New Feature: What’s in My Carry-On?

I’ve always thought that you can tell a lot about a woman from what she carries around in her handbag. In the backpacking world, this equates to the travelling essentials you carry in your hand luggage. Obviously everyone has their passport but what about the beauty products and the entertainment options? Or the mystery of the liquids you carry that are under 100ml?

I think we’re all pretty different with our travelling habits so, mainly out of curiosity, I’m bringing you a new feature called ‘What’s in your Carry-On?‘. This will feature guest posts from seasoned backpackers and travellers with the contents of their hand luggage and why they like to keep these items close by!

Well I couldn’t start this feature and not contribute myself could I? So here goes – What’s in my Carry-On?

THE COMPULSORY ITEMS

• Well obvs don’t forget your passport, yeah? I have an on/off relationship with passport covers, purely because airport officials seem to get annoyed by them and I don’t like to annoy the people letting me into a country. But then I see a pretty one and it all goes out the window.

• Travel wallet for the tickets and reservations and emergency contacts and all that jazz. I’ve made it a habit to keep this down to the bare minimum though. In my first trip I brought a ringbinder with me. Bad idea, it’s a pain to carry and completely unnecessary.

• My frog purse is from Accessorize. As you know from my post on purses last month, I don’t believe in carrying a big purse, just a coin purse big enough for your card and a small bit of cash.

• Bring your phone. No doubt about it, the iPhone has become essential travel equipment and acts as my laptop, camera, calculator, notepad, world clock, and everything else.

• I don’t exactly take selfies on flights but needless to say I keep all valuables nearby, hence the camera.

BEAUTY ESSENTIALS

• My 2-in-1 mirror and brush is from The Body Shop and is a dream for my carry-on as it folds up small and takes up minimal space.

• For long-haul journeys, my toothbrush and Soap & Glory Cleasing Wipes are a must. I don’t believe in travel toothbrushes though, just take your regular toothbrush! I also have to remember to bring the pill in my carry-on and pre-plan when to take it with the changes in time zone!

• Flights are awful to my skin and dry it out completely. So I carry my Simple Oil-Balancing Moisturiser and The Body Shop Elderflower Eye Gel to rejuvenate my tired-looking skin.

• My lips are always prone to chap, so I also make sure I keep a handy tube of Carmex close-by.

• Trips to far-flung places tend to involve me being eaten alive by mosquitos. And for some reason they also seem to get me on planes. So I make sure I either have a tub of Tiger Balm or a tube of Savlon Bites and Stings Gel with me to ease the itching.

• I don’t bring my entire make-up bag with me on a flight, but I make sure I have a few items that will make me feel less frightening the other side. Here I have my Benefit Fake Up concealer to hide the bags under my eyes, a Revlon Lip Butter that will give me a bit of colour but still be kind to my chapped lips, and my Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil because eyebrows are compulsory.

• Last but not least my inhaler, because aircon makes my asthma bad. Yes I’m a geek.

So my liquids bag looks something like this. Perfect amount I think.

IN FLIGHT NECESSITIES

• I’ve included my iPhone again here, along with my earphones. On budget airlines, this often acts as my in-flight entertainment. I always bring my charger to keep it juiced up.

• As you know I’m a fan of writing my travel blog in the notes app on my phone and copying over when I have wifi. But i also believe in keeping a mini scrapbook of the little things like tickets, flyers and general souvenirs I want to keep. I’ll always keep this with me in my carry-on and like to update it on the plane.

• I’ve already stressed the infinite uses of a sarong on your travels. On a flight it acts as a fabulous blanket.This one is from Camden Market in London for a few quid!

• As an avid reader, I see the benefits of an e-reader and will often use one on holiday. However, when travelling I love the notion of used books travelling the world with me. So I’ll usually pick one up before a flight and when finished, leave in the hostel in my next destination. What can I say, I’m a romantic.

FOR THE OTHER SIDE

• I’ve already touched on bringing a bit of make-up to sort your face out at the other end, but there are more additions to my carry-on for the sake of the destination.

• For a start, I always consider the climate in my destination and pack my sunglasses and mini sachets of sun cream. This just saves me hunting through my backpack in the airport.My sunglasses are from Dorothy Perkins and the sun cream sachets are Hawaiian Tropic (my fave suncream brand!)

• I also bring a headscarf with me because my hair gets insanely greasy on flights. Seriously it’s awful. So the bigger the headscarf the better! This one is from a vintage store in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco.

• Finally, my journey usually involves some public transport from the airport to my hostel so I’ll bring my lock with the wrap around wire so that I can secure my backpack to a luggage rack if need be.

And that’s the lot! You’ll notice that I like to keep all of this in separate pouches just to make everything accessible and keep it super organised. That way, when I board my flight, I can grab what I’ll need straight away and put my rucksack in the overhead compartment. It’s a massive pet peeve of mine when people stand in the walkway rummaging through their bag and there are people waiting to get past. SO ANNOYING. If this is you, I highly suggest investing in organised pouches!

If you are a seasoned backpacker and would like to share what’s on your carry-on, please get in touch! You can tweet me @HeelsInBackpack or email me at HeelsInMyBackpack@hotmail.com.