Are you excited about an upcoming trip you’re planning? Or have you recently gone on a getaway, gotten to your hotel room and realized you forgot some important things? Here, we’ll help you remember to gather often-overlooked belongings you might forget while packing. Don’t let carelessness detract from your fantastic travel experience! Read our guide to ensure you never again have to worry about leaving things at home that you needed to pack.
Table of Contents
- Common Items People Forget to Pack
- Tips for Making Sure You Have Everything You Need
- Enjoy Your Vacation More With Windstar Cruises
Common Items People Forget to Pack
Even if you are a seasoned traveler, you will undoubtedly forget essential items to pack if you don’t create a checklist. Most people would tell you it’s impossible for some items to slip through the cracks, but you could still leave them behind without making a list and double-checking it.
Before you leave home, review your mental list of things you forget to pack for a trip. Sometimes, the item is as simple as nail clippers or lip balm. Other times, it could be as crucial as your passport, flight confirmation or prescription medications.
Device Chargers
Phone, tablet and laptop chargers are surprisingly high on the list of things people forget to pack. You use your charger daily to help keep a constant connection to the world, but you don’t always think of packing the one item that keeps our tech running. Many people resort to buying a quick charging set while on vacation. However, this is a bad idea for several reasons. Using low-quality, unregulated cables can not only hurt your phone battery, but also could short out chipsets.
Whether you’re going on a business trip or a long-awaited vacation, it’s essential to pack things to charge all the devices you use. Spare yourself the cumulative cost of buying new chargers all the time and the risk of ruining your device. Buying extra charging cords and leaving them in your travel bag is an excellent way to avoid the risk of forgetting to pack one for your trips.
Bathroom Essentials
Another group of everyday things you might neglect to pack is all the essentials for bathroom care. You probably only think about utilitarian items like your toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, body wash and shampoo when you need to use them — not when you’re preparing for an exciting getaway. Buying extra travel sizes of each item you use and storing them in your suitcase or carry-on bag will shorten the time it takes you to pack, while ensuring you never forget personal hygiene items again!
Summer Vacation Items
If you are taking a trip during the summer months, you might need to include several additional items in your luggage to enjoy your experience to the fullest. In the rush of packing and planning, you may neglect to bring insect repellent, sunblock, swimwear, towels and any other warm-weather accessories you like to use.
Instead of buying all these items when you arrive at your destination, it’s a good idea to create a packing list a week before leaving. In doing so, you can mull over all the possible things you want to bring with you, which leaves less room for careless mistakes. Of course, you can also buy doubles of these and keep them in your summer travel bag to cut down on time and ensure you remember to pack them.
Winter-Weather Items
Many people take vacations for the winter holidays. These months are typically colder, wetter and can also include snow, depending on the location. As hard as it is to believe, people sometimes forget to check the forecast and bring gear that will keep them warm and dry, such as a jacket, scarf or hat. Umbrellas are a necessity all year long, so you should always carry one of those in your bag.
Remember, sweaters, raincoats and other cold-weather items are usually more expensive at destination spots because of tourism. You don’t want to fly into a location with a sudden rainstorm that forces you to pay higher prices for cheaply made products at local airport vendors. Since leaving these essential items at home could cost you a lot more in the end, adding these things to your pre-pack list will help you decide among everyday necessities you don’t always think about during the packing process. Of course, having travel gear in your closet and ready to go will always be a lifesaver.
Glasses and Contacts
Nearsighted or farsighted people who depend on prescription eyewear to see well will undoubtedly regret leaving these essentials at home as they head out on vacation. There is nothing worse than being in a beautiful, picturesque location and having blurry vision the whole time. While it might be harder for you to forget your glasses if you rely on them all day, every day, contacts involve extra accessories such as cleaning and disinfecting solution, the contact case and possibly more depending on your needs.
You can’t quickly pick up eyewear customized to your specific prescription in the airport or gift shop. Keeping an extra contact care kit and spare pair of glasses in your travel bag will ensure you have a fantastic time without the risk of eye strain, blurry vision and squinting to see your surroundings.
Medications and Sanitizing Kits
Traveling can expose you to viruses and other illnesses, particularly if you are flying to your destination. Mitigate your risk of getting sick by packing hand sanitizer, personal cleaning cloths and antibacterial wipes to maintain health and cleanliness while taking trips. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, having hygienic, sanitary surroundings is more vital than ever to prevent viral spread. You may have a favorite brand of cleaning products, so keeping extras in your travel bag will ensure you have them on hand when you need them most. Bringing a travel-sized first-aid kit in case of any minor injuries is an excellent addition to any suitcase. Versatile items like gauze can have a wide array of unconventional uses.
Many travelers forget to bring their prescription and over-the-counter medications when rushing out the door to make their flight on time. Navigating health care and trying to find a doctor or pharmacy in an unfamiliar place is an added stress nobody wants to have on vacation. Neglecting to pack your medication could quickly turn a getaway from a fun, relaxing experience into one you’ll primarily remember later for the headaches associated with making multiple phone calls and running around to find necessary items in a crunch.
Whether it’s over the counter or prescribed by a doctor, having extra medication in your travel bag will help relieve your mind. Prepping for your trip at least a week before by creating lists and pre-packing will help trigger new ideas about items you need to bring that you might not otherwise have thought of.
Itinerary
Don’t forget your plane tickets, hotel reservation confirmations or any other documentation you may need. Storing all these essentials in one place — either digitally or in hard-copy format — will help you maximize your time on vacation. You can have them handy in case you run into any issues with reservations you’ve made in advance. Taking as much stress out of a vacation as possible will help you enjoy your time on your trip with fewer worries or concerns.
Tips for Making Sure You Have Everything You Need
Now that you know many of the items people forget to pack when packing for a trip, you can better prepare for your next vacation. Make a list of everything you will need to bring on your trip and give yourself plenty of time to add to it, so you don’t forget anything. You are going on vacation to enjoy yourself, so planning will help ensure a stress-free getaway.
If you neglect to bring an item or run out of supplies, don’t count on your ability to easily find whatever you need in a nearby shop. Different countries have various rules and regulations, so it is best to pack everything you need from home. If you are worried about weight limits for checked and carry-on luggage, travel as lightly as possible by getting travel-sized necessities like soap, mouthwash and shampoo.
If you plan to purchase any souvenirs on vacation, think about how you will get them home. You don’t want to run the risk of running out of room in your luggage. Think ahead about vacation purchases and leave a little extra space in your suitcase for things you may want or need to buy while you’re away.
Minimizing your luggage load from the get-go will benefit you in many ways. Packing fewer items means you may need to keep any cosmetics to a minimum or bring one pair of shoes instead of two or three. Use your carry-on bag to store any must-have items such as your wallet, passport, keys and medications. Airlines might not lose luggage very often, but it can still happen, and nobody wants to experience that hassle during a trip.
When traveling internationally, don’t forget adapter plugs to keep your devices charged. Having these ready in advance will save you from spending high prices on such items at airport vendors. Battery packs for phone charging are another smart idea to pack for Europe, so you don’t need to hunt for a wall plug for your phone.
Check the weather as often as possible, so you know how to plan for your trip and any potential shifts in the weather that may occur while you are there. Having the foresight to pack a raincoat or poncho if the forecast predicts rain will keep you prepared and let your vacation fun continue uninterrupted, instead of making split-second decisions at local clothing stores for something to protect you from the weather.
Prepare yourself with a list well ahead of your departure day, and plan your packing around your destination’s weather forecast. If you do so, you will have a much better mindset heading out than you will if you are scrambling for any potential misses.
Enjoy Your Vacation More With Windstar Cruises
Knowing all these helpful tips and tricks to enhance your vacation experience is an excellent way to begin your planning. You’ll find even more expert travel advice for creating unforgettable vacation memories on our blog.
Cruises provide an incredible vacation, and if you haven’t already gone on a cruise, Windstar Cruises is the place to start! Complete with must-see destinations worldwide, different ships to choose from and anywhere from 148 to 342 guests per voyage, you will feel like the entire cruise is focusing on your needs.
Everyone loves relaxation and stress-free environments while on vacation. The sooner you start planning, the more you have to look forward to! Let us show you the best time of your life by getting in touch with us today.
