Some unintuitive items I bring with me on my trips

Traveling frequently has allowed me to develop a routine for packing. For a short trip, I’m now able to carry all of my necessities in just one carry-on bag and one personal item backpack. Here’s a few things I like to carry with me that might not be too intuitive, but actually help me travel a lot better.

• A 1-quart “single use” plastic water bottle.
  • I keep this inside my backpack. (The outer water bottle holding nets are not large enough to accommodate a quart-sized water bottle.)
  • Regular water bottles are quite heavy and bulky. The last thing you want to do is lug around more weight in your backpack. If you look at what pilots and flight attendants do, they always carry around these sorts of plastic quart-sized water bottles. They do NOT use metal bottles!
  • Your local spring water brand (e.g. Poland Springs, Deer Park, Arrowhead, Ozarka) will have quart-sized bottles.
  • I fill up water once inside the secure zone. If I can, I get the water from the Centurion Lounge’s Vivreau filtered tap water. Otherwise, any tap water from a water fountain will do.
• Two laundry bags: one for dirty shirts and underwear, and another for socks.
• A foldable toothbrush.
  • A regular toothbrush is an invitation for germs to grow on the brush. By getting a foldable one, you can protect the brush whenever you’re not using it and keep your toiletries bag as dry and bacteria-free as possible.
• 2.5-ounce toothpaste.
  • It looks too big to satisfy the TSA’s 3-1-1 rule, but it’s actually well within the 3.4 oz limit. I have a whole article dedicated to how you can buy some for yourself.
• E-ZPass, for whenever I’m going to the East Coast and driving a car. (More info on my post about tolls.)
  • To avoid paying annual fees, I use the Delaware E-ZPass.
  • I bought a suction-cup mount for my E-ZPass, so now I don’t even need to use adhesive Velcro anymore!
  • The last thing you want is to pay the tolls through the rental car company, which will add on a lot of additional processing fees.

I hope these help you have an effective trip!