10 Everyday Things to Travel With

This packing list is a little different from ones that tell you to bring shirts, pants and shoes. In this post we’re highlighting everyday items that you probably already own or can purchase very inexpensively but that you should ALWAYS travel with. Each of these serves more than one use which makes all of them worth traveling with. Here are 10 everyday things to travel with and why we think it’s worth bringing them!

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1. Binder Clip

You probably have a pile of binder clips inside a random drawer or at your desk at work. They are very small and can be used for so many things! We each carry one in our backpack and have used it so many times.

We use them the most to clip food packages shut once they are opened. We’ve used it to clip a bag of rice, a bag of chips, granola and so much more. That way it doesn’t get stale or let bugs inside the bag. Its a small problem but happens often enough that we are always glad to have the clips!

Through out all of our traveling we rarely have had the luxury of having a clothes dryer. So after the washing machine was done we would need a place to hang clothes to dry. Sometimes the place we were staying at would have a drying rack but sometimes not. Binder clips are good for hanging up clothes to dry if you have a rope or clothesline or anything to clip it to.

2. Safety Pin and Small Sewing Kit

Safety pins are so small making them really easy to travel with. We toss one in our first aid kit and inside my purse and it literally takes up no space. You can use a safety pin if a button rips off of a shirt or pair of pants. It’s an easy fix especially if it happens while you’re out for the day!

They also work great if a zipper breaks on your jacket or even the zipper on your backpack or suitcase. That way you can still use it while traveling especially if you’re not in a place where you can replace it easily!

In addition to the safety pins we also travel with a small sewing kit. Having some thread and a couple of needles can really come in handy if you rip your clothes, bag, etc. After suffering through it a few times in the past we always travel with a sewing kit! You can also use nail clippers in place of scissors to cut the thread whenever you need it.

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3. Pen

This one is a little self explanatory but you will be so glad you brought it! There are so many times when we have needed a pen while traveling and haven’t had one. If you’re traveling internationally you will likely be given an immigration card on the plane. There is always that dreaded feeling of having the form but no pen and looking around to find the person near you to borrow one from.

If you’re traveling for a long time you might want to bring a pen and a small notebook too. We both travel with a small notebook and were surprised by the amount of times we actually used both. It can be surprisingly hard to find paper and we both like to make a lot of to-do lists.

When we took over 100 trains in Europe using our Eurail Pass we used our pens every single day to record the train on our passes. We were so glad we had them!

4. Grocery Bag

We travel with this reusable grocery bag which is amazing! It’s so strong and can hold so much stuff but at the same time it packs up so small. We use it every time we go grocery shopping while traveling! It always comes in handy because we have found that most grocery stores, outside of the United States, do not provide plastic bags. If they do you often have to pay extra for them too! So in an effort to save the environment and save money a reusable grocery bag is great to travel with.

You can also use it to bring clothes to do laundry at a laundromat. If you have a wet bathing suit or other wet clothes that you don’t want to pack with the rest of your clothes you can toss them in the grocery bag so they stay separate.

If you buy too many souvenirs or extra things and need more room you can always take it out and use it as another bag to hold things!

5. Tape

We would recommend bringing duct tape because it’s strong but whatever type you prefer will work. Wrap a decent amount (5 feet or so) around a business card or old expired credit card so it doesn’t stick to anything in your bag but can be unwrapped and used whenever you need it. This is a trick we’ve learned so you can bring a small amount of it with you rather than a huge roll!

If your bag rips you can try taping it together to patch it up. If your shoe gets a hole or your flip-flops break you can reattach them so you can keep wearing them at least for a little. There are so many uses for tape and again it’s one of those things that can be hard to find sometimes if you’re not close to a store that sells it.

6. Tissues

Even if you never ever get sick bring some tissues. The small, travel size packs are small and easy to travel with. We always toss a pack inside our daypack or my purse and they stay clean inside the outside pocket. You can use them as tissues or as toilet paper if you’re in a pinch. I always made sure I had some tissues when we were traveling especially in places like South America where toilet paper wasn’t always guaranteed!

You can use them like a paper towel to clean something up or to wrap food items up in too.

7. Sealable Bags

We have been trying to use more eco friendly products and really think about the items we travel with especially when were going to so many different places. So we love this reusable silicone sandwich bag that you can just wash and reuse. You can also put it in the dishwasher and the microwave so it’s really convenient to use!

Whenever we pack sandwiches or a snack to bring somewhere we use it to store food. The seal works really well so it also works to make sure no ants or bugs can get into the food! We found this to be helpful while traveling in our campervans in Australia and New Zealand where bugs can sometimes be a problem.

But we also always travel with a few zip lock bags because they have so many uses! We use them to hold important documents like copies of our passports to make sure they don’t get ruined. At the beach sometimes we put our phones inside one to keep them dry. In the past before we invested in toiletry bags (which we love so much!) we used zip lock bags to hold our toiletries all together. Definitely get the heavy duty freezer bags because they last way longer. We have been traveling with the same couple of bags for over 10 months with no rips.

8. Hair Elastic

A hair elastic is so helpful even if you don’t have long hair. Obviously you can use it to put your hair up which is much appreciated on a hot day. But it’s also a really strong rubber band. We use them to put around our soap container so it doesn’t open inside my backpack on travel days. I also use one on the outside of my glasses case so it doesn’t open and break my glasses.

You can use a hair elastic to close a bag of food similar to a rubber band. If you have keys and nowhere to put them you can loop it through the hair elastic so you don’t loose them.

I have this bad habit of constantly losing hair elastics (hopefully I’m not the only one) so do yourself a favor and bring a couple extra just in case!

9. Carabiner

A carabiner is basically just a really strong metal clip. We each have one clipped to the outside of our backpacks. Dave uses his to clip his baseball hat to the outside of his backpack. We also clip this Nalgene water bottle to the strap of our daypack so it doesn’t fall out no matter what we’re doing!

If your sneakers are muddy and you don’t want to put them inside your bag you can clip them to the outside on a travel day. We even used a carabiner to clip our daypack to our motorbike while riding around in the Philippines so it doesn’t fall off on the bumpy roads!

For some added security when we’re walking around a really crowded area I use this small carabiner on my purse to clip the zipper to the strap so that no one can open it. It’s not always necessary but it’s an simple way to make it more secure sometimes!

Read More: Packing Tips for Female Travelers

10. Spoon

This is something that we didn’t start out traveling with but we bought once we were on the road. Once we had it we realized how awesome it was to have! If you’re going to be traveling between places whether it’s by car, plane or train having a spoon means you can eat no matter where you are.

You can use a plastic spoon from a takeaway place but having your own means you can keep using it without throwing away a bunch of plastic ones, plus you always have it whenever you need it!

We also used it when we stayed at places that didn’t provide access to a kitchen. You can eat a surprising amount of stuff with just a spoon!
One of our favorite quick meals that we made while traveling was overnight oats. We would make the oats in empty peanut butter jars from the grocery store and then could eat them during our train rides around Europe!