When I was 15 years old, I’d spend hours reading articles from a Belgian online business magazine. “What is the best month to have a kid that will be a billionaire” were the sort of articles I was reading until I stumbled across “how to pack your suitcase for a business trip”.
I copied the list given on the website and have updated it every time I took a trip somewhere since.
Find it below.
- Clothes:
- underwear
- socks
- t-shirt/shirt
- trousers
- sweater
- pajama
- towel
- shorts
- swimsuit (if warm destination)
- Products to place in a transparent plastic bag on top of the suitcase:
- toothpaste
- deodorant
- perfume
- suncream
- soap
- hand cleaning gel
- To place in a small pocket of the suitcase:
- lock
- a deck of cards
- 3 reusable bags*
- nail clipper
- lunchbox
- spoon
- hard-boiled eggs
- blue-light blocking glasses
- sleeping mask
- earplugs
- Tech gear:
- phone and computer chargers
- home bank ID machine
- Kindle
- external battery
- computer
- mouse
- To keep in pockets:
- phone
- keys
- wallet**
- sunglasses
- chewing gum
- water bottle
- pen
- hat
- passport/ID
- Artifact for long-term trips:
- bed linen
- gym gloves
- gym shorts
- a sleeping bag
If out of the EU: ordering local currency***, downloading “here maps”.
Planning the future:
- check how to get from the airport to your accommodation
- check for Couchsurfing and meetup events
- check interesting places to visit on the “here map”
- make sure you have enough money on credit cards
- check what are the local supermarket brands
- how public transportation works
Finally, look for the cheapest sim card provider.
Personally, I also carry 100 ml bottles with olive oil.
And voilà!! You got it all. I have used this list for long and short trips, to go skiing and to go to the beach and it never failed me.
I have no doubt it won’t fail you either. No need to pack your entire house, two pairs of pants (wearing one and packing the other) are more than enough.
I count one t-shirt/shirt per day, the same for underwear.
All of these artifacts also fit into a bag you can take with you on the plane, so no more lost luggage!
For more content, head to auresnotes.com.
*The three reusable plastic bags are for dirty clothes, grocery shopping and the third is for the kitchen of the hostel.
**I always take the minimum I need to travel in my wallet: if I carry my passport, I’ll leave my ID home but will take my driving license. I’ll take with me as well a student card to get discounts, my Revolut card, and my normal bank card.
***Ordering local currency while still in your home country is a way to protect yourself against horribly high prices once in the foreign country. Alternatively, you can use Revolut.
Photo by Ilona Frey on Unsplash
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