The Ultimate Travel Packing List to Never Forget Anything Ever Again

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