Insider Tips for Packing Carry-on Essentials

At The Insider Travel Guides, we are big fans of the carry-on, less so of checked baggage.  But even we admit that sometimes there is no alternative to checking your luggage, especially if your trip takes you from home for a great deal of time, or if you have other circumstances (e.g. traveling with little children, or surfing or skiing) that requires lots of stuff.  In these cases, the temptation is to put everything in the bags you are going to check, so that you can breeze through the airport free and easy without anything to lug around or submit to TSA scrutiny.  We recommend, though, that you always keep some essentials with you in a carry-on.  Here are some things to consider:

En Route
The possibilities for delays and cancelled flights are greater than ever, so make sure you have what you need to stay comfortable and entertained, such as:

• reading materials (remembering that for some portion of the flight, you can't use some electronic items, so you'll need a non-electronic substitute)
• a sweater, fleece or shawl to ward off the cold on the plane (blankets are not always provided by the airlines for free anymore, and when they are, they aren't necessarily freshly laundered)
• warm socks to keep your toes toasty (assuming that you like to slip out of your shoes in flight, as we do)
• healthy snacks (granola bars, dried fruit, etc.)
• toiletry items that will ensure you feel your best -- we like to brush our teeth and wash our face with a towelette just before de-planing
• a mini first aid kit with Kleenex, band-aids, antibiotic cream, Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol, antihistamines, and a bottle of baby aspirin -- its clot-busting effect can save your (or someone else's) life in the event of a heart attack

At Your Destination
Let's face it: it is hardly unusual for airlines to temporarily lose luggage, even though they now charge you to transport it.  So at the absolute minimum, you should carry all prescription medication with you, plus a full change of clothes.  We also like to carry our toiletry bag with us -- we know, we know, packing shampoo and such in those little 3 oz bottles and putting it all in a plastic bag is a hassle -- but having to spend time on our vacation tracking down the items we need is an even bigger hassle.  We hope it almost goes without saying that anything of real value, whether it is your laptop, fine jewelry, or important business documents, should always stay with you.