It is frustrating to go on vacation only to realize that you forgot to take your sunglasses, battery charger or rucksack. While any of the above items can be bought from most stores during the vacation, it may not be easy to say find a raincoat for sale after arriving at the airport during a storm in the middle of the night. For this reason it is best to not forget any essential items at all in the first place.

I have created a packing list for myself which I refer to while preparing my travel luggage or bag. I am sharing the list below and will be updating it during the course of time as necessary.

 

Most Essential Items:

1. Passport and ID card. Though one can travel with an ID card in many European Union countries, it is always base to carry a passport as well just for safety. Note that some in European countries (UK is one such country) it is essential to travel with a passport.
2. Money – here one should ensure to have money in the correct currency.
3. Credit card/s.
4. Confirmation/invoices of airline bookings, including any invoices for putting the luggage in the hold (where applicable). These are usually not required but they may turn out to be useful if one paid for luggage at a later stage.
5. Printed boarding pass if required (mandatory for some airlines like Ryanair).
6. Hotel booking confirmations.
7. Train and public transport booking confirmations (if any).
8. Map of hotel locations. In addition one can also add the position of any hotel/s as a favourite on the smartphone navigation application.
9. Maps of attractions – as per above it is best to have the attractions as favourites on a navigation application.
10. Health insurance card (if available).

 

Clothing and Shoes:

11. Panties, briefs, boxer shorts, bras and any other lingerie.
12. Vests or thermal vests if travelling in winter.
13. Socks or padded/trekking socks for hiking or long warm socks for the winter months. (I normally take padded socks everywhere as they are lightweight, not too hot in summer and sufficiently warm in winter).
14. One (or depending on the availability of luggage space) two pairs of boots or a pair of walking shoes for the city and a pair of walking boots for hiking. It is best to use waterproof boots during the winter and they are warmer and provide better protection against the elements. One should ensure that the shoes/boots are well walked-in (worn at least for several hours) or else they can (depending on the quality and type of shoes) cause blisters and hurt the legs. One pair of boots may be enough if travelling light and/or if the vacation is a short one.
15. Trekking trousers with a few zip pockets. This makes personal belongings (wallet, phone) more difficult to steal by pick pockets and better protected against the rain. If travelling during the winter, it is important to ensure that the trousers are warm and water resistant.
16. T-shirts if travelling during the summer.
17. Long sleeve shirts for mild temperature climates.
18. Sweatshirts if travelling to a country where the temperate is neither too hot nor too cold. Sweatshirts with a hood and zipper are best since one can wear the hood in case of light rain and unzip the sweatshirt if the need arises.
19. Warm or thermal pullovers if travelling during the winter.
20. Raincoat – weather is unpredictable so a light raincoat is usually essential, even if one is travelling during the warm summer months.
21. Warm (insulating) and waterproof jacket if travelling in cold and stormy weather. A synthetic insulating jacket might work best if the temperature is not too cold. In very cold weather, a down jacket may be essential.
22. Hat for protection against the sun (a baseball hot is usually ideal for this purpose).
23. Warm hat and gloves for cold weather.

 

Other Clothing Items (Less Important):

70. Shorts (if travelling during the summer months). It is best if the shorts have a couple of pockets with zippers for the reasons described above.
71. Jogging pants if trekking shorts are not available.
72. Jeans if travelling during the summer months and for going out to clubs. However jeans are in normal circumstances not recommended as per my article Why Do Jeans Make Bad Travelling Pants?
73. Gaiters if travelling to a country where it is raining or snowing heavily.
74. Swimming costume or bikini. These might also be useful for heated swimming pools and saunas.

 

Other Essentials:

29. Towel. Asides from being useful after a bath, a towel can also be useful for getting dry after getting drenched in the rain. Microfibre towels are recommended as they take very little space and dry quicker than conventional towels.
30. A pair of goggles for swimming. Prescription goggles can be useful for those who use glasses. Flippers are not really recommended except for the purposes of scuba diving as they can take a suitable amount of luggage space.
31. A pair of cheap flips flops or sandals. They can not only be useful at the beach but also for avoiding getting foot fungus or some other foot disease from hotels, apartments, swimming pools, saunas or otherwise.
32. Sun glasses and clip-ons for spectacles for protection against the sun.
33. Sun cream and lip salve for protection against the sun’s rays (strong sun factor rating is best).
34. Contact lenses and solution. Disposable (daily) contact lenses are usually the best and safest option.
35. Rucksack or packable rucksack if travelling with a carry on luggage.
36. Water resistant cover for rucksack.

 

Personal Items:

37. Toothpaste, brush and if required interdental brushes and mouth wash. If using carry on luggage the mouth wash must be put into small containers that do not contain more than 100ml of liquid.
38. Any medicines and/or vitamins.
39. Shaving foam and razor.
40. Hair comb.
41. Small towel or washcloth. While most hotels do provide a set of towels, mountain huts as well as some low cost hotels and may not provide these. As per above microfibre towels are best.
42. Soap and shampoo. Not all establishments do provide these, but in any case one may prefer to use a certain kind of soap and shampoo.
43. Bags for carrying shoes.
44. Bag for keeping dirty underwear.
45. First aid kit for blisters and slight injuries.
46. Ankle support bandage.
47. Knee support bandage.

 

Other Items:

48. Vacuum sealer bags. These are especially useful for keeping things organized and maximizing luggage space.
49. Umbrella – this is not really recommended as it can easily break with wind. However it can be useful in cases of light showers with little or no wind.
50. Water container with inbuilt filtration mechanism (a half litre to one litre bottle should be sufficient). This might turn out to be useful, especially if one has a delicate stomach or if one is travelling to a third world country where the quality of the water is not too good.
51. Compass and maps – these may be required if one is trekking. However a GPS receiver is usually best for finding the correct orientation.
52. Binoculars – these might be suitable for watching wildlife and also for watching most kinds of sports games.
53. Flashlight and/or head torch – these are not essential for roaming around the city but they can be helpful if one is travelling to rural areas.
54. VIP lounge card (like Priority Pass) if available or applicable (not all airports have VIP lounges).
55. Leatherman or Swiss army knife or other multi-tool set. It is important to note that these are considered as dangerous items and they will be confiscated if found in any cabin luggage.
56. Camping utensils set (cork-screw opener, bottle opener, fork, spoon and knife). As per above such utensil sets cannot be placed in any hand luggage.
57. Tourist guide book illustrating the places of interest.

 

Electronics:

58. Mobile phone/smartphone.
59. Tablet PC – not essential if one has a phablet or a smartphone with a large display.
60. Navigation application on smartphone. It is best if the most important locations (like the position of the hotel) are inputted as favorites.
61. GPS navigation device – a handheld, weather resistant one will be the best choice; however a vehicle GPS receiver may also work well. A GPS navigation device is not really required if one has a modern smartphone. However smartphone GPS receivers are not always good enough and in any case it is always wise to have a second GPS device as backup.
62. Bluetooth GPS receiver for use with the smartphone – such a device may help if the smartphone GPS receiver is not powerful enough. Bluetooth GPS receivers are usually more powerful and more precise than that the inbuilt ones on most smartphones.
63. Mobile phone charger.
64. Digital camera and pocket for the camera.
65. Spare battery/batteries for digital camera.
66. Charger for any digital camera batteries.
67. One or two emergency chargers for mobile phone and GPS receiver.
68. Water resistant covers for smartphone, GPS receiver and tablet PC.
69. Secure key/s for internet banking services or otherwise.

 

Camping Items:

70. Large rucksack. This would be necessary if one has to travel on uneven terrain, otherwise any normal luggage would be fine. The rucksack would need to be sized according to how long the camping trip will be. A good quality rucksack is recommended, as having to carry a torn rucksack for a long distance by hand is never a nice experience.
71. Tent (as per my article Reasons For Getting a Bigger Tent one should ensure that a sufficiently large tent is available).
72. Tent accessory kit (these normally include a hammer, spare pegs and spare ropes).
73. Sleeping bag.
74. Foam or sleeping mat.
75. Inflatable pillow (conventional pillows are not recommended as the take a lot of luggage space).
76. Small lantern with hook to be used in tent.
77. Torch and spare torch.
78. Spare batteries for lantern and torches. Here one should ensure that the batteries are charged beforehand.