There are a lot of handy travel items on the market these days and while it can be really fun to purchase a bunch of new items for your trip, there are a few things that aren’t really necessary. Here are some travel items I have brought and packed in the past, but never used!
- A travel clothesline. If you are gone for long enough that you need to do a full load of laundry you will go to a laundromat and most likely use a dryer. If you need to handwash a single item or stretch out the life of your socks there is going to be chair, balcony or coat hanger you can use to dry them on. Most of the time there is nowhere you could actually hang the clothesline anyway, or you sometimes find they are already installed across the shower.
- A sleep mask. For some reason I have taken a sleep mask on every trip so far and I am yet to use it! A sleep mask won’t miraculously give you a good nights sleep on the airplane and I have never had an issue with getting my hotel/hostel room dark enough to sleep in. Some airlines will even give out eye masks as a freebie so there is no need to pack one. If you find yourself needing to block out the light, you could always use a hoodie or scarf.
- Microfibre towels. Unless you are actually going camping or into the wilderness you won’t need your own towel as most accomodations will give you a towel to use. It might be small with a weird stain, but they will give you a towel. Same goes for any venue with a pool, they will typically have towels on offer. Microfibre also feels gross!
- Travel sized hairdryer. Almost all places have hairdryers in their rooms and even if they don’t then being on vacation is the one time you can get away with a messy hairdo or hiding your mop under a cap or beanie. A travel size hairdryer is still going to take up a lot of space and is probably not going to be powerful enough to actually work with anyway.
- Travel wallet. Your normal wallet will do and you can just store your other items in a pocket of your bag. If you really want to keep everything together a small pencil case or file will also do. Most tickets are digital these days so you don’t have that many documents to hold onto either. There is really no need to buy a fancy travel wallet unless you really like the look of one.
Even if you do decide for some reason that you do really need one of these things while you are away you can always buy them!
Do you agree or do you always pack one of these items?
Categories: featured, Packing Lists, Travel Planning
Your Travel Handbook 
Great post! 😊 I totally agree with you I use to take so many products with me and never using them! Especially towels.
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Such a great post!!! Couldn’t agree more with you on all of it xx
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Love it. So true. Part of my blog is about debunking travel app lies and the “must haves” of travels! Haha
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Interesting post! Thanks for sharing! But for me, the sleeping mask is a must! I cannot fall asleep without it and the ones they give on the plane feel a bit cheap and I don’t like them as much 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
It is interesting to read so many people do like the sleep mask! Maybe I am missing out by not using one 😉
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So true, it’s so easy to over pack and you don’t end up using half of the stuff anyway! Great post. Xx
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I agree with everything except for sleeping mask! I love them so much loool. Wherever I am staying, I can only sleep when its completely dark.
I agree, one pair of trainers is enough and two pairs of trousers is enough!
A good read! Loved it 🙂
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These are all good points! I will say we do actually have a special ‘travel’ wallet that’s smaller than our regular ones (and hence more portable), maybe we should streamline our everyday wallets instead of having more than one ha!
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I actually have done this since returning from my last trip, I only use my little small wallet for everyday now. It is a lot easier to carry around 🙂
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So true! I do solo travel all the time and see these in recommendations. Great read!
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The only one of these I pack is my eye mask for long flights to block out other people’s reading lights (and for some reason I sleep better because i feel like I’m in my own little space with it on? I know it’s weird haha)
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Very useful post. Finally someone talked about the useless things that many other bloggers try to sell
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This is great! I took my microfiber towel with me on my last trip and regretted it. Lesson learned!
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I do have a separate travel purse that’s smaller then my everyday one. I do take a sleep mask due to migraines but I agree with a lot of this!
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