10 Things You Don’t Need to Pack
Amidst all the pre-departure excitement, one of those precarious rituals is indeed packing everything in. Even the most experienced of travellers sometimes still have trouble deciding what to take and what to leave behind, but it does tend to get easier with every other trip. Here are 10 things you definitely do not need to pack as they only serve to eat up valuable luggage real estate:
Your Tablet PC
An iPad or other tablet PC is unnecessary to pack in if you’re going to be taking your laptop and your smarthpone, maybe even two smartphones. You can do everything your tablet can do between your laptop and your smartphone.
Your Home Country Electronics Adaptor(s)
Sure, if you want to buy an adaptor or a laptop wall-socket cord that fits the destination you’re travelling to, you might want something to show as a reference. Rather take a picture of the original however, instead of packing the adaptor in.
An Extra Towel
If you can get clean bathroom towels to use at your place of accommodation, don’t even bother packing in one towel. When towels get wet or damp they eat up even more space than they ordinarily do.
Your Jacket
Your jacket forms part of your hand-luggage, which means you hold it on yourself if you’re not wearing it. Really warm ones in particular are made of think, dense material, so they’ll otherwise waste a lot of space unnecessarily.
Souvenirs from Your Last Trip
Whether it’s currency (especially coins, which you can’t exchange) or if it’s something like a papyrus-reed paper bearing your name on it in Hieroglyphics, don’t be tempted to pack in souvenirs from your last trip. Rather take pics if you must “have” them.
More than One Hat
As much as sun hats are synonymous with sunny holidays, they take up a lot of space, so if you have to pack one in, limit it to just that one, otherwise don’t even pack it in and carry it on yourself as hand-luggage as well.
An Umbrella
Take a rain-coat instead. An umbrella probably won’t fit properly into your luggage in any case and it’s somewhat of a hazard if you attempt to take it in with you as hand luggage, so it’s best not to even try to take one.
Physical Books
Yes, we love the feel of a physical book in our hands too, but that’s perhaps something you’ll have to give up when travelling. Rather carry an electronic version of all the books you want to take along to read on your laptop screen — wear shades if your eyes take strain, or just relax and enjoy your getaway in other ways.
A Blanket
Unless you’re sure you’ll have to sleep at the airport, in which case you must only take a very light blanket as part of your hand-luggage, don’t pack in a blanket as it takes up way too much space unnecessarily. You’ll get one from the airline if you ask for one (if they’ve not already handed them out that is) and your jacket should otherwise be enough to shield you from any cold conditions experienced. At your place of accommodation, you can definitely ask for an extra blanket if you really need one as well.
Liquids of More Than 100ml
Seriously, shampoos, gels, perfumes and other liquids of more than 100ml will be confiscated at airport security-check in any case, so don’t even bother taking more than that. It’ll probably be all you really need for your getaway in any case.