What's in your bag, travel tips & tricks.

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Kimela

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Location
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I just read an Elle (magazine) list of 10 things that you must pack for travel. Made me wonder what fellow scuba travelers feel are 'musts' for travel, as well as discover some new travel tips & tricks. I'm posting this in women's perspectives as I am hoping to hear about makeup, clothing, shoes - but also value what you men think as well.

I'll start. One of the things the article mentioned is a big leather bag for day trips. I have owned some big leather bags and I will never fill one of those things up again for a day trip - much too heavy. I prefer the lightest bag I can find - and will sacrifice fashion for function! I always bring a wide brimmed hat that I wear on and off the boat. I always have a pair of cozy socks in my carry-on & wear a sweater/jacket for when the plane gets chilly; Antibiotic ointment that has pain relief stuff in it - and band-aids; take pics of my passport and other important documents and send to an email so I can retrieve the info even if I lose my phone and documents; my first pic on my underwater camera is of a piece of paper that has my name and phone number on it (in case the finder is a good samaritan).
 
1) I pack a night light for the bathroom. In a strange, unfamiliar environment it prevents toe stubbing for the inevitable middle of the night trip to the bathroom. 2) Even though I am not a wetsuit urinator, I cannot stand the smell of wet swimsuits or wetsuits. Every couple of years, I order a bar of the Fels Naptha laundry detergent bar from Amazon. I either carve out a piece with a steak knife or grate it and pack it in zip lock baggie. I use it in the sink on wet or stinky items and while the detergent does not have a sophisticated frou frou smell, the pine scent combats the toughest of odors. 3) For a small fee, I download the VPN application. It makes using public wifi more secure and I can stream Netflix, Pandora and Amazon from a 'US address' while in the Caribbean and Mexico. A few years ago I tried to pay my Cozumel dive op via Paypal. Since Paypal didn't recognize the foreign wifi address, it locked me out. Using the VPN app I have never encountered that problem again. Just my 2 pesos:)
 
zipties take up no room and come in handy.
 
1/ A big shawl. It protects me from the cold when I'm in the plane, and from the sun when I'm on the boat. In a pinch, it can also be used as a towel. I even have some that has buttons on it, and that I can use as a top/skirt/dress depending on how I attach it.

2/ It has been mentionned just above, but earplugs. That's an essential for me, as well as a sleeping mask. I find those very convenient to allow to sleep in a wide range of situation, as mentionned above. It's also useful when you are sharing a room and your roommate doesn't have the same schedule as you (wants a last drink or hit the nightclubs when you only want to go to bed, or decides to go out early to hit the gym before the day's activities).

3/ Coconut oils. It's basically an all in one product, and allows me to drastically reduce the numbers of bottles and products I carry with me on my travels.

4/ A battery pack. Always useful, especially when you are in places where electricity is patchy. I have one that can charge with the sun.
 
  • Separate dop kits for travel - never forget toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. I keep a couple - 1 for flying when I'm not checking a bag, stored in a quart sized ziplock. Different one for travel when I'm checking bag. I keep travel size toothpaste, deodorant, hotel sized shampoo/cream rinse in the ziplock kit so they meet TSA requirements
  • Double duty makeup - BB cream is also SPF 15, lip balm is blush and eye shadow.
  • Re-use sample size bottles/jars for products. Sephora and Ulta often have really small sample jars, like quarter sized, perfect for a week worth of BB cream. Reuse the hotel size shampoo/cream rinse bottles.
  • Dress in layers - especially when flying. Strappy tee shirt with a long loose wrap sweater over.
  • Roller bag always has change of clothes (based on destination), bathing suit, flip flops, meds, sunscreen, other necessities.
  • Ziplock baggies - perfect for wet clothes if I need to pack them, restaurant leftovers, packing liquids - contact solution, hair conditioner, detangler.
  • Double duty clothes - casual dress = boat cover up, compression shorts = swimwear (think Under Armor)
  • Power strip - charge computer, phone, iPad, camera batteries. This is great for my business travel as well.
  • Second scanning important docs - passport, DL, itinerary and email to myself. I can access it from any computer. I also email it to a family member in the event I can't get a computer, but can make a call.
  • CASH - there are places in the world that do not take plastic.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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