Due to overwhelming demand (well, 2 people, so far), I'm going to provide some travel tips with an equipped perspective.

Why? Because I travel all the freaking time and have learned lots about what you need vs. what you think you need while traveling.

You can always spot the experienced traveller at the airport, because they look like this:


The inexperienced travelers look like this:


This is The Main Rule: Don't Pack More Than You Need.
The corollary to this rule is: You don't need as much as you think you need.

Everywhere I go, I am always able to find the essentials:
- Food
- Water
- Clothing
- Shelter
- Coffee

Further, the more I travel the more I am exposed to the mature processes and deep infrastructure that support the travel systems of various places. Yes, there are delays and unanticipated situations, but for the most part, once you've been through a few anomalous events while traveling, you're exposed to a system that wants you to pass through it without issues and is equipped to do so.

For example, on my flight home from the UK last week, just as soon as they turned off the "Fasten Seatbelt" sign, the guy behind me stood up, passed out, and fell in the aisle. The flight attendants moved instantly, obviously well trained, and equipped with oxygen and other equipment, attended to the person, who woke up in a little bit. While I have the training needed to help, I didn't have to - the best thing for me to do there was stay out of the way. I was on a flight from Philadelphia a few years ago where a drunk passenger made a threat and was dragged off the plane at gunpoint by an Air Marshall. I have been on flights that had to make emergency landings. I've been on flights that needed to "go around" at the last possible second. My point is this: on the plane, they already packed and planned for everything you might be worried about. First aid kits? Plenty. Food? Check. Water? Check. Communications gear? More than you can imagine. So I don't really worry about that stuff on the plane. While traveling, though, I do think about the things only I can pack for me.


OK, first two stories behind 2 major pieces of advice, then on to the lists we all love so much here.

Don't use electronic boarding passes (on your phone). Print 2 Paper Copies Instead.
It's 4:45 AM in Los Angeles and I'm on the first flight back to the east coast. The TSA line is backed up out of the terminal and onto the street. My flight is at 6:55, which means I need to be in the plane at 5:45 at the latest. I have an electronic boarding pass. The TSA agents split the lines up, and send my group of about 200 people up the stairs, around the corner, down the hall and over there...I wait in line, and get to the front finally at 5:30, and...they don't have a means to scan the boarding pass, and without a paper pass to scribble on, they won't let me through. They can't help me at all, "you have to get a printed pass.." I miss the flight.
I now carry 2 printed boarding passes - i keep a spare copy in my bag in case I drop the first copy.

Be Nice To The Gate Agents, Always
Flying home from West Coast again, this time there's a 2+ hour weather delay. For reasons that I can't quite fathom, people are yelling at the gate agents about the delay. Stuff like, "What do you mean YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?? I HAVE A MEETING IN THE AFTERNOON IN NEW YORK!!!" Really mean and nasty stuff. I approach the gate attendant, "Hi, can I yell about you for things that are totally out of your control?" The agent, playing along, says with a smile, "Why not? Everyone else does." I then tell him that, "My shoes are squeaky, what are you going to do about that? And my hotel bathroom was terrible, why didn't you fix that for me? And I'm getting coffee at Starbucks, do you want one?" He catches the last bit, and say, "If you're serious about the coffee, I'd love one. Milk, 2 sugars." I return a little bit later with the coffee. What an amazing coincidence! There was suddenly an opening in first class! And someone else was bumped for some reason. Someone with a meeting in New York.
But really, never, ever, vent on the gate agents or flight crew. They want to get there too. Be ready to buy them coffee or snacks.

So, let's talk about what to bring, and why.

The basic rule: there are 2 kinds of bags, carry-on and lost. I rarely, if ever, check bags, and if I do it's unwillingly or as a result of some external requirement like carrying special equipment. Aside from the risk of loss, there's the huge additional time at the end of the trip to collect the bag. Have 1 night's worth of clothing, toiletries and so on with you, always. Never check your one-night "personal item" bag. If they force you to check your roll-on, consider it gone forever until you actually have it again. You can - and should re-wear clothing. It's OK, really. Hotels have irons. I do laundry on longer trips. You can almost always find a washing machine and dryer. You don't need 30 outfits. You need work-appropriate attire, resting attire and perhaps a leisure time outfit. That's about it. I travel with at little as possible. But I do ensure that I have...

Enough Cash to get to an Airport from your furthest point of journey.
Generally, the equivalent of $300 to $500 in local currency is usually enough to get you from where you don't want to be to an airport that can get you on your way to where you want to be. It does not HAVE to be Local currency, but it helps. US $100 bills are a global currency, $20's work now and then in European countries. In fact, money - in the form of credit cards and cash, is far easier to pack and use than stuff.

Toilet Paper - a small "camp" roll.
Really, do I need to explain more? You'll thank me later.

A Small Towel
Just like they say in the book "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" it's all true.

A light duty extension cord.
Meet new people and make friends when you turn the last outlet at the airport into 3 with your extension cord. Bring an outlet adapter for international travel, you don't really need a voltage converter anymore, pretty much everything runs "global voltages"

A Collapsable Cup
Drink from it. Refill water bottles from shallow sinks. Wash your hair in a sink. If you get the fancy silicone ones, you can heat water in a microwave and make coffee.


A Nylon Rain Jacket with Hood
I have this one that folds down into a really compact pouch. Great for those times where you have to walk to the train in the rain.

Anti-Diarrhea Tablets - enough for 3 days of maximum dose.
The old adage of it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it has never been more true than with these miracles of medical science. I have missed meetings and been trapped in hotel rooms for lack of these. Don't assume they will have these at the hotel.

A local mobile phone.(International travel)
If you don't have a local phone, get one. If you have an unlocked GSM cell phone, buy a SIM at the airport when you land and put it into your local phone If not, buy an unlocked phone when you get there. Phones outside the USA are insanely cheap, so is mobile service, which you can buy by the day, minute or combinations thereof. Also, if you're not in the USA, the emergency phone number is different - in the UK it's 119. In other countries its 112. Having a local phone makes calling these numbers easier.

A bandanna
The most versatile piece of cloth you'll ever carry. It's a dust mask, it's a face cloth, it's a rope, it's a small bag.

A Battery Pack with USB Output You can charge nearly anything from USB these days. These little boxes are wonderful, I carry 2 of them, 2,400 mAh each.

N+1 Charging. If you're carrying "N" devices that use a particular charging cable, you need to carry N+1 cables & chargers. Carrying an iPhone and an iPad? You need 3 charging cables and 3 chargers. You will thank me for this one day.

An LED Flashlight. Because it's a flashlight and there's no good replacement for one. Find stuff in your bag. Find stuff on the floor on the plane.

Granola Bar/Clif Bar/Something like that. Because you get hungry.

Review The Swiss Tech Micro Tool Line to Find and Select That Stuff You Need To Fix Your Tool and Gadget Addictionn. I'm not going to go into specifics, all I'm saying is that some their stuff that I own has as many frequent flier miles as I do. Note that I don't check bags.


More to come when I have a moment.

Are you sure this fellow wasn't just an American Traveler at Heathrow airport going home after a quick last minute drink in Soho and then black taxi ride to the airport?

Great tips. Thank you!

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that you had a problem at LAX, that epitome of effortless modern air travel. I ##%^&##@ despise LAX and avoid it whenever possible. Burbank, John Wayne, Long Beach, or Santa Barbara are all better.

My rule is to fly from the smallest airport possible (in the US at least). My favorite is Rapid City, SD (because it is)

Well, I know it wasn't me because I don't travel in pink underwear.

Excellent!

I can personally confirm most, if not all. A couple of random comments:

Carry on bags: You carry it, so you will be careful, so why do you need a hard side bag with wheels that starts off heavy, and is expensive to boot? I started using a nylon gym bag of the right carry on size (approximately) for my carry on. Light, cheap, and flexible so it will fit into various odd sized spaces.

Charger & Flashlight: Somewhere in our threads a while back someone recommended a cheap 4 AA battery USB charger which also has an led flashlight. AA batteries are available everywhere and cheap.

yes yes on the packable Nylon rain shell! Wear or carry a sweater and you are ready for (almost) anything.

"pretty much everything runs "global voltages"" It is the "pretty much" that will bite you. I needed a spare USB wall charger for my phone and went shopping before I left (carried 1 and 1 spare). Low and behold some of the secondary market chargers here were "110" only. Be sure (check) and also, make sure it will handle 1 amp; some on sale were much lower. They will work, but take longer to charge.

Mobile phone: I purposely got a GSM phone so I could swap sim cards. Only T-Mobile and ATT offer GSM phones and service in the US. Overseas, Sim card, 1 month service and 1 gig data was less then 10 bucks. The phone needs to be unlocked: check your carrier's unlock policy well before you go.

Cash Overseas: I've had US bills rejected because they were too old, marked up and/or worn. Take new and clean bills (100's and 20's).

I would add taking a supply of the packs of individually wrapped hand sanitizing towels. Aside from all the obvious uses, they don't have to go in the Quart bag like liquid hand sanitizer does and can be stashed all over in different pockets.

Has anyone thought about bringing a couple of those ear loop medical masks, just in case? I don't think I would recommend trying to wear one while going through security or passport control though. . .

A few things to add:

Good shoes. My dress shoes are made by New Balance but don't look like it. I can really RUN in them.

I can move farther, longer, with a good backpack than with any other kind of bag. If the gym bag works for you, roll with it, but if you're going to hoof it over a mile to make a connection at O'Hare, you may thank me for the suggestions about the shoes and the backpack. Especially if you don't have double-digit minutes to do it.

Which NB shoes are those? I've seen some of their black leather cross-trainers, close but not quite...

While I don't travel nearly as much as Martin the places I go are usually very 3rd World-ish...because that's where the oil is. In regards to his advice, I just have to say I love ExOfficio GiveNGo underwear.
It's comfortable, quick drying, antibacterial, and generally awesome. However, the one downside is it is synthetic so in a fire you could end up with serious problems. For this reason I usually wear cotton on the plane and ExOfficio everywhere else.
-Blast

Funny. I still use a roll-aboard, but more and more frequently I use a duffel bag because it's really light and easy.


I prefer the block batteries to the AA ones, but any self-contained charger is a good charger.


The baseline clothing & stuff package in the roll-on/duffel, this is always packed:
3x Underwear
3x Black Socks
1x White Socks
1x Work-quality sweater
1x T-Shirt
1x Sweatshirt
1x Sweat Pants
1x Pants (Black Jeans are "work wear" for me...)
2x Work Shirts (Usually Oxfords)
1x Swim Trunks/Shorts
1x Canvas Sneakers
1x Nylon Rain Shell (with hood!)
1x Downey "Wrinkle Release" spray (kind of works).
2x Plastic Grocery Bags (for sneakers and wet stuff)

Occasionally I add in:
1x Light blanket
1x Inflatable Pillow



I check everything and discard the ones that don't run 100-240v 50/60hz Stick with Apple chargers for best results on all equipment.


Unlocked phones are easily found on Amazon.com, don't count on your carrier to do it if you're on a contract with a subsidized phone.


Yes, I should have mentioned that - crisp, new notes are always better. Interestingly, if you know the exchange rate, it's amazing how many things that cost $150 in local currency cost only $100 in US currency.



Oh, that's a great idea!


Well, if you are in Asia, it's fairly common.