10 things you MUST carry on an international trip outside India

Hello Qwerty Blogr,

Have you ever gone on an international trip? If you did, I am sure you took extra care to ensure that you carried everything you might need when you were abroad. And you arranged all of that well before leaving India. Am I right?

Well, most of us do that. And I can easily suppose that if you have ever traveled outside the country, you or your family members have spent days in making the perfect packing for you, with all the essentials bought or collected, sorted and packed inside your bags. You can never be sure if you have included each and everything that you would need. And hence, even on the day of travel, most of us find ourselves going about the corner shop and the supermarket next door in search of that one thing in the list that was missed out. It happens every time – without fail! To some, it happens even when they travel from Delhi to Mumbai. But do not worry. Here I am to the rescue.

In this post, I am going to talk about top 10 things that you must carry on an international trip outside India. I will tell you the very basic things that you might need but you won’t get it easily when you are abroad. Check each of these items and tell me in the comments which items you already have and which ones are you going to buy for the upcoming trip. I will leave a link below of each of the items which you must buy when you are traveling outside the country. Do let me know if you know of something that I have missed in my list below and I will quickly add that up as well. I will be eagerly waiting to see your feedback in the Comment Section below.

Let’s start and go through the list of Top 10 things you MUST carry on an international trip outside India. Even if you are not traveling, this list will surely amuse you. It has things which you might also want to acquire for your personal use. Enjoy the ride!

1. Travel Document Holder

 

Documents are the most important things when you travel outside the country. Your passport, your identity cards, your currency, flight tickets and hotel booking receipts are all very important documents that you must carry. You may be asked to produce these documents at different places to different people at different times. Hence, you need to keep these together and handy. A document holder becomes a very important accessory to carry, while you are traveling outside India.

2. Universal Travel Charger Adapter Plug

 

The second most important thing that you must take along is a universal travel charger adapter plug. Actually, the electronic adapters that we have here in India won’t fit into the various kinds of plug points that we see in foreign countries. Each region or country has its own system of making these electrical points. We cannot buy different adapters for different countries, right? And if you are a frequent traveler, you would not want to carry 10 different adapter plugs along with you. Besides, if you choose to buy a country-specific plug from that country itself, it will be too costly too. Hence, it is best to get a universal adapter plug which will fit wherever you go and you can use your laptop adapter or mobile charger without a problem. So, ensure that you have bought this adapter plug before stepping out of the country.

3. Power Bank

In this age, we cannot live without out gadgets and if our gadgets get discharged at wrong times when we are on a trip, it will hurt us a lot, isn’t it? Hence, I will recommend that you definitely take a power bank with you. Normally, the capacity of the power bank should be at least twice the capacity of your mobile phone battery. This is how you can decide how big you want to buy. Remember, the bigger the costlier and you do not need to recharge your phone more than twice. A power bank is only a backup measure. Go for it!

4. Foldable luggage trolley

Often, we find ourselves moving from one place to another with all our luggage, when we are on a trip. And it is always cumbersome. A foldable trolley will help you stack all your luggage, whether they have their own trolley wheel or not, in one place and move them around. Trust me, it makes the traveler’s life much easier on a foreign land.

5. Travel Sleeping Kit

Now, when you are on a trip you never know where you land up in – a noisy street or a raucous corridor or lounge or even a long and nonexciting flight. You badly need a sleep and a sleeping kit is your perfect companion. It will have a pillow which you can inflate and deflate when not in use, eye mask and earplugs as well. This won’t take much of your space and you can easily accommodate such a small packet in your luggage. It will be a very handy addition to your travel kit.

6. Your own lock & key

It is very important for the safety of your luggage and other belongings that you lock them whenever possible. Though most of the international hotels do not operate with lock and key these days and have access cards or another mechanism to open and close hotel rooms, you are still allowed to keep your things in the hotel lobby or at the reception while you get busy with other engagements, if needed. There can be other instances where you might need a lock and key to secure your belongings. You must ensure that you keep a couple of locks and their keys with yourself when you travel outside India. Even while traveling within the country, you must have a lock and key with you. If you do not have them already, you can order them from Amazon.

Before going to the next item, let me tell you that all the links that I have used here in this article will lead you to Amazon India’s page and you can buy things directly from there. Also, the products that I have listed here are all Amazon Prime products and hence, if you have an Amazon Prime account, you can save on delivery charges and a few other things too. I am sure you know the advantages of having an Amazon Prime access. We can talk about that in some other post in the future. Let’s continue with our list of Top 10 items that you must carry with you when you are on an international trip outside India.

7. Waist bag pouch

I love this thing! I have one of these which I am using since 2006-07. I take this along on every trip. In fact, this is the only common thing, if I think now in retrospect, in all my trips since then. I got it as one of the performance awards during my starting days of corporate life. Phew!

 

I use my waist pouch to carry everything I have and it is big enough to carry my mobile phone, notebook, pen and even the sunglasses. You can choose one which will be enough to carry the things that you are planning to take along on your trip, such as your camera, lens or flash and extra battery etc. But ensure that you wear a pant or trouser with wide belt strips so that you can put the pouch belt through them to secure your pouch even further. This pouch is going to be there with you for a long time. Hence, choose wisely.

8. An Electric Kettle

An electric kettle can be a lifesaver when you are on a trip. Most kettles can boil eggs and in some, you can even prepare ready to eat instant noodles. I am sure you will know the utility of a kettle if you have spent considerable time traveling or staying in a hostel as a student. You do not need a huge one. But a small kettle will help you in many ways. Keep it along.

9. An Electric Iron

Well, this is not an item that everyone will use, but travel irons are most needed for business executives who are on official trips and need to look tip-top all the time. A quick self-ironing of the cloths can save a lot at the laundry if you are on a budget trip. If you have space and if you do not portray your casual personality and want to be in formals or semi-formal attire all through your trip, an electric iron is a must.

10. Bug Sprays & Mosquito Repellent Spray

       

Does it sound eerie? Weird? Well, it is not. You will definitely find this featuring in many lists of the traveler’s essentials. Yes, such sprays are must if you are traveling to the developing nations or other remote places where bed bugs and mosquitos can be a big nuisance. Keep these with you and you will have a pleasant stay at any place you get to stay in.

So, these were the top 10 things you MUST carry on an international trip outside India. Do let me know if you agree or if you want to add or remove any items from this list. But before we end this list, I will also add the eleventh item. This is not a mandate, but I simply loved this when I was doing my research for this article.

11. Waist Pouch Belt

This is another waist pouch belt that is very similar to the one I mentioned earlier. However, it has little less space and is worn differently. You can use this exactly like you can use the previous one, but mostly for documents, pens and other small items. I liked this pouch very much but I included the other one in top 10 because I am using that for a long time now and I simply love it. You can say that I am a little biased towards that and I won’t mind that too. You can get the one which will suit your needs more.

That’s all I had in this article. Yes, it has gone a little longer than I expected, but I am sure that the information I have collated in here will help you when you prepare for your travel next time. Do let me know in your comments if you actually obtained any of these items and how you liked them. I will love to hear from you.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Warm Regards,

Tan

I write regularly on www.TheIndianFreelancer.com

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