Much needed items of travel.....dont leave home without them!

So as we are nearing the end of our travels i have decided to write a blog on the absolute essential things that we packed that we could not have travelled without! (Well we could of ....but it would have been disastrous!) I could write a blog on the things we packed and didnt need and either threw away or sent home but that would take all day!! All the things mentioned in this post have been so important to us and really a vital piece of kit! More then Half of the things mentioned were gifts so thank you to everyone that bought us these wonderful very useful things :)

I will start with a small collection of things....

Starting on the left we have paracetamol! OMG this was litrally a lifesaver on many occasions! As many of you know i suffer with headaches and some pretty awful migraines and while paracetamol do pretty much f**k all for my migraines they do help with the "after" headaches and any small headaches we may get, these were also useful when i hurt my ankle surfing at byron bay! And also when luke hurt his back in asia (well the masseuse hurt his back!) the savlon is next...we had normal savlon and savlon that soothed insect bites! Both were used multiple times. We then have the 50% deet insect repellent! My sister was the first person to buy us this and what a life saver it was! We ended buying around 5 or 6 before we left and we have used every single one and they are the best insect repellent we have ever used! We highly recommend it. Tiger balm...we actually bought this in singapore but this to has been a lifesaver for my migraines. Plasters.....well everyone needs a plaster in there bag! And these had savlon in them to! Used many times! And the last thing is ear plugs! These have been the reason i have slept a few times! Especially during our mekong river experience when we stayed at a hill tribe and i just couldnt bare the sound of all the sounds of the animals, insects and everything else that moves in the night! These are the reason i slept for a short while! All of the above is a absolute essential part of kit for any traveller! Do not leave home without them.

Next we move onto shoes......water shoes....

We bought these in sport and soccer before we left for around £6 each! What a bargain and they lastest nearly the whole time we just threw them away after the cruise as they had holes in! And mine never really became clean again after our elephant sprayed me from head to toe in dirt! If you are going to water parks, beaches you will need and use them! And they are so light and easy to carry so you can squeeze them in your backpack pretty much anywhere! 

Next we move onto a gift my sister bought us....something so simple....yet essential...torches with whistles!....

These torches are also light and relatively small so you can put them anywhere in you bag :) we had one blue and one green and at the bottom of the torch there was a whistle which would have been great and very useful for a emergency, we didnt have to use the whistle but it was great knowing it was there! The torches themselves had a light at the top which shone your usually light colour and then the clear tube you can see flashed (either blue or green!) light or you could change it to still light, these were very handy in all aspects of our travel. Do not leave your home without a torch you will regret it!

Next on the list is something we have taken out with us most days since we left last year....a umbrella and water proof clothing!....

On the left is the umbrella it is tiny and small enough to fit into a small day bag i think i need to thank my mum for that i am sure it was hers! And next to it it lukes water proof jacket! We did have water proof trousers also but sent them home! The umbrella goes without saying....you need to pack a small one! No need for a explanantion! The water proofs we packed because we were spending a lot of time in asia in rainy season and they were small and light so didnt take up much room! And we are so glad we packed them we have used the jackets multiple times and are still using them now and the trousers we used also just not us much! I remember one day in vietnam not taking them out and we regretted it! We got absolutely drench in your average asian afternoon "shower" and we just couldnt get our clothes and shoes dry so take it from me you should at least pack a light weight jacket. It can get quite hot in the humidity but at least your clothes and you will be dry! We have also used them throughout our trip a lot so have to thank my nanny o for those they were a xmas present. 

The next thing was a gift from my cousin kim and it has turned into a real personnal item and keepsake...

This was a leaving gift for us and what a lovely gift it was :) so thank you so much a keepsake for a lifetime. Inside this lovely book is a whole host of different chapters that you fill out before, during and after your travels ! And it is like a miny diary, there is places to stick stuff, write stuff and put your souvenirs in!...it is very very me and i have been filling this out throughout our journey and i love looking through it now so thank you so much for this lovely gift, a gift that will last a lifetime.

The next on the list is something so simple....a mini sewing kit and pack of tissues!....

The sewing kit was my mums idea....obviously my mum has all the good ideas and best advice! Thats what mums are for :) i didnt sew before we left i just took it to my mum and she would work miracles! But since we left i have had to sew any buttons, holes and anything else thats needed sewing! I believe our case at one point! And although my sewing did not look pretty i definately needed this sewing kit! And the tissues....well....who leaves the house without a pack of tissues?!.....so why would you leave the country without them! Case closed!!

The next thing we found many travellers did not have which was extremely odd to us....a camera!! Well we had a few.....a water proof one, a normal one, a video camera and our phones! A little extreme maybe but we didnt want to miss a moment ! We also had a mini tripod, and a connecter that our memory card fits in and then we can upload our pics to the ipad!....

So on the left is the connecter...this was a present from my mum and dad, and it was something we knew nothing about until my dad mentioned it! So thank you dad :) we loved uploading our pics throughout our adventure and being able to put them on facebook for "safety" incase the ipad broke or we lost the pics we still had them on facebook, it really added a piece of mind for us, the next thing we bought in rotorua in new zealand...it was a mini tripod! We had bought a small kodak tripod with us but this one was even smaller and would fit in my handbag or in lukes pocket it was perfect, i also bought my dad one and sent it to him i thought this is defo something he would use! And we have used it everywhere we have been, mostly to do self timers, it quickly screws onto our camera and then we quickly take self timers :) perfect bit of equipment! And then we have our water proof camera! We have had this for a while but this has proved to be the best camera ! We have a canon ixus aswell but unfortunately i dropped that in a lake when luke took me fishing before our trip :( so that had some water damage on the screen which ment our pics would have dark spots on if we zoomed in at all ! I was so annoyed as I wish i had taken the water proof camera that day fishing ! Typical me! The water proof camera has been so great during our travels but unfortunately we forgot to lock it when we went snorkelling in fiji so it is now well and truely dead ! But we are planning on getting the up to date version of this water proof camera when we return :) a water proof camera is such a great thing to taketravelling  and if you only take one camera you must take a water proof one :)

The next thing we bought in the 99p store!....water bladders....

We bought 3 before we left and the princess one is one of the them and the blue one is one we bought in oz as the other two broke, these are a great thing, these are just small 500ml ones but you can get massive ones you keep in your backpack and have a straw coming out! We loved that when we had drunk all the water we could roll it away and we also loved that we could hang it off anybag we were carrying.....much more effective then your average water bottle, and only 99p! Get yourselves a water bladder!

The next thing...our collapsable lunchbox....

We bought this at a kathmandu in queens town new zealand and we have used it nearly everyday since! We made our own lunch when we went out for a day in oz and kept it in this box, we also used it here in disney most days, either for wraps or sandwiches we made or for snacks it was such a valuable piece of kit for us and we will defo used it at home.

The next thing....water proof bag....

We bought this bag in laos and have used it everywhere! It is a water proof "sack" and has been very useful when going to the beach or down to the pool, it keeps everything dry when it rains and is very good at protecting things from the sand :) it also rolls small when you need to pack it :) 

The last thing is our dry sacks....

We bought many of these before we left and used them for our clothes, swimming stuff and our chargers and adapters. They are sacks that you roll shut that keep everything dry! We have many different sizes and we put all our clothes in two of the red ones and thats where they stayed for our whole trip! We obviously took them out to wear but when we travelled we kept them in these dry sacks and they worked perfectly for us, we also used one for our plugs just incase. You save so much room with these as they are airtight and roll really small so they are very useful.

I have mentioned just a selection of things we found the most useful here, there are many things we have used but these are the things we could not have been without, so thank you to everyone that bought us these great gifts and to everyone that bought us other things, everything came in handy and thank you to my mum and dad who bought us various things for xmas and birthdays and extra things we needed before we left, the biggest thank you is for our ipad mini! We could not have been without it, thanks mum and dad :) 

Packing for a long trip is so difficult especially if you have never done anything like it before as you think you need everything and the kitchen sink! But how many of you over pack when you go on holiday!?....everyone! Can you imagine how hard it was for us to pack so lightly for a year! It was so so hard i hated not taking all my home comforts and struggled with taking so little clothes but it turns out i didnt need them! And sent a lot of them home! We have learnt many lessons while travelling and learnt some very valuable lessons about packing lightly! And sadly most of these lessons you will only learn when you have made the mistakes! 

So there it is.....a different kind of post....an easy read! Thank you again to all that bought us these amazing gifts.