no matter where i am travelling or how long i will be on the road, i have a few things that i always carry with me. these are my travel essentials, and i’d like to share them with you today.

kindle paperwhite. i will forever be a proponent of the physical book, but even i have to admit that e-readers have their advantages, particularly when it comes to travel. i can download as many books as i like without having to lug around heavy books. the backlight means that i can read on overnight buses or trains or during unexpected power outages. and its compact size means it fits into any bag i am carrying with me for the day.

playing cards or a game. as much as i love reading, sometimes my mind needs a break. a deck cards is great for passing the time during long layovers, and games like spot it [pictured above] and phase 10 are great to play with new friends in hostel common rooms. and they take up such little space that i hardly notice them.

wet ones, hand sanitizer, eye drops, and assorted bandages. i know other travellers carry full first-aid kits with them, but i’ve found these are all i need. the wet ones come in handy when i’m out all day and need to wipe the grime off my face; the hand sanitizer is especially good in places where meals are often eaten by hand; the eye drops keep my eyes from becoming super bloodshot [i don’t produce enough natural tears]; and the bandages are for when my accident-prone self scrapes a knee or manages a paper cut.

a reusable water bottle. there are few things in life i hate more than paying for water, and my heart aches at the number of plastic bottles that are used and discarded every day, particularly by travellers. i always have a reusable bottle by my side, and it goes wherever i go. my old bottle sadly broke in march, so i have been using this one during the intervening months.

a shawl.  this is the single most versatile thing i own. i use it as a blanket or pillow on flights. i use it to cover my shoulders when i visit temples or shrines. and i use it as a sarong or to lay on the sand when i’m at the beach. the one pictured above – and which i currently have with me – actually came as a set with a pair of pyjamas from fabindia, but it’s so thin and lightweight that i decided to carry it with me for this trip. and the colours match nearly everything in my bag. win-win.

what are your travel essentials? tell me what you always carry with you when you’re on the road!

xx