Travel Must Haves (Additional Items)
This article is not about the essential must-haves during travel but it will be about additional items that I always bring with me. I found that there are 8 items that I usually need to have outside of clothes and basic essentials. Having these 8 items bring less stress to my travel plan especially when travelling solo.
1. Power Bank
Cheero Danboard Power Bank
My power bank is extremely cute but able to power my mirrorless camera and my iPhone 7 Plus at the same time. This is a must have during travel especially since I tend to used up the phone battery by uploading Insta stories. I bought mine from the official Cheero seller at Amazon.
2. Universal Travel Plugs
I'm a sucker for universal travel plugs and I usually carry 2 or 3 plugs with me (...just in case one breaks down). The one that I found really useful was the plug that contains usb charging outlets on it. My travel adaptor is the Skross World Adaptor that I've had for more than 3 years. This device is perfect to charge my laptop and phone or camera at the same time.
3. Resealable Plastic Bag
Cute Istad plastic bag from IKEA
Once I took a pack of 50 resealable plastic bags but that was unnecessary and a bit too much. These days I only take 5-10 extra resealable plastic bags to help with my toiletries, wet wipes, make up and small accessories. The bags are also good for passports, documents, candies, pills and dirty underwear (if need to - hahaha).
4. Light Down Jacket
I could manage winter in Japan and South Korea but I always found that the airplane could get a bit too cold for me. Light down jacket is one of the best solutions that Uniqlo created, especially since all light down jackets from Uniqlo can be rolled down and fit into a small carry bag that was provided. This won't be suitable for -0 degree Celcius conditions but since it's thin, it can be layered easily under another jacket.
5. Comfortable Footwear
I bought a really cool pair of Timberlands in navy colour before my trip to Japan. I wore it in advance (months before the trip) to break the shoes in but I still experienced bad pain to my heels after 3 days of non stop walking in Tokyo. After that I booked a massage through my hotel in Shinjuku and browsed the web to find my trustworthy brand, Fit Flop.
Unfortunately not all shops in Japan sells Fit Flop. We queued in the morning at Isetan and they only stocked the brand online. Fortunately we found Mitsukoshi Japan in Ginza. They carried a small amount of Fit Flop and I bought a pair of boots there. The boots literally saved my feet for the next three and a half weeks of my holiday.
6. Disposable Underwear
Why not, right? :-)
My mum introduced me to disposable underwear when I was still in Primary School. I had to go camping with my school and she told me that the paper underwear can be thrown away after I used it. I bought a pack of disposable underwear during my one month travel. This was useful when I stayed in places without any laundry service or machine.
7. Old Clothes
If you bring some gently used clothes during your travel and want to 'dispose' them, there are some flea markets, thrift shops or charity bodies that will accept your clothes. Salvation Army and H & M in Singapore and Japan will accept old clothes for recycling. Uniqlo in Japan will also accept your secondhand clothes. South Korea has Goodwill and Beautiful Stores. Indonesia has a lot of churches and orphanages that will accept donation of clothes that are still in good condition (ie. wearable). Rather than disposing them to the rubbish bin it would be great if you can donate your clothes instead. Don't forget to do your research in advance!
8. Happy Thoughts
Travelling is similar to weddings in a way in that there will always be something that will go wrong, more likely than not. It's important to keep the happy and positive thoughts as much as possible, especially when travelling alone. I told my Hubby that I'd miss him if I travel alone because there won't be anyone at my disposal (heheh ;-)).
When we were in Gangnam, we were planning to use the elevator nearby our hotel to go down to the train station. Little did we know that the elevator was in service the next day. We had to carry all four luggages down the stairs. We tend to expect that things will go well if we plan properly but in moments when things went outside of our planning, it's very important to be able to laugh about it and stay positive.