Last week we arrived back on the beautiful island of Koh Samui, Thailand. It ended up being a bit of a journey as our connecting flight in Singapore was cancelled. The airline did put us up for the night at a lovely, five-star hotel, but I’m so pleased I’d packed a change of clothes and my bag of mini toiletries.
As long-term travellers and digital nomads, we are often asked what we pack and I’ll be doing a longer blog post detailing everything we pack for our travels, but today we’re focussing on our hand luggage/carry-on. Everything we pack in our hand luggage is either something we’d be incredibly upset to lose, i.e. our camera, laptops and jewellery or is something that will keep us comfortable and entertained on the flight.
We hope you find these packing tips useful, these are all the things we use to keep ourselves organised and relaxed during our long-haul flights. Let’s go…
[The items linked below are from Amazon and are affiliate links, should you choose to purchase through one of our links we will receive a small commission but this does not affect the price you pay. All of the items we have included we have either bought and paid for ourselves or have purchased something similar.(The prices shown in the blog are correct at the time of posting, May 2023).]
Documents
All of our important documents get put into my ‘passport pouch’ so they are easily accessible and won’t get lost or crumpled in the bottom of our bags.
Inside the passport pouch:
- Passports (obviously)
- Prescriptions for medicines, glasses & contact lenses
- Copies of our vaccinations (this was probably more relevant during Covid but I keep them just in case)
- Copies of insurance documents
- Driving licences and international driving permits ( if you’re looking to hire a vehicle when travelling abroad, make sure to pick up an international driving permit before you leave. For anyone in the UK with a full UK driving licence, you can grab one from your local Post Office for just £5.50. You’ll need to take a passport-sized photograph and show your photocard licence and it only takes a few minutes to complete)
Electronics
- Phone – a given, but I always make sure it’s fully charged
- Samsung Galaxy Buds2
- Kindle
- Power bank
- Laptop – definitely needs a new case (look at the state of it!)
- Camera & kit
- iPad – might not be to everyone’s taste, but I love this yellow colour (linked)
- Cable organiser – I cannot tell you how irritated I get with tangled charging cables, this mini cable organiser is perfect as I can keep my power bank and any relevant chargers together and tangle free
Flight essentials
- Travel pillow – I always struggle with sleeping on planes but this pillow has really helped, it’s memory foam and super soft. It offers decent neck support so you can get a comfortable few hours, even in a tiny upright plane seat and it folds down into its very own tiny bag.
- Loop earplugs – my loop earplugs come everywhere with me and are perfect for long-haul flights when you want to shut out the noise and get some sleep. I can highly recommend these and for only £20 they’re fast becoming one of my top travel essentials.
Toiletries
I always pack a small toiletry bag when travelling on long-haul flights. I use my Ecohub reusable liquids bag to keep everything together, it makes it easier when going through security and is quick to grab when using the dreaded plane toilets. Remember to make sure that any liquids are in containers that are 100ml or less.
- Bamboo toothbrush – I love these ones from Eco Panda
- Toothpaste – most toothpastes come in 100ml tubes, but if you are taking a full-sized tube just double-check the size
- Anti-bacterial spray – great for hands and surfaces, I love the smell of this one from Sanctuary Spa
- Moisturiser – I just decant a little bit of my usual moisturiser into a small pot to save on space
- Hand cream – this is when those little hotel toiletries come in handy
- Lip balm – does anyone else’s skin just get so dry on planes? Lip balm is an essential in my opinion
- Spare contact lenses – dry skin, dry eyes, I like to take a couple of spare pairs in case
- Scrunchie
- Tissues
- Compact mirror
- Pack of face wipes – travel size
Clothes
- A change of clothes – something lightweight, as I mentioned earlier, we did get stuck in Singapore for 24 hours due to a cancelled flight, so having an easily accessible change of clothes was a blessing
- Flip-flops – I usually travel in trainers, but during long flights, I like to keep comfy with some cosy socks and ‘easy-on’ flip-flops or sliders for when I need to use the bathroom
- Cosy socks
- A bikini/swimsuit – this was a tip my Mum’s friend gave me many years ago. Always pack swimwear in your hand luggage. This way if your checked luggage goes missing, at least you’ll have something to wear at the beach or by the pool whilst you’re waiting for it to show.
Everything else
- Water bottle – highly recommend bringing your own reusable water bottle with you, there are usually lots of refilling stations available throughout the airport so you don’t have to spend a fortune on bottled water
- Pack of cards – always good to pass the time when you’re stuck in an airport
- Glasses & Sunglasses – as mine are prescription, I like to keep these with me
- Journal
- Q a day journal – I’ve been filling this out for 2.5 years so would be genuinely upset if it was lost, I’ve linked the exact one I have from Amazon, it’s a 5-year question-a-day journal, and I love the quick and easy prompts and being able to look back at where I was the year before
- Jewellery box – I only take costume jewellery when travelling, except for my engagement ring, so this small jewellery box is perfect. I got mine from Oliver Bonas but I’ve linked something similar on Amazon for under £10
- Snacks – simple snack bars, protein bars or sweets are always a good idea, in case you’re not keen on your meal, nothing worse than being hungry when you’re travelling
- Headache tablets
- A pen – for any forms you need to fill out, always. a good idea to keep one to hand
And that’s it! All of this fits into a standard-sized backpack, with lots of room to spare in case we buy anything from the airport or want to change out of our bulky jeans & jumpers.
What do you think of our hand luggage packing checklist, have we missed anything? Is there anything on this list you’ve not previously thought of? Let us know in the comments.
Also, if you’re a fellow long-term traveller or travel lover let’s connect on Instagram or Twitter, we love building our little community, or if you want to follow along on our travel adventures why not subscribe, we aim to post something new every week.
Until next time…
travel eat sleep repeat 