My top 8 travel accessories

They are lightweight, useful, and go with me everywhere

I have read from several fellow Globetrotters about the items that they always have with them when they travel. Why now weigh in, even if other people’s must-haves are my don’t-needs? I fully expect that to be the same with whoever reads this.

1. Night light

This night light stays in my toiletries travel bag because the place where I always use it is the bathroom. When I travel I stay mostly in Airbnbs. Each is different in its own way. Have you ever awakened in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and found yourself disoriented? “Where am I?” you wonder.

I plug in this night light in every bathroom where I stay. Upon waking up in the middle of the night, it helps me to find my way, and especially to be sure that I don’t stumble over anything en route.

It illuminates only in the dark, so when the bathroom light goes on or if there is natural daylight coming through a window, it turns itself off.

On a few occasions, I have forgotten to take it with me. I hope that the Airbnb folks in Philadelphia and Brooklyn have gotten good use out of the ones I have left behind.

2. Not just a spray bottle! I call this my “travel iron.”

I’ve seen countless videos and read numerous stories about the best way to pack clothing so that it doesn’t wrinkle. I have tried them all, and I always get wrinkles. But this “travel iron” is all I need to take care of wrinkles.

I unfold and hang up the wrinkled garment, preferably the day or night before I need it. Wherever there is a wrinkle, I spray the area with water from this bottle. And what do you suppose happens when that area with the wrinkle dries? The wrinkle has disappeared! The garment has been “ironed” without using any electricity!

3. Not just a strainer: my “coffee maker” in a pinch

Sometimes there is not a means of making coffee in places where I stay. All I need is ground coffee for this little strainer to serve as my “coffee-maker.” I put hot water and ground coffee into some sort of vessel that I can usually find in the kitchen. I let it sit for a few minutes, and then I pour it from the vessel into a coffee cup. The coffee grinds are captured by the strainer. I have my coffee.

I find this system preferable to getting dressed and having to go out for coffee first thing in the morning.

4. Slippers

When I travel, I continue my home practice of removing shoes inside and wearing slippers. I bought these in Morocco. I have a little mesh bag for them, and they lay flat in my suitcase, taking up almost no space.

At home, I wear more substantial slippers, but my home slippers take up too much space, so I keep these in my suitcase and use them when I travel. On long flights (five or more hours), I have been known to remove my shoes and wear these on board.

5. Zicam (or its generic equivalent)

There is no way to avoid it: travel puts us into crowds of people, whether on flights, public transportation, markets, restaurants, or museums. Even with the greatest of precautions, catching a cold is an inevitability.

I start taking this zinc-based product at the very first sign of a cold. Starting it immediately is key to its success; that’s why I like to have it with me, so I don’t need to go out and look for it at a pharmacy in the middle of the night. When I travel domestically, it’s always easy to find. But I have never seen anything like this overseas.

True to the way it is advertised, when I begin using it at the first sign of symptoms, it cuts down on both the severity and the length of the cold. In most cases, continuing to take this while being symptomatic, the cold is over within about four days, as opposed to the typical seven-to-ten-day cycle during which a cold typically runs its course.

6. Money belt

I resisted wearing one of these. Yes, I knew about them before the first time I had my pocket picked on a Metro during my ninth visit to Paris; I was lucky to have been spared during the eight previous visits. I was truly trying my luck, but eventually my luck ran out.

Then it happened in 2018: pocket picked! And, as if that weren’t enough, it happened again the following year, once again on the Paris Metro. If that weren’t enough, it happened earlier this year on a bus in Milan.

Basta!

Now I will take no chances. As I write this, I am in Bordeaux, headed to Paris on Friday. No doubt about it: this is going to be around my waist.

7. Earth-friendly picnic items

I try to avoid using throw-away plastic cutlery and paper napkins. When I take these items with me, I can more easily avoid the plastic and paper. The stainless steel cutlery set was one of the most thoughtful and useful gifts I have ever received. I have a stack of these cloth napkins at home, so it’s always easy to be sure to have one of them with me when I travel.

8. Reusable fabric bags for shopping

Along the same lines as the use of plastic cutlery and paper napkins, I try, as much as possible to have one of these reusable fabric bags with me. They fit easily into one of my pockets or day pack.

These always come in handy when I go grocery shopping. When staying in Airbnbs, I do a lot of grocery shopping so that I can have breakfast and snack items on hand in the house where I am staying.

That’s about it for me. How about you?

I’m going to leave it at that, even though there are a few other items. I won’t bore you with any details of my travel Neti pot, umbrella, or kitchen sponge. If you read this far, you already deserve your cookie!

I know from reading other people’s writing on this topic that one person’s choices will not resonate across the board with everyone. I would be happy to know if you see anything here that is helpful to you, and if you have your own items that you would like to let us know about.