The Trip Heard Round the World: Travel Gear: Must Haves and Wastes of Space

A picture of Ubud, Bali, Indonesia taken with our new Olympus mirrorless camera

By Jen, Chris & Otis

Here, each of us reviews our favorite travel things, and reveal those things we could have lived without:

Jen

TOP ELEVEN

KINDLE!!! Mine is a loaner and my pal Busy Mom Kimya gave me a tutorial on how to use it and get books from our public library for which I am forever grateful. I'd be lost without it. Thanks to Tony P.'s kind lending and Busy Mom Kimya's lesson, I have read over 60 books in the last 7 months.
Chrysalis Cardi -- I use this garment all the time as a scarf and a dress; a review will be forthcoming

Jen using her Chrysalis Cardi as a scarf-shawl-blanket
Water bottle. We all get headaches and cranky if we don't stay hydrated.
Facial sunscreen and my Target hat. We have been in more sun than ever before and I like to stay as pale as possible because I have enough sun damage, thank you very much.

Jen in her Target hat, wearing facial sunscreen and carrying a Chico bag at Pompeii, Italy
Jade travel yoga mat + DoYogaWithMe.com I don't always do yoga but especially after long travel days this combo is hard to beat.
My tiny makeup palette which somehow was lost when someone who wasn't me packed the bathroom somewhere in Thailand or Malaysia; my fault for not doublechecking. So annoying. Only eyeliner from here on out.
My luggage set up -- Otis and I travel with similar roll aboard sized luggage sets (mine is an Osprey Meridian 22") They are suitcases that can transform into backpacks and have daypacks that zip off. Even on low cost carrier Air Asia we have been successful in bringing our suitcases on board (we got dinged for weight once but it while Chris was on crutches and looking harried so they took pity on him). We have found them to be a great size and the zip off pack is the best. I'll add that I am really happy with my set of packing cubes -- they are a winning combo especially with the suitcase's compression straps! Look for a fully formed review on our luggage choices soon.

Jen with her Osprey and Otis with his REI adventure suitcases
Lara bars. I have one hideous one left "for emergency" that Mom brought over. I think that time was in Borneo actually.
Wizard Cards. Our friends gave this game to us a couple of summers ago and we have gotten through hours and hours playing this game. We also use them as regular playing cards with the specialty cards removed from the deck.
My MacBook Air, which is my employer's property. I have been able to work around the globe. I am a big fan of babying electronic devices and it makes me happy to tote this magic machine around in its snug little sleeve in the padded compartment my Osprey zip off daypack.
Our Chico bags. They hold a lot, smoosh down small and we put them through paces. We lost our yellow one and replaced it with a larger green striped one that Chris now uses as his carry on.

At KLIAA with our green striped Chico bag carryon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

WASTE OF SPACE

I accidentally ordered and packed a year's supply of contact lenses. The fact that I did this is a strong indicator that I was stressed out at the end of July because that is not the kind of mis-planning I do (I do other kinds though). Since I wear my glasses most of the time, this is an incredible waste of space but also not anything I want to discard; I have missed multiple opportunities to send them back the U.S. So these are some well traveled little plastic discs.
I had my mom bring watercolors, art pens and postcards. Since Chris is a gifted artist I had visions of the three of us having little art lessons from him in picturesque locations around the globe. I didn't really factor in the lure of Pokemon Go, Slither.io and an RSS feed; even a good book seems to be more compelling to my travelmates. Chris has painted exactly two postcards, Otis and I zero.
Cool weather clothing. Not actually a waste of space during those cool fall moments but we probably should have shipped a few weather things back home or donated them.
I got a new RFID blocking travel wallet. I have only used it a few times. It isn't that I don't like it, its just that I don't really use it.

Chris

TOP TEN

Uniqlo AIRism Mesh underwear and t-shirts. They dry quickly, don't hold moisture, let air though nicely, are inexpensive, and pack easily. Jen hates the shirts with a passion heretofore not previously unleashed.
The travel & outdoor shorts I already reviewed here
Apple MacBook. We purchased this new before leaving. It is very small and light and is closer to iPad size than MacBook size. It has a beautiful screen which is big for the size of the computer. I am very disappointed with the keyboard which has a tendency to get gummed up by normal use and we are forever chasing after our space bar which has come off.
Osprey Atmos AG backpack. Its terrific though I think I would get the smaller, 50L version. It carries weight well, fits nicely and has a suspension system that keeps it away from your body. It is light and has clever storage features.Look for a fuller review on our luggage review post.
Target socks. These are the higher end of Target socks and are smll to pack, dry quickly and don't have obnoxious seams.
My iPhone 5s until recently. My phone got wet in a rain storm in Sri Lanka and recently gave up the ghost. I would recommend an iPhone 7 for travel (because of its water resistance) although I will probably get an iPhone SE when we get to Australia and try to keep it dry. I like the flat sides of the previous model which are still available in the SE; the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 are like trying to hold a bar of soap!
RHA S500i earphones. I love this little Scottish company's earphones. They are inexpensive, well made and sound great. Their warranty is 3 years and hassle free. Someday when I'm rich I'll get their well regarded T10i (or even 750i!) but until the, the S500i is good enough for me!
Spy Helm sunglasses when these were new, they were light and tough and their lenses were glorious. Unfortunately, they're not new anymore, and have been through a lot (including falling out of a full-speed tuktuk). They've gone from top ten to waste of space :(

Spy Helm sunglasses in Ao Nang, Thailand
Kindle Paperwhite. A new purchase for this trip -- it costs a small amount relative to how much you'd pay for all the books we have read. You save a lot of money and space with this. Don't pay extra to get rid of the ads, the ads are not annoying.

Using the kindle as a post election balm in Negombo, Sri Lanka
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II. Have you noticed a recent uptick in our photo quality? This has capabilities of an SLR but since iti s a mirror camera is much smaller. You can replace lenses in a range from hobbyist to pro; I think this is the best mix of capability, size and price that there is. The E-M5 is weatherproof but costs a bit more but I didn't lay out the extra money. This was a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle that we didn't purchase until we were in Kota Kinabalu so only our most recent photos are taken with it.

WASTE OF SPACE

Warm clothing of every kind. The amount of time we have wanted it has been much less than the amount of time we've carried it.
Any clothing that is not travel clothing. I have found that it is better to have clothing designed for the outdoors and/or quick drying than say, Gap pants. You can also go swimming in it.
Current backpack combo. As mentioned above, I would get a smaller travel backpack and a larger day pack.
Malaria medicine. We didn't take this, but it was good to have if we had decided to.
Jen's contact lenses.

Otis

TOP TEN

My shoes. I can't get around without them.
Dada's phone, iPod Touch and our computer. I got the iPod touch at a raffle, my great aunt helped us get our computer and Dada got his phone by switching with my grandmother. The computer is still alive and well except for the space bar situation. The iPod touch I accidentally swam with in the Maldives so it doesn't work now. My dad's phone got left out in the rain and now doesn't work. Also my Kindle. I can read on it and we don't have much room for books.

Otis working on the MacBook while getting a foot massage from his football
NY Giants Football. It is fun to play with and I have played with it in many countries. A monkey stole it the other day in Ubud and bit a hole it which popped it but it is still working.
Roma soccer ball. We got this in Rome but lost it in Croatia.
The water bottles. They give us water so thats good.
Cat t-shirt. It is a shirt with a cat on it that I can wear and it looks awesome.

Otis in his cat t-shirt at Knossos, Crete, Greece
Cats of Kotor t-shirt. Basically the same reason, it was nice to know the names of cats in different languages. This shirt is lost.
Meowrica t-shirt. Same reason as the others.
Cat pouch/purse thing. Meme and Grandpa got this for me. It is a good place to keep money besides my pockets because when I do the money goes through the laundry and falls out and I forget about it. And of course it has a cat on it.
Notebooks. Most of them my parents bought for me because they thought I needed more. I use them for different purposes including planning a cat cafe, drawing, doing artwork and schoolwork.