Travel: Things you don’t want to forget when packing your bags for a holiday

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching and many of of us are preparing to set off interstate or overseas for some rest and relaxation. By now most of you would have decided on a destination and booked your airline ticket and accommodation, but before your brain shifts into holiday mode, you would be wise to prepare a checklist of everything you’re likely to need when you’re far from home. After all, the nearest department store may be hundreds, possibly thousands of kilometres away.

While most people will spend hours searching on the internet for a flight, hotel accommodation and the perfect little black dress, very few of us think about all those little things that can have a big impact on our level of enjoyment. For example, leaving your phone charger at home or forgetting to pack replacement batteries for your digital camera from sites such as A1 Batterypro.

You’d be surprised to learn what people forget to take with them on vacation – toothpaste, hairbrush, batteries, and some poor devils even forgot to pack their underwear! Don’t get stuck wearing the same undies for a week because there’s nowhere to buy undies at your island resort.

To make sure you don’t forget a thing, we have listed some of the most commonly forgotten items when packing for a holiday and you may also want to add your own items to the list in the comments section below. For a complete list of items you may need on holiday, we found this comprehensive checklist you can print off the internet.

Travel Essentials & Travel Documents

You’d be surprised how often an international traveller has turned up at the airport without a passport. It does happen so make sure you have your passport and any other travel documents you’ll need before you leave for the airport:

• Passport
• Airline Tickets
• Driver’s Licence
• Travel Visas
• Travel Insurance Documents
• Itinerary
• Airport Parking Ticket
• Currency and Traveler’s Cheques
• List of Emergency Contact Numbers

Personal Essentials

As mentioned above, it is the everyday items we take for granted that are most often forgotten when packing for a holiday:

• Mobile Phone Charger
• Mobile Phone
• Camera and Memory Card
• Replacement Batteries for Camera
• Reading Glasses
• Sunglasses
• Toothpaste and Tooth Brush
• Hair Brush or Comb
• Medication
• Shaving Kit
• First Aid Kit
• Pen and Paper
• Underwear
• Swimsuit
• Padlock and Keys for Luggage

Other Things You Don’t Want to Forget

• If you are a smoker you will need some type of nicotine replacement such as patches or gum. Don’t assume just because you can cope without a cigarette for several hours that you’ll be okay. All too often delays do happen and once you step inside the airport you won’t be able to have a cigarette until you leave the airport at your destination.
• You may want to consider packing some of the most commonly used over the counter medications such as, antacids, motion sickness tablets, headache tablets, hay fever tablets etc.
• Replacement batteries for all your electrical and mobile devices including your laptop.
• Be prepared for an unexpected change of weather. Travellers assume because they are going to a warm climate that they will not need any warm clothing and vice versa when heading to a cold climate. However, just like at home, unexpected weather changes do happen so take a change of clothes just in case.