaller chance of your bag getting lost (although I’ve found that on most international flights, the bin space is so small they make you check in your bags anyway), and getting around with all your stuff when you reach your destination is more convenient as well.

So here’s a list of my current travel essentials that I could not go without. With the exception of the boots, everything is pretty much relevant year-round. Hope ya’ll enjoy!

SOREL’s Lolla Boot: My favorite boots of all-time! They’re super comfortable and I love how they’re also waterproof—perfect for trips to rainy places where you have to do a considerable amount of walking. They actually held up pretty well in the snow too, when I was in Iceland. And they look great! These are definitely a narrow fit, though, so I’d recommend sizing up. Funny story—when I first got these, I wore them around for a week and could not for the life of me figure out why they were taking so long to break in. They were super stiff and walking was a rather painful process. Then one day, during lunch at some restaurant, I felt something poking at my foot from the inside of the boot. Turns out I had somehow not taken out the cardboard in both boots…but because of how they placed it in the shoes, I was still able to get my foot in and walk around. What a disaster. But we all good now 🙂

A Daypack: Maybe if my purses were bigger, I’d opt to bring one of those instead. But I prefer daypacks because they can hold far more stuff, and the straps make carrying them actually quite comfortable. The one I usually bring is from Eddie Bauer. Super lightweight but surprisingly sturdy. And it fits everything! 🙂

Granola Bars: I always have to have a couple bars on hand. I’m always snacking. My stomach isn’t very big but my metabolism is pretty fast so I get hungry every 2 hours or so. And granola bars are always a life saver. I usually opt for Clif Bars just because they’re more filling. They don’t taste half bad either. And they’re super easy to pack–they barely take up any space. There was one day in Iceland (Christmas Eve, I believe) where all the shops were closed…even gas stations! So these granola bars became our meals.

Water Bottle: This is another lifesaver. For some reason, I’m terrified of being without water. Even when I’m going somewhere local, I usually keep a bottle of water in my purse. Which is super ironic because I’m dehydrated most of the time and never actually drink the water that I carry around. But for some reason, whenever I don’t have water with me is when I end up desperately needing it—thirst, coughing fits, etc. So I carry it around now like insurance. But traveling with a water bottle saves a lot of money! These days, a lot of places have fountains you can use to refill (or tap water that’s drinkable), so you save a lot of money from not having to buy bottled water from the store.

Earphones: You guys probably remember these earphones from my Sudio Sweden post a while back. Wireless earphones are a game changer on flights. You can keep your phone in your pocket and not have to worry about everything getting tangled or dropped while you sleep. At worst, the earbuds might fall out of your ears but they’ll just drape over your neck. So these double as a fashion accessory too 🙂 The sound quality of these earphones is fantastic, as is the battery life (~8 hours). Just remember to power-off when you’re not using them. There’s less cable to get tangled, and the pouch that comes with these makes for easy and stylish transportation. Highly recommend!

Camera: Last but not least…my camera. This one’s pretty self-explanatory. DSLR’s don’t come cheap, but if you travel a lot and enjoy taking pictures, I think it’s a worthwhile investment! You may discover a new hobby 🙂 If you’re going somewhere cold, keep in mind that your battery will drain much faster than usual (I found this out in Iceland). So buy a few extra batteries for backup. Maybe a car charger too depending on how you’re getting around. You can find all this stuff on Amazon at pretty reasonable prices. And try to backup your photos every other day or so. You wouldn’t want all those shots getting lost!

So there you have it! 🙂 I’m actually going on another trip next week, and I’ll definitely be packing all of these. Still going through Iceland photos but those will be up soon! Stay tuned.

XOXO,