Our Top Essential Travel Items for 2023
Wondering what we take with us when we travel? We have been on the road now since 2013 and we have the top essential travel items that we would not leave home without after many years of trial and error.
Since COVID 19 in 2020, we have added some essential health items that you need to carry with you on your travels in 2022. With the issues with travel luggage in 2022 we have added the Apple Air Tags to our travel essential list.
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Our Top Travel Essentials for 2023
- Apple Air Tags
- Osprey carry-on luggage
- Facemasks
- Hand sanitiser
- Apple Mac laptops
- Apple iPhone 13 and Samsung 10 Galaxy Note
- Packing Cubes – we will not leave home without these
- Power board
- Travel Insurance
- Hard drive
Apple Air Tags
Some of our top travel essentials are our Osprey Carry-On Luggage that has been with us since 2016 and still going strong. These will not need to be replaced. We recommend that you travel with carry-on luggage where you can. We have travelled for periods from 6 months to 18 months just with hand luggage.
Our Osprey carry-on luggage has travelled throughout Vietnam Cambodia Thailand, all through Europe, parts of the USA, Uruguay, Antarctica and many buses throughout Patagonia to Chile. They have been on tuk-tuks, cruise ships, hundreds of buses and trains and are still going strong. We highly recommend them for their durability.
A vacation packing list is different from our packing list for long-term travel as we now only travel with carry-on luggage.
These days with the regulations of some of the airline carriers our carry-on luggage can be considered overweight, so we have to be diligent with the current regulations of each carrier that we travel on.
Health Essentials for 2022
For travels in 2022 the most essential health travel items are:
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- face masks
- hand sanitiser
New travel products are always coming online and this year we are looking at reliable selfie sticks to travel with.
Travel CheckList and Travel Insurance
Before we head off on our travels we have a travel accessories checklist. This covers who is carrying what technology, passports, tickets, currency and health insurance documents in their day packs or on our bodies. We split our credit cards up between us, as we have learnt the hard way by being robbed in Ecuador on the way to Otavalo. We can’t stress highly enough about taking out travel insurance, honestly, you just don’t know when you are going to need it.
In 2017 we had to claim twice for Duncan. The first time when he pulled a muscle in his back travelling in Ireland and the 2nd time (same trip) when we found out that he had high blood pressure when visiting the dentist in Bangkok, Thailand. That involved getting on the first available flight home to Sydney (thanks to Skyscanner) to see our Dr and to have tests carried out, in fact, many tests.
What Essential Travel Items We Don’t Travel With Now
We did initially travel with TSA locks on our bags, but we found that in Ecuador they were cut off and were pretty useless after that so we haven’t bothered since.
We also found that a luxury leather travel wallet that we once had was too cumbersome for us, they take up too much space in our day packs. In fact, it was the luxury leather travel wallet, that was easily stolen in Ecuador.
We are not carrying any cameras these days. We have had quite a few years enjoying our Panasonic Lumix but we find that our mobile phones are doing the same job. In fact, Duncan uses a Samsung Galaxy Note Plus and Jane uses the iPhone 13.
Travel Gifts: We don’t buy travel gifts for family or friends anymore, we just do not have space in our luggage. In fact, we don’t buy any material possessions as we spend our money on experiences instead.
What is New in Our Travel Kit
Since 2018 we have been travelling with packing cubes. They have cut down packing time, clothes are easily found, they are so easy to place in our Osprey Luggage, we can’t understand why we have not used them sooner. There are many different types and sizes available.
How Do We Carry Our Must Have Travel Items eg Passports, Credit Cards and Cash etc
Duncan now wears a small travel wallet on his body that has our passports and currency in it. Jane wears travel trousers that have deep pockets suitable for carrying credit cards and phones.
Jane is considering a travel scarf. She is currently weighing up the pros and cons of each item below.
How do you choose the right travel destination for your trip? Our guidelines will help you plan whether you are travelling with family, as a couple or a solo traveller.
If you are planning your next adventure we can give you our top tips and tricks for saving money on travel from flights to accommodation and more.
What Are Our Must Have Travel Essentials (What To Pack For A Trip)
#1 Travel Essentials – Travel Insurance
It is so important, we cannot stress enough how important it is. Our passports and credit cards were stolen in Quito, Ecuador. The costs involved in replacing the documents, travelling to the Australian Embassy in Guayaquil, the other end of the country to where we were staying, came into thousands. Our saying is if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel.
The recommended time to take out travel insurance is when you start paying for your flights or deposits on accommodation, tours or cruises.
#2 Travel Essentials – Luggage – Osprey Carry On
We are now travelling with our Osprey carry-on luggage set. After two what we call ‘failed attempts’ with a local Australian brand we are very happy with the strength and durability of these products. We have also downsized from 100 litres to 65 litres and now travelling with only a carry-on at 46 litres and a day pack. Using carry-on luggage has saved us close to USD200 in the first three months of trialling these bags, the savings have been in public transport and airline luggage fees.
#3 Travel Essentials – Osprey Day Pack
To partner our Osprey Carry On, we use the Osprey Day Pack which carries all our electronic technology and important documents
#4 Travel Essentials – Apple Mac Computer
We are now travelling with 2 Apple computers – a Macbook Pro and a Macbook Air.
My trusty workhorse, that is fast and efficient and the only way I can work on the road effectively writing stories and reviews.
#5 Travel Essentials – Powerboard
iPads, iPhones, two laptops and a camera that all require charging each night at once, it could be a nightmare, but not with the powerboard that we travel with. All we need is one PowerPoint and to remember to plug it in (yep, it does happen especially after a long day on the road).
#6 Travel Essentials – Travel Adaptor
Another essential that any traveller needs is a Travel Adaptor.
#7 Travel Essentials – Trail Wallet – Travel Budget App
The Trail Wallet is an easy app to use to track our expenses whilst on the road. We set up our travel budget for the trip, upload the currencies of the countries we are travelling to and Trail Wallet does the rest for us.
#8 Travel Essentials – Seagate 1TB External Hard Disk
Last count we had over 40,000 photos for 3 years of travel. We are actually running with 2 hard drives and looking to purchase another hard drive.
#9 Travel Essentials – USB Stick
Always handy to store files for printing, moving photos around and general documents.
#10 Travel Essentials – Moleskin Note Books
I am a bit ‘old school’ and need to travel with a notebook to write down things I see and hear when I travel.
Other Products That We Carry With Us
Our Health and Safety
Our fitness level is important when we are on the road, check out our post on how we stay fit whilst on the road long term.
We would recommend that you include in your travel packing list a small first aid kit. Always keep your first aid products up to date.
We always carry a head-lamp, it is an item that we have used many times in the past from going down tunnels, finding things lost in the dark and when the electricity goes out.
What do you carry with you every time you travel? We would love to hear your travel essentials list.
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We have created our own To Travel Too Travel Shop with Amazon with over 300 travel products. Some that we use ourselves others that other travel bloggers have recommended to us.
Is there any travel essentials that you travel with? We would love to hear from you.
Enjoyed and some great tips on what to take. Especially things like the powerboard which we have found to be a wonderful time saver when both our laptops and phones need charging. We have talked about the advantages of using only carry on, but it never seems we can get in under the 7kgs restrictions would love to know how you do it. Thanks again for the tips.
Hi guys
Interesting, some airlines don’t have a weight restriction – e.g.we just flew from Toulouse to Dubrovnik with Easyjet – as long as your carry on fitted into their sizing they did not worry about the weight.
Just have to be diligent and really read their rules and regulations.