10 Travel Essentials You Didn’t Know You Needed

Have you ever though what would your travel essentials be? when you're traveling, there's certain situations you want to be prepared for. Here you will find a list of what we found out to be absolute necessary items.

What to pack? That's the biggest question when preparing for a trip. No matter if it's a weekend in the woods or a month through Europe, packing is always a crucial part of our travels.

We usually go very prepared for what we expect from our journey.  But life can be very surprising, especially when we leave our environment, and some of these travel essentials will come more in handy than you think.

So here's a list of certain items you might haven't thought were so important, but can be really helpful when facing unexpected situations.

Travel Essential #1: Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is seriously good for everything! It can come in handy while traveling if you get dry skin or chapped lips. You can also use it to hydrate and soothe your skin if you are sunburnt.

It can be a quick fix for your hair if its super humid in order to tame that frizz, if it's dry and needs a little life, or to smooth it out if it's static from extremely low temperatures.

As a bonus, if you need to cook in your hostel or apartment, rather than going out and buying a giant container of oil you can just put a little coconut oil in the pan- convenient and healthier!

We usually put a little in a small container for refillable toiletries to be able to carry around with us, and a little goes a long way! Definitely one of our favourite travel essentials.

Travel Essential #2: Brazilian Canga

The Cangas are our favorite travel essentials. This is something that you'll find sold all over Brazil, especially on the beaches. Its like a very large thin blanket. The uses of this are infinite. Not only are these useful, but because they are so thin, they are super easy to stuff in your purse or small backpack.

You should get a Canga and bring it with you everywhere!

Travel Essential #3: String

As weird as it may sound, string can help you more than you think. You can use string to attach any object to your backpack so you don’t have to carry them in your hands. We are talking about bottles, tripods (if you have passion for photography), bags or any other thing.

Another very important use is to air dry your clothes if you are camping or even if the place you are staying in doesn’t provide any place to hang them, and you can hang your clothes over a line of string.

Travel Essential #4: Small Backpack

This may seem like the obvious, but we don’t mean a backpack for backpacking. We mean a tiny backpack. Whether it’s for a small picnic, a day of hiking, or just somewhere to store snacks and photography equipment, the back pack is an absolute travel essential.

You can get a perfect sized backpack at Primark for only $10! And it can fold to go into your luggage as well.

Travel Essential #5: Power Bank

Another important thing to have is a power bank. Now we know people shouldn’t be on their phones 24/7, but let’s be honest, whether its to look up things to do, check the weather, or to use google maps, our phones are essential.

When traveling outside your own country, phone batteries tend to drain much faster than when you are in your home country, due to the phone constantly working to find signal.

Power banks are travel essentials that will save you to give your phone, go pro, or other small electronic a boost to last the whole day so you're not let lost or without battery to capture precious moments on camera.

Travel Essential #6: Baby/ Face Wipes

You never know when these bad boys will come into use. If you are eating something, if your camera gets dirty, or even just a quick way to freshen up during a long or hot day, they’re needed more than you think!

The number one is to have just in case you need to go to the bathroom, especially if you find yourself in nature, or just South America in general where toilet paper is a rarity.

Travel Essential #7: Ziploc Bags

Never underestimate the power of Ziploc bags. You might think that they are meant for food leftovers only, but actually you can use them for a lot of things.

You can save your toothbrush and toothpaste from the rest, you can put any type of cream, cologne, perfume or liquid in general to prevent them from leaking on everything else (especially if you’re going on a hike, high altitudes can make closed plastic bottles to explode).

Also, if your shoes are wet for whatever reason, and you need to wear them that day, you can put a Ziploc bag in between your socks and the shoes. This way you can wear the shoes and let them dry during the day without your socks absorbing the water and making you cold (and may be even sick).

And a beautiful bonus- just in case you’re hiking and need to put used tissues or toilet paper so that we keep nature beautiful.

Travel Essential #8: Carabiners

At first it may sound like a climbing/hiking tool only, but you can actually use this for many other things. If you are going to the beach but don’t want to be all day walking on your flip flops, you can attach a carabiner to your backpack and hook your flip flops in it until you need to use them. 

Also, if you’re carrying a bag with a strap and one of the ends break, you can easily replace it with a carabiner. Need more examples? If you happen to lose your belt (or if it somehow breaks) you can use a carabiner as a replacement for it.

Travel Essential #9: Umbrella

You may check the weather for your trip and see sunshine all week. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but just because you’re going to a place that is usually sunny, doesn’t mean you’ll be that lucky.

Some places it might be more necessary than others, but a small foldable umbrella can really save you if it starts to randomly downpour, especially if you want to take pictures, or have a bag you don’t want getting wet.

Travel Essential #10: Plastic Bag

It might seem weird to bring plastic bags with you traveling but these are super helpful! We’re not saying stuff your bag with tons of plastic bags, but instead of throwing them away when you stop at a shop, keep it with you.

For one, this will help from wasting the plastic by reusing it, and you also will find them handy to keep with you. Put your dirty laundry in them, put your wet shoes in them, or if it starts to rain, you can use them to cover your belongings.