6 Things You Should Never Travel Without
It’s funny how the simple little things never come to mind while packing. Here is my advice on the 6 things you should never travel without.
Maybe it’s the last minute excitement, or just the fact that traveling and being at home surrounded by all your handy gadgets are two very different things!
I’m the sort of person that starts packing weeks before my trip. I’ll get my bags out and put stuff in as I think of it. A few days before I leave I’m all packed and ready to go. There are always last minute things that find their way into my bags, usually little gifts that may come in handy or some snacks I think I’ll need.
My last trip was to the gloriously delicious country, Portugal. This was half for business and half pleasure. I turned most of it into pleasure. I mean, how could I not. This is PORTUGAL we’re talking about.
I arrived in Lisbon, totally disorientated and hungover. And after planning this trip for months! Now, I don’t usually drink to get drunk and hungover! In fact, I can’t stand being hungover. In all travel excitement, I made the rookie mistake of taking some serious blood thinners and too much red wine. Totally not a good idea.
The internet will tell you that it’s fine to take blood thinners and drink alcohol on a flight. Moderation…like for real!…
So back to Lisbon, I arrived, absolutely exhausted and disorientated. Luckily I had a friend meet me at the airport and show me the ropes before I set out on my adventures.…
I know you’re itching to know what the 6 things you should never travel without are, so let’s get to it!
1. Cork Screw – As I soon discovered, all that delicious wine in Portugal is most definitely corked shut! No cheap twister caps like we get here in South Africa. Wine in Portugal is ridiculously cheap and delicious. So tell me how you’re gonna justify spending nearly 10 euro on a corkscrew when you just paid 2 euro for a FANTASTIC bottle of wine! My travel pack will forever more contain a corkscrew!
2. Wine Stopper – You may have come to the conclusion that I like wine, well you’re right, I do! But I don’t like a lot of it at a time. I hate being out of control and like I said above, I don’t do hangovers! SO, a kiff wine stopper would have come in so handy. Like on so many occasions.
Try caring an open bottle of wine in a backpack. That cork is only gonna stay in place for so long before it pops out and you’re left drenched and smelling like a wine barrel. Yes, that really happened!
3. Plastic Cup – Again, for that wine, or those amazing fresh spring water fountains that Portugal are so great at putting in the streets. Man oh man. You can cup your hands but having a cup would have allowed me to drink so much more, and look a lot more civilized doing it!
4. Fork & Spoon – Eating out if so much fun, but I find that the best way to experience local cuisine is to go to the local supermarket or fresh food market and get picnic stuff! You know how many times i drank yoghurt and scraped the tub with my fingers! Yup, that spoon would have come in super handy. And a fork on the other end for those crunchy salads and chricou days would have been tremendous!
5. A Power Bank – and not just any old small weeny one. A proper one that can charge your phone at least twice! Phones are fantastic and do absolutely everything you need them to do while traveling, but the battery, oh that god dam battery! If you are using google maps or any other app that requires location to be on then you’ll be using that power bank sooner that you imagined.
6. Salt – Glorious salt! I come from South Africa. In South Africa salt is part and parcel of table settings in restaurants and at home. It’s a part of life and we are so used to it. Our food also comes salted, so there is that too.
When I arrived in Portugal and was presented with a plate of unsalted food and no salt on the table I was like, oh okay, maybe they forgot. A few days into my trip i realized salt was not a thing in Portugal. I had to ask for salt at restaurants in and got the strangest looks from the waiters. Half the time they would forget to bring it to me.
So, a mini travel salt is definitely coming along with me next time! You never know what you will get when entering a different culture zone.
Cya later
So, that’s it from me for today. I hope you found that informative. If you are keen to read more exciting travel stuff then head over to my Traveling Hot Sauce Blog. There is plenty more nail biting adventure where this came from, like crossing paths with lion and living to tell the tale.
This all began with the need to travel and the love of hot sauce. Check out my facebook page for some different hot sauces and follow me on instagram @spaistravel