What to Pack as a Digital Nomad

Unsure what to keep and what to leave behind? This is a list of every item that I own.

Note that all links in this article are included to demostrate the item that I have. They are not affiliate links and I receive nothing if you click them.

My bags

I carry two bags with me:

A fake Swissgear rucksack, and a 63.5cm x 44.4cm x 29.2cm suitcase. Everything comfortably fits in these two bags with the suitcase weighing around 15kg.

My bags

Tech

14" 2023 M2 MacBook Pro with charger, protective sleeve and microfibre cloth

There is no digital in digital nomad without this.

iPhone 12 Mini + charger

The 12 Mini is the perfect-sized phone for me, and seeing as Apple has stopped making such models, I'm going milk this cow for all it's worth.

Apple Watch Series 6 + charger

Up until 2016 I didn't wear a watch, but I jumped on the Apple Watch bandwagon with the introduction of the Series 2. And you know the most useful thing it does?

It tells the time.

I also use it as a fitness tracker, and perhaps its most underrated feature is Maps, which gives you a GPS map on your wrist akin to the one on your phone screen. If your phone isn't easily accessible, for example if you're out running, having that map on your wrist while navigating is immensely helpful.

Apple TV 4 + Siri Remote, HDMI cable and power cable

The greatest item I almost left behind. Despite being less than a quarter the size of a yoga block, when I first left as a digital nomad, I decided that my trusty Apple TV, which I've had since 2015, took up too much space in my suitcase. In a last-minute change of heart, I threw it into my bag and I'm so glad that I did.

An Apple TV plugs into any TV with an HDMI port (so basically any TV) and essentially turns it into a smart TV. Even if you are staying somewhere that has a smart TV, the UI of the Apple TV is so much more pleasing to use than using the TV's own remote control. The Apple TV remembers all your login details, so the only thing you need to do is connect it to your room's wifi and you're good to go with Netflix or any other equivalent service that you use.

Even more importantly for me, there's a Peloton app for Apple TV. As I have a Peloton Digital subscription, it means I can use the TV in my room for workouts, which is a world away from having to do them on my phone screen. There are equivalent apps for other fitness services like Apple Fitness+.

There are alternative products to the Apple TV such as Chromecast and Amazon's Fire Stick. If you don't want your TV viewing to be limited to terrestrial channels in the language of the country that you're in, having one such device is more than worth it.

AirPods Pro with charging case

If you'd asked me two months ago, I'd have told you that the AirPods Pro are the most perfect product Apple's ever created. I've used mine extensively in the two and a half years since I got them and the battery doesn't feel like it's degraded at all. They work seamlessly with my phone, my Mac and my Apple TV, so in a typical day I could use them to play some motivational songs while going for a run or to the gym, to listen to a podcast while having lunch, to play some music when I go to the supermarket, to play nature sounds while meditating, and to listen to whatever show I'm watching on Netflix in the evening. It wouldn't be uncommon for me to use them four hours in a day.

A couple of months ago though, right after arriving in Bucharest, I started having an issue where my left ear became completely blocked with earwax, and my right ear was feeling a little full too. It took me three weeks to make the connection to my AirPods, but eventually I decided that wearing them so much, I was continually pushing ear wax back into my ear every time I put them in, and stopping ear wax from falling out by wearing them. Having been basically deaf in one ear for three weeks, within three or four days of ceasing use of my AirPods, my ears cleared and I've had perfect hearing ever since.

They're still a great product, but I don't use them much anymore, as I didn't really enjoy being partially deaf for almost all my time in Bucharest.

Sony WH-1000XM4 noise cancelling headphones + case + cables

Do you remember back in the olden days when people used to work in offices? I bought these headphones back then to help me concentrate while working in an "office". Yet as a digital nomad is where they're really invaluable.

They make long flights enjoyable by blocking-out the noise of the plane and the screaming kid in the row behind you, and instead pump relaxing nature sounds down your ear canal. They connect to your Apple TV, so you can listen in crystal clear sound quality even if you're watching Netflix on a shitty TV, and you can listen as loud as you want at any time of night without disturbing your neighbours. If you want to sit in a coffee shop and read a book without being disturbed, they can do that too. Most importantly though, you can never quite guarantee the serenity of the room you're staying/working in.

Sometimes there will be maintenance work going on in your building, sometimes you'll have noisy neighbours, or people outside. Being able to block it all out and reside in your own world makes them an essential piece of kit for any digital nomad.

Nextstand

If you're like me, then you hate being hunched-over a desk. I like my laptop to be so high and my chair so low that people have referred to me as a psychopath. The Nextstand is a folding laptop stand that packs flat but gives your laptop a good lift wherever you decide to setup your workstation.

Other brands do near-identical stands (apparently they all copied Roost, whose stands are now massively over-priced in comparison), so find the one that works for you, but if you spend any amount of time working at a desk, a stand like this is a God-send.

Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad

There wouldn't be much point having a laptop stand if you can't use your laptop while it's on it. Other more economically-friendly bluetooth keyboards and trackpads/mice are available, but these two work seamlessly with my MacBook, and don't take up much space in my suitcase.

Extension cord

I cannot stress enough the importance of having an extension cord in your suitcase. Assuming that it's an extension cord from your home country, it'll give you multiple outlets for your electronics while needing just one converter plug. I actually have an extension cord from Thailand, but that's where most of my electronics come from.

Beyond giving you the need to carry fewer converter plugs, it's amazing how often you'll find yourself staying somewhere that the plugs aren't where you need them. Want to work from the sofa but there's no plug nearby? There's an extension cord for that. Want to charge your phone on your bedside table while you sleep but there aren't any outlets next to the bed? There's an extension cord for that. Want to plug-in your Apple TV but there are only two outlets next to the TV and they're taken-up by the TV and the wifi router? There's an extension cord for that.

Trust me on this one.

External hard drive and Apple USB-C to USB adapter

I might have been a developer for close to five years now, but you know how much I know about computers?

Fuck all.

To me they're still rocks that we taught to think with lightning, and I have no idea about that voodoo, which means that occasionally I can try to update my computer and whoop, now everything's broken.

I do weekly backups of my MacBook to my external hard drive, so on the rare occasions that I do irreversible damage, as a last resort I can just restore my machine back to how it was before. It's also a safeguard against my Mac ever breaking or getting lost or stolen. It would be a huge pain to have to start on a new machine from scratch, so I keep my Mac and my external hard drive separate in the hope that if my Mac ever goes for a walk, then the hard drive doesn't and I at least have everything saved to restore onto a new machine.

Apple USB-C to lightning cable

Connects my phone, Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad to my Mac. Primarily I use it to backup my iPhone to my Mac.

Converter plugs

I have six converter plugs of various types. Having lived in both places, my tech comes from Thailand and the UK, so I need to be able to convert both to wherever I am in the world, which means carrying an excess of plugs.

SIM cards and SIM tray key

One of the first things I do when I go to a new country is buy a local SIM card. Most of the time I dispose of that SIM card when I leave again, but some are worth keeping if you plan on returning to that country or if you need to keep the number active for two-factor authentication.

I have a little plastic baggie, the kind that you buy drugs in, and keep my SIM cards and a SIM tray key (the little metal key that comes with your iPhone) in it so they don't get lost.

Fitness

Folding yoga mat, two yoga bricks and a yoga strap

It might seem mad that roughly a third of my suitcase is taken up by a yoga mat and yoga blocks, and perhaps it is, but I would have a hard time justifying being a digital nomad if I knew it was negatively impacting my long-term health compared to being settled.

To stave-off the inevitability of one day being old and immobile I do yoga whenever I can, and I just wouldn't be able to do it as well without a mat and my yoga blocks.

My folding yoga mat packs flat into my suitcase, and even fits into my rucksack if I want to take it to a class outside of my room. I'm still waiting for someone to invent travel yoga blocks, so in the mean time I carry around these two bricks with me.

Wrist wallet and phone armband

A wrist wallet is basically a sweat band that has a zip compartment in it. It's more secure and less annoying than pockets for securing your keys and money when you go out for a run or to the gym. I often leave my phone at home when I run, but if I do take it with me, my phone armband allows me to carry it on my arm. It's also good for cards, like debit cards and hotel keycards.

Sustenance

Being a vegan digital nomad can greatly limit the places you can comfortably travel to, especially if you're going somewhere that getting an apartment isn't viable so you're limited to hotels, and hence have no cooking facilities. In some places in the world veganism just isn't a thing, in others there's no English for you to communicate what you want.

In such situations having your own equipment can be a lifesaver because you at least have the means to cut-up fruit, or to get some granola and soy milk from the supermarket.

If your diet is more liberal or you don't plan on going anywhere off the beaten path, these items won't be necessary, but from my experience you can have the confidence to go to more remote, less vegan-friendly places when you know that you can prepare limited foods on your own.

Personal blender

When space is limited, carrying around a blender in my suitcase might sound crazier than having two yoga bricks, but I use my blender a couple of times per day, no matter where in the world I am. I start and finish everyday with a fruit smoothie, and my health would be undoubtedly worse without it.

Small chopping board

I've stayed in Airbnbs that have knives, but that don't have chopping boards. Having one of your own when in ill-equipped kitchens or when staying in hotels allows you to much more easily cut-up fruit.

Travel cutlery

You should get cultery in any Airbnb, but its much less likely in a hotel room. You've ordered a take-away and they didn't include cutlery? You want to make a fruit salad and not eat it with your fingers? For as little space as it takes up, you'll be glad to have your own with you.

Flat-pack silicone bowl

Popularised by dogs, silicone bowls pack flat so they don't take up much space in your suitcase, but can be popped-out into a bowl whenever you feel like some granola or a fruit salad.

Camping knife and sheath

When I was much younger and dumber, I took my tent and went hitch-hiking through the wilderness of northern Canada. I bought my camping knife, with it's three-inch blade, in case I got attacked by any grizzly bears.

Now that I know what a grizzly bear is I'm glad that didn't happen, because it turns out it wouldn't have been much help and I'd be a lot more dead. None-the-less I found my camping knife to be an incredibly useful tool, and it's been with me everywhere I've been in the world for the fifteen years since.

Once you know how, it's easier and faster to open cans with a knife than with a can opener, you're often going to find yourself needing to cut string or dig-out splinters or take-out screws. With a bit of ingenuity, your knife can do all of that. It's probably not the best-suited knife for what I use it for now, which is more cutting-up fruit than stabbling grizzly bears, but we've been together too long, me and knifey.

Knife sharpener

When I lived in Park City in Utah in 2010, I wandered into the Walmart and happened to see this little knife-sharpening tool. I think it cost about a dollar.

Opening cans can dull your knife pretty quickly, so I bought this little knife sharpener, and just like my knife, it's been with me ever since. Not only is it great for keeping knifey sharp, but one of the first things I do when I check-into a new Airbnb is sharpen all the knives. It's something that even the most attentive hosts seem to neglect, and it makes cooking so much easier when you have sharp knives.

Camping tea cup

Have you ever stayed somewhere that gives you a kettle, but not any cups? That was the point I finally broke and bought my own tea cup.

I get through about ten cups of tea in a day. Green tea in the mornings, herbal teas in the afternoon, and prior to getting my own cup grew ever more frustrated with the tiny cups that hosts and hotels often give you. Give me a proper cup, dammit. When I eventually stayed somewhere that didn't give me any cups at all, I was glad for the excuse to buy my own.

I somewhat accidentally got a heat-proof cup with a picture of a mountain on it, so I think it's designed for hardier things than sipping tea in an Airbnb, but the heat-proofness is surprisingly useful. I never have to worry about finding a mat so that I don't burn whatever surface I put the cup down on.

Me and Knifey in Argentina in 2010

Clothing & shoes

One of the reasons that I'm a digital nomad is I hate winter. Don't see the point of it. It's cold and dark and depressing, so whenever I find myself face-to-face with winter I either swap hemispheres, or emigrate as close to the equator as possible. A consequence of that is I carry no winter clothing, greatly lightening my suitcase.

I own no coat, I own no winter hat or gloves, I own no trousers, I own no socks that go above the ankles, and the only item I have with long sleeves is a hoodie that does little but line my suitcase.

My attitude to fashion is one of... I don't care. Apart from shoes, I don't own an item of clothing that cost me more than £7. Any t-shirt that was more than £2 I treat as one of my posh t-shirts. Along with no trousers, I have nothing with a collar and no footwear other than trainers and flip-flops.

That does limit me on being able to enter fancier night-clubs, which can prematurely end my night on occasion, but I take the view that if I can't wear the clothes I'm comfortable in, then why do I want to go there? The rare occasions that's happened don't justify the space those items take.

The other consideration with clothing, and this will highlight my pedantry, is that you want to run-out of each type of clothing at the same time.

That's less relevant if you have a washing machine in your room, but if you're regularly taking your clothes to the launderette, then if you run-out of underwear while having five clean t-shirts, then you're carrying too many t-shirts (or not enough underwear). If you run out of socks while still having four clean pairs of underwear, then you have four unnecessary pairs of underwear taking up space. My advice is that you want to have just over a week's worth of clothes. Any more than that and they take up too much space in your suitcase, any less and on times that you don't have your own washing machine, you'll be making way too many trips to the launderette. What is a week of clothes for me might be two weeks or three days for you depending how bad you smell, how much you exercise, how much you sweat, how active you are, and how much you care about hygiene. Also consider your hobbies, which for me includes running, and any specialist items of clothing you might want to take with you.

What I have is:

• 12x pairs of underwear (three of which are primarily for running)
• 9x normal t-shirts
• 3x running/workout t-shirts
• 4x pairs of cargo shorts
• 3x pairs running/workout shorts
• 1x swimming shorts
• 10x pairs of trainer socks
• 3x pairs of running socks
• 1x belt
• 1x hoodie

I love cargo shorts because they have so many pockets. As a digital nomad it's more important than normal to not get pick-pocketed because if someone takes one of your debit cards, it's far harder to replace when you're abroad, or if they take the key to your Airbnb you're going to have to liase with and probably pay money to your host to get a spare, or if they take your phone and you're in an unfamiliar city, that can leave you good and lost. Having loads of pockets means you can keep the essential things in zipped/buttoned pockets half-way down your leg, just leaving unessential items in the open pockets that are easy to get to.

I have swimming shorts because I like the idea of swimming. Despite staying in many rooms with pools or nearby to beaches, I never end up actually swimming. Still, it's nice to have the option.

In terms of shoes, I have three pairs. I have a pair of casual Lonsdale trainers that I wear for pretty much everything outside of exercise. I've had the exact same pair of shoes for longer than I care to admit.

They last for about a year, and whenever they get so worn-out they need to be replaced, I just buy the exact same pair again. I didn't realise how long I'd been doing this until I saw a picture of myself from 2005 wearing this same pair of Lonsdale trainers, meaning I'm probably on at least my eighteenth pair by now. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The most expensive item of clothing I own is my Karrimor running shoes that cost me £30 in Sports Direct. I wear these whenever I'm running or doing other exercise. They also double as an emergency pair of shoes if I get caught in the rain or my Lonsdales are otherwise out of commission. I have a plastic bag for these too because they go in my suitcase on travelling days and I don't want the dog shit I ran through the day before to rub-off on all my clothes.

The last thing I have is a pair of flip-flops. I almost never use them, but they don't take up much space and I like the idea of having something that's immune to wet weather, should something happen to my other shoes.

Hygiene

Body-hair clippers with charging cable

I hate being too hairy.

Toiletries

I have a shower bag, and in it I keep travel-sized shampoo, mouthwash, shaving foam, moisturiser and sun screen.

The shampoo is just for emergencies; almost every place you stay will provide some. I get through about a litre of mouthwash every month, so buying a big bottle is one of the first things I do when I go somewhere new. I carry a travel-sized one with me just in case I'm not able to get some right away. I don't shave very often, so travel shaving foam lasts me a couple of months, and I only use moisturiser after shaving, so that lasts me for a couple of years. I never use the sun screen. In fact, I remember where I was when I bought this bottle, so I can tell you that it was in January 2015. More than eight years later I'm still less than halfway through it, I just carry it around to look cool.

I then have a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, razor, spare razor heads, chapstick, Earol, tweezers, nail clippers, nail scissors, safety pins and a eucalyptus oil inhaler.

I get the smallest toothpaste I can find when my previous tube runs out. Absolutely no point hauling around four months worth of toothpaste with you. The only razor I've ever used where my neck doesn't look like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the Gillette Sensitive razor, the razor heads for which are very expensive and aren't available everywhere in the world. Therefore I change the razor head as infrequently as possible, endeavouring to get at least three months out of each one, and carry up to eight spares to give me a couple of years worth of shaves. The Earol is an olive oil spray, and a recent addition after I went deaf for a bit. I've never used the nail scissors to cut my nails, but they are useful for things like cutting loose threads from my clothes. The eucalyptus inhaler came about when I had a cold in Thailand. Everyone seems to wander around with one there, and they're incredibly cheap and available in every convenience store. I've had mine for months and I still sniff on it occasionally when I need to wake up.

Security

Pacsafe Wrapsafe adjustable cable lock

I've carried a Pacsafe product with me for just about the entirety of my time backpacking and travelling. Pacsafe create devices to secure your belongings. In my backpacking days I had a steel net that wrapped around my backpack, securing it closed allowing me to lock it to something or to know that no baggage handlers would be going through it when I checked it in. Nowadays I have this adjustable cable lock which I can wrap around my suitcase and secure it to something. If I have even an ounce of apprehension about the security of the place that I'm staying, which is very common if I'm staying in a hotel with cleaners coming into the room, then every time I go out I put all of my valuables in my suitcase and lock it to an immovable object, giving me the peace of mind that, unless the cleaner has a hacksaw, it'll all still be there when I come back again.

2x padlocks

One locks the Pacsafe, the other locks the zip of my suitcase closed. Don't forget the keys.

2x Apple AirTags

AirTags are tiny Apple devices that you can use to track your belongings. They don't contain GPS themselves, rather work by crowd GPS, which means that they transmit bluetooth signals. If any GPS-enabled Apple device is in the vicinity, it submits the AirTag's location to iCloud, where you can find it in the FindMy app on your iPhone. So basically you're using other people's iPhones to track your belongings.

I keep one in my suitcase, and one in my rucksack. The hope is that if either ever go missing I'll have an easier time locating them again if I can see their location on my phone.

I should stress that they aren't an anti-theft device. In order to prevent AirTags being used for stalking people, if an iPhone notices that someone else's AirTag is travelling with it, it will send a notification to the iPhone and the AirTag will play a sound. Therefore, if someone with an iPhone steals your rucksack, they'll soon be notified that your AirTag is travelling with them and dispose of it, so it wouldn't be good for tracking them. Rather, for accidental loss like if you leave your bag on the bus, or if an airline loses your luggage, then it could be useful.

Thankfully I haven't needed mine for such circumstances. The only use I've had is I can see in advance if my checked-in suitcase made it to my destination without having to wait for it to appear on the baggage claim conveyer after a flight, and I can see that my suitcase is still in the luggage hold of the bus that I'm on after a stop.

Condoms

So expensive nowadays that forking-out for the odd abortion is cheaper.

Using my Pacsafe in Siem Reap

Money

All your debit cards

I recommend a minimum of three debit cards for different accounts, each kept separately from each other, and with the lowest foreign transaction fees possible.

I've lost count of the posts I've seen online of people who went abroad with one debit card, then it got lost or stolen, or the bank cancelled it, or their account got frozen, or it got used fraudulently, and they suddenly have no way of buying anything or accessing their money. Personally I have five different debit cards with five different banks.

Keep them away from each other so that if one goes walk-about, the others don't.

Dollars and other currency

If everything else goes tits-up, it's worth having a small supply of US dollars. You'll need them at times anyway because visa fees are occasionally paid in dollars, but more than that, there's not a currency exchange in the world that won't accept dollars. Euros are preferable in continental Europe.

You're also going to end up with a small stash of foriegn currency that is too small to exchange/spend. Not much point keeping hold of this, and a lot of airports have charity boxes at the departure gate, which is pretty much the only time I ever give to charity.

Bank books

If you live in the UK, you probably haven't seen a bank book for about twenty years, but if you have bank accounts in certain other countries, they still exist and are necessary to get access to your money. If you have such an account and there's even a remote chance of you going to that country then take your bank book with you.

Opening a local bank account isn't always going to be possible, but if you already have one in a country that you plan on spending significant time in, it can make your life a lot cheaper and easier.

Bureaucracy

All of my passports, in protective cases

You're not going to get too far without these. Get a protective case for each of your passports. Along with your laptop, these are the thing that you really don't want to put at risk.

Driving licence

I've never needed this, but I keep it in my suitcase as emergency identification if my passports ever go missing.

Photocopy of both passports, in a plastic folder, and a printout of my travel insurance certificate, in a plastic folder

This is somewhat of a hangover from my early days backpacking, before there were backup copies of everything I needed online. In those days you carried a photocopy of your passport away from your passport, so in the event that your passport went missing, you could still prove your identity and you still had all your passport information.

Nowadays as I have everything stored securely in the cloud, the likelihood of me losing my passport and losing access to my cloud services while still retaining photocopies is unlikely, but old habits die hard.

UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)

I've never really looked what this does. It's the post-Brexit equivalent of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and entitles you, as a British citizen, to cheap or free healthcare in the EU.

I'd never heard of it until I was looking at nomad insurance, but insurance companies want you to have one so they don't have to pay you as much if you get hurt.

Spare passport photos

Anytime you buy passport photos they give you at least four, then you only ever need one or two of them. You keep the spares for the next time you need a passport photo, but by that time you've cut all your hair off so they're no good anyway, so you just wander around with a load of pointless photos of yourself.

Parkrun tag

If you don't know what Parkrun is, it's a concept that originated in the UK but has since expanded internationally, where every Saturday morning, people get together and run 5km.

Some people do it competitively, others walk the whole way. To get your time and be included on the leaderboard, you need to scan a barcode at the end of the run, that's unique to you, and I have mine printed on a tag.

Since discovering Parkrun a couple of years ago, I'm yet to go to a country outside the UK that does it, but I carry my barcode with me for when I eventually do.

Miscellaneous

Baseball cap

I have a cheap (€4) baseball cap, which does a great job at keeping the sun out of my eyes and allows me to avoid eye contact with people, but its value is actually far greater. When you travel alone, so often you need to be able to save a table or save a seat, so having an item of low financial value that you can leave unattended is a God-send.

For example, sometimes you'll go into an almost-full restaurant and sit at a table. Maybe you need to go to the counter to order, maybe you need to go to the toilet, you need some way of marking the table as yours. What can you leave there? Your phone? Your money? Your debit card? Your keys? That's about all I carry in my pockets if I don't have my rucksack with me, and I can't leave any of them. Being able to quickly whip the hat off your head and leave it on the table to mark your territory, with little fear that someone steals it because of its insignificant financial value, will prove useful more than you might realise.

You'll find yourself in similar situations on bus/train journeys, and sitting in bars when you want to use the toilet. If you don't like baseball caps, then wear something of low value that you can take-off and leave behind when needed.

Disposable face mask

Covid might be over, but there's still a hangover of it in some places. For example, on the Bangkok metro and skytrain people still all wear masks and sometimes get uncomfortable when people aren't. If you're going to such a place, it's worth keeping one handy.

Laundry net

Available for about £2 on eBay are these large, drawstring washing nets, which have two useful purposes.

They pack pretty much flat yet can act as a laundry basket, so are good for keeping your dirty clothes organised when you're staying somewhere.

On days that you're travelling and put all of your clothes in your suitcase, you need a way of keeping your dirty clothes separate from the clean. I travel will all my dirty clothes in my laundry net so I know what needs washing and what doesn't.

Large plastic bag

This is unnecessary if you're only staying in places with washing machines, but in my experience, when you drop your clothes off at a launderette for a service wash, you never get them back in the same bag. If you drop them off in your laundry net, you'll probably never see that net again. I keep whatever bag my clothes get returned to me in for the next time I need to go to a launderette.

Tissues

Sometimes you get a cold. Sometimes you miss your mouth when you're eating. Sometimes a bird shits on you. It's worth having a small pack of tissues with you.

Books

I like to read but I have the attention span of a puppy. I can read about 8-10 pages of a book before I start losing focus, at which point I stop. I'll go to a coffee shop or to a park to read my book maybe a couple of times per week when I want to get out of my room. Each book I read therefore takes me a good four to six months to finish.

I realise I'm an exception and that some people manage to read a whole book in a day, but the joke's on you because books are heavy and take up loads of space in your suitcase and I don't need to carry many.

Phone stand

I have a little plastic phone stand, shaped into two hands, that gets little use other than when I'm on flights or buses. At that time, having a way of propping-up my phone so I can watch Netflix for the journey makes it worth carrying around.

Joey

Joey is a small teddybear that came from a market in La Paz, Bolivia in 2010. He was bought and named by someone I was travelling with at the time, and when we parted I was left custody of Joey so I could take him on my travels with me and show him the world. He's been with me everywhere I've been ever since, and will stay with me until we next see his rightful guardian, currently 13 years and counting.

He's seen more of the world than most people do in their lifetimes. Seeing as I'm yet to meet a Bolivian outside of Bolivia, he may well be the best-travelled Bolivian ever.

2x pens

There is less and less need for pens in the world, which means that on the rare occasion you do need one, you won't be able to find it, so I always keep a couple of pens in my rucksack.

It's places that you think should be the most technologically advanced, like international embassies and airports, where you'll be glad that you have a pen.

Lighter

I only own a lighter because weed is legal in Thailand, but I keep hold of it because I'm sure I'll need to make fire after the collapse of civilisation.

Joey in Bulgaria

Other items to consider

The above list is every item that I have with me. Constrained by a lack of space or funds or willingness to buy them, I don't have any of the following, but you might want to consider them.

Swimming goggles

I swim so rarely that I decided I couldn't justify the space in my suitcase for a pair of goggles, yet every time I find myself staying in a room with a pool it seems to be the only thing that stops me swimming, because I hate the feeling of chlorine in my eyes. There's definitely been days I've regretted not having goggles with me.

Apple HomePod mini

The HomePod Mini has been something I've wanted ever since it was announced by Apple almost three years ago. They're only £99, 3.3" tall and 3.9" wide, and if Apple are to be believed have amazing sound quality.

What you will find when moving around the world is that the quality of the TV in your room will vary greatly, and that includes the sound quality. You will sometimes find yourself with a TV where the sound is just unusable. In such instances I'm able to connect my AirPods or my Sony Headphones to my Apple TV's bluetooth, but a HomePod would be an alternative where I wouldn't have to wear anything.

Definitely a luxury item, and I don't know how easy it is to setup when you go somewhere new having never owned one, but I've always thought it would be a nice item to travel with.

Walking boots/Hiking clothes

I love being out in nature, and every so often I'll find myself browsing the things to do in the town that I'm in, and there will be walking tours where it explicitly states that 'Walking boots are required' in angry writing. If I showed up in a £2 t-shirt and a pair of Lonsdales it might not go down so well, so I always disregard such activities with a hint of regret.

For as infrequently as I would use them, I can't justify the space in my suitcase for hiking equipment, but every so often I rue that decision.

Tea towel

Am I the only one for who a tea towel is an essential kitchen item? Judging by how many Airbnbs don't include them I might be.

I've never bought one because the only time I have the enthusiasm is right after I check-into an Airbnb. I go to the supermarket determined to buy a tea towel and overcome my hosts, only to find out they sell them in pairs, and why would I want two tea towels? Instead I just use a substitute, usually a hand-towel.

Sewing tape measure

Throughout the course of my life, my weight's ballooned and contracted a lot, to the point that any time I'm settled, one of the first things I buy is a body-fat monitor, and without fail every morning I'll weigh myself and record my body fat %. I do that because without hard numbers I find it very easy to trick myself.

I can be overweight, but look in the mirror and convince myself I'm skinny. I can be skinny but convince myself I'm overweight. I need hard numbers because numbers don't lie, and by weighing myself every morning, I can ensure that I don't get fat without realising, and I don't lose weight without realising.

Body-fat monitors are similar in size to bathroom scales, and even I can't justify the space in my suitcase. An alternative I was thinking about recently, was to instead get a tape measure and measure my waist every morning as a way of monitoring my weight and make sure it's not going steeply up or down.

Like with weight and body-fat, if you have an iPhone then Apple Health has a place to record your waist size.

Portable electric kettle

I consider an electric kettle a minimum requirement when booking a room. If a room doesn't have a kettle, I simply won't book that room; I drink too much tea.

Kettle's are provided in most rooms so this has never been a huge issue, but I have found myself having to opt for more expensive rooms before, when otherwise acceptable cheaper alternatives inexplicably don't have kettles. Recently it almost forced me to rearrange my entire itinerary when I couldn't find a room I liked in the town I was going to that included a kettle (but there were two or three decent-looking rooms without kettles). This forced me to look on Amazon, and collapsible silicone kettles do actually exist.

For someone who already carries a blender, a chopping board, a knife, a cutlery set and a tea cup in his suitcase, adding a kettle isn't too far-fetched.