Seven essential things I always pack (and three I never do)

For something like 25 years now, I’ve been packing up my stuff and going places. I’ve been travelling, and each time I’ve been making decisions about what goes with me and what stays at home.

There are some things worth packing for every trip, no matter where you’re going, writes Ben Groundwater.

Those decisions have changed over the years. I don’t take a hacky sack with me anymore (partly because it’s the 21st century now, and also a customs agent destroyed it on my way back from Argentina once, convinced it was packed with cocaine). I don’t pack travellers’ cheques or paper flight tickets anymore.

I like to think I’ve got things down to a slick, bare minimum. There are only seven essentials I take with me every time I travel, and they’re the things I know I need and that I will make use of on every journey. Some other items will be tailored to specific trips, but I take the following seven things with me every time I’m away.

(And stick around until the end, too, when I’ll tell you about three popular travel items I never bother with.)

Passport wallet

It’s nice to know where your passport is. You also need somewhere to store things like bank cards and other ID cards that you don’t want to carry around with you every day, your little yellow immunisation booklet, spare foreign currency, travel insurance details, and various stuff that’s probably been in there for years now and I’ve never looked at it. Still, I always take a passport wallet with me. Mine isn’t fancy, but it does the job.

Eye mask

I can’t sleep when there’s too much light. I can’t sleep on planes or trains, I can’t sleep in hotel rooms with dodgy curtains. I need total darkness, which is where an eye mask comes in. I don’t have a set brand or style I usually use – I keep losing them and replacing them with something new. However, as long as it’s made from thick material and doesn’t press down too much on your eyes, I’ll take it. Every time.

Ear plugs

These are essential for travel, not just for trying to sleep on a plane, but for many hotels around the world that lack amazing soundproofing. I’ve found that a simple pair of foam earplugs – just the basic kind you can buy from any hardware store or pharmacy – will make a huge difference to the quality of sleep you get while travelling.

Melatonin

This is my secret weapon in the fight against jet lag. Melatonin is the naturally occurring compound in your body that helps regulate your sleep cycle. Taking supplementary melatonin doesn’t work for everyone, and if you’re concerned about its use, chat to your doctor first – but for me, taking these for three nights after I arrive anywhere in the world will conquer jet lag. My hot tip: buy the stronger tablets online, rather than the very weak ones available in Australia.

Power board and adapter

Simple, but essential. You always need power when you’re travelling, for laptops, phones, power banks, headphones, cameras, and even watches. So, I take a four-plug power board with me, which also has a USB port, and a universal power adapter.

Power bank

Some airlines are getting stricter about using power banks in the air, though I still carry one, particularly for long-haul flights, where I can charge my phone and laptop while walking around the airport during short layovers. I almost always need my phone as soon as I land – to navigate public transport, find my hotel, book an Uber, etc. – so having a power bank with me gives me peace of mind.

Noise-cancelling headphones

Noise-cancelling earphones: an essential luxury.Credit: iStock

This is something of an essential, but also something of a luxury. I love music, and I want it to sound good. I also love cancelling out the noise of aircraft, trains, and buses moving, as well as blocking out the sound of kids screaming and adults chatting and anything else that could disturb the peace. And, I like watching movies on the plane and actually being able to hear them. So, fancy noise-cancelling headphones it is.

THREE POPULAR TRAVEL ITEMS I NEVER PACK

Travel pillow

Ben Groundwater wearing the Trtl pillow.Credit: Ben Groundwater

This is the flip side – the popular travel items that I’ve tinkered with using but never grown to love. Travel pillows do nothing for me. I’ve tried a lot of them, everything from the uber-popular Trtl pillow to the cheapie inflatable jobs, and I’ve never found anything that’s more comfortable than just flipping out the side panels on my aeroplane seat and resting my head there.

Camera

I used to travel with a Canon DSLR, a bulky beast of a camera with multiple lenses and various other accoutrements. But that was too heavy and annoying, so I switched to a mirrorless Fujifilm camera with a single 30mm lens. But even then, I found I was taking almost all my photos with my iPhone, and they were often working out better. So now, I just travel with that.

Branded travel wear

There are a few exceptions to this rule: I have a North Face rain jacket and a pair of embarrassing zip-off pants that I use occasionally for hiking trips. Other than that, however, I find branded, specific travel wear – shirts, shorts, hats, jumpers – pretty daggy, and largely superfluous. Normal clothes do the job.