My Travel Must-Haves #2: General Travel

Earlier, I blogged about my travel must-haves for mission projects.  This post is all about the treasures you'll find squirreled away in my bags even when I'm traveling for more selfish reasons.

1).  A shampoo bar from LUSH
I love these things.  They are small enough to fit easily in a carry-on, and they don't break the TSA liquids rules.  One of them lasts about as along as a bottle of regular shampoo, and they lather enough for even my curly mop of hair.  LUSH sells little tins to keep them in, and though the aluminum can get mashed and misshapen in flight, it didn't harm my shampoo bar at all.

Lush's Karma Komba shampoo bar is great for travel and lasts longer than you'd expect.

2).  My point it® book
I can't remember how I found out about this little gem, but it's super neat.  It's a little booklet of hundreds of pictures to help you communicate when you don't speak the local language.  It has pictures of bathrooms, vegetables, clothing, drawings of internal organs (in case you have to show a doctor what hurts), types of transportation, you name it.

There's an App, too, which I also have.

Now, to be honest, I've only had to use it maybe once in the three years I've had it.  But it's still nifty.  And as soon as I leave it at home, I'll wish I had brought it.

3).  My Sonicare toothbrush
You know that smooth, slick feeling your teeth have after the dentist cleans them? The one where you can't stop running your tongue over them to feel how smooth they are?  (Or maybe that's just me.)  Anyway, I can't stand my teeth to feel anything but slick and smooth.  I hate fuzzy teeth.  And the only way to keep them that way between cleanings is with my precious Sonicare toothbrush.  I'm a little obsessed with it.  In fact, when we did a Let's Start Talking project in Malaysia in 2010 and I chose to leave my Sonicare at home, I felt more deprived than I have on any other project.  I couldn't wait to get home to really brush my teeth.

I know, I know.  It sounds nuts to take a rechargeable toothbrush all over the world when many of the places I visit use 220 volts instead of the 110 volts we use in the US.  And, yes, I have blown out my charger before when I forgot and plugged the charger straight into the wall in our London apartment.  (I have no idea why I forgot.  We had been living there for weeks, and I had been plugging my charger into a converter each time I wanted to use it.  Then one day - BAM - I forgot.  No more charger which meant no more charging my Sonicare which meant my teeth got that icky fuzzy feeling that I hate.  Luckily, my mother-in-law bought me another charger on eBay and brought it to me when she came to visit!  Fuzzy teeth no more!)

My Sonicare (and Knox's) charging in Brazil.  One of the preachers, Roberto, let us borrow his converter.  Note its massive size.  Note also the other converter in the background.  It doesn't work because I blew it out two years ago with my American hair dryer turned on high.  I should have known that trying to use a heat-producing appliance with a converter was a bad idea.

4).  Mary Kay creme eye shadow
Have you ever checked your make-up only to arrive at your destination with nothing but pink dust left?  Well, I have.  Several times.  Those conveyor belts, cargo holds, and luggage handlers aren't kind to cosmetics so now I take creme eye shadows with me when I travel.  They come in little pots, so they don't crumble when jostled around.  I'm sure other brands make them, too, but I like Mary Kay's.

This one is Glacier Gray, which I really like.

5).  A Turbie Twist for my post-shower hair

I have found that the towel situation in foreign hotels and apartments is almost always iffy.  You almost never get washcloths, and even hand towels aren't a given.  I just can't depend on having enough towels, and I especially can't depend on having enough of the right size of towel.  If the towel is too big and heavy, I can't even lift my head once my hair is wrapped.  If it's too small, the towel won't stay wrapped on my hair.  Since my hair is a curly mop with a mind of its own, I take my own Turbie Twist to wrap up my wet hair after a shower.  But I only buy the 100% cotton versions because I don't like the feel or the absorbency of the microfiber ones.

     One caveat:  You will end up with a damp Turbie Twist in your luggage if you wash your hair the day you leave.  That means you need a plastic bag to put it in so that you avoid getting all of the clothes in your luggage damp and mildewy on the trip home.  Learned that one the hard way.

6).  Gallon Ziploc bags

In 2002, we were flying through Japan after a mission project in Thailand.  Kinley was 16 months old, and we had bought her some blueberry-scented baby wash while we were there.  It was packed in a zippered pocket of her suitcase, and it leaked in flight.  In the Narita airport, drug-sniffing dogs caught a whiff of that blueberry explosion so we were pulled aside by police officers, questioned in Japanese, and searched.  When the officers realized what had set off the dogs' sensitive sniffers, they smiled, apologized, and sent us on our way.  Of course, we still had a gooey blue mess to clean up when we got to the hotel.

     Now, we pack all of our liquids in gallon Ziplocs and even pack extra ones in case we buy liquids while we're gone.  (They also work well for packing damp Turbie Twists!)  And of course, these go into my checked luggage since only 3 oz. containers in quart-sized bags are allowed in carry-on luggage.

7).  Rain jackets

This one doesn't need a lot of explanation, but I do really like the way it wads up into a little pouch.  It's easy to pack in a suitcase, handy to haul in my purse, and lighter than an umbrella.

8).  Okay.  This is similar to the nursing home robe from my other post.  In fact, my sister, Amanda, calls this my "old lady coffee".  But I love Maxwell House International Cafe Hazelnut.  And, of course, even though they call it "international", they only sell it in the US.  Make fun of me if you want to.  I'm okay with that.  Oh.  And I always put the container in a gallon Ziploc even though it's a powder.  Learned that one the hard way, too.

There you go!  My general travel must-haves! What always finds its way into your luggage??  Let me know!

My Travel Must-Haves #1: Mission Projects

I have already mentioned in my first post my love of my Aerosole heels and long, flowy skirts for travel, but there are several other items that are musts on my packing list.  This post is dedicated to the items I take when my family does mission work with a faith-based organization called Let's Start Talking.

Every other year we raise funds so that we can spend six weeks in a foreign country helping people improve their English conversation skills.  We use the Book of Luke from the Bible as our workbook, and we each have about fifteen students (actually, we refer to them as readers) who come for one-on-one practice several times a week.  We love sharing our faith and meeting new friends while seeing the world.

And while I can give up many things for the sake of Christ, what follows is my list of deal breakers.

1). My Let's Start Talking Luke book

I have been doing LST missions since 1996.  There are a lot of things written in the margins of my book that would be difficult to replace.  Sometimes I jot down my readers' interesting comments or questions.  Sometimes I draw pictures of hard-to-describe words such as "wheat".  Sometimes I list related vocabulary words to discuss.  But the most valuable parts of my book are the many questions I've written over the years.  These are open-ended and designed to lead to good conversation with my readers.  I could function without it, but I'd be super bummed to have to start from scratch.

      

                                                     Pages from my tattered Luke book


2).  My new zippy wallet made many my neighbor, Kirsten, over at LoveSpunStudios

      

This wallet is awesome!  It is custom made just for me, and it has 6 zippered compartments.  I am our team's accountant, so I need to keep track of my own personal spending money as well as our team's mission money.  Sometimes when we do LST we end up using multiple currencies.  For example, several times we've had  to fly through Japan to get to Thailand.  I've had to juggle team US dollars, team Japanese Yen, team Thai Baht, personal US dollars, personal Japanese Yen, and personal Thai Baht all on the same project.  It can get confusing, but I also don't want to haul two separate wallets all over the planet.

My friend Kirsten solved all my problems!  Now I have separate pockets for three different team currencies and three different personal currencies all in one adorable wallet!  And it has a place for my passport (you can't change money without showing that) and slots for the team receipts I keep for accounting.

                                      

Interested in one of your own?  The little labels can be customized.  Just click to get yours from Etsy!

         

3).  My NookColor ereader

Before I got my ereader, I had to take 12-15 books in my suitcase for a mission project.  We usually have 5-7 readers per day, but we're still left with some down time during the project.  During that time, I like to read.  But books are heavy, and I'm rarely willing to leave them behind when I've finished them (a practice Josh has adopted to lighten his suitcases on the way home).  So my ereader is priceless for the luggage space and weight it saves.  I still take some actual books, but far fewer than I used to.

                                        

                                    This year's suitcase of books is far less full thanks to my NookColor!

                                       

                                       

                                   Knox reads his Nook Simple Touch in the hammock in our room in Brazil.

4). My black cashmere wrap

This item is so versatile that it earns a coveted spot in my carry on bag.  It is perfect for using as a lightweight but luxurious blanket on the plane or as a wrap over a dress on a cool evening out.  It can be a scarf or even a pillow in a pinch.  Before I scored my cashmere version deeply discounted from Banana Republic, I used a similar one made of a polyester blend.  

5).  Taco seasoning packets

We cook most meals for ourselves on mission projects (except in Thailand where it's cheaper - and yummier - to just eat out every meal), so it's helpful to bring some ingredients from home.  You may be surprised to learn that most of the rest of the world has not yet discovered the deliciousness of Mexican food.  That means no salsa, no tacos, and no guacamole unless we bring the spices to make it ourselves.  Since our family can't go six weeks without some south-of-the-border goodness, we bring some Ortega along for the trip.  We have bought avocados, cilantro, and limes in almost every country we've lived, but yellow cheese and sour cream are harder to find.  Sadly, these two items are not luggage-friendly, so white cheese and plain yogurt usually have to stand in.

6). A short-sleeved summer robe

When I first wore this robe on an LST project, my fashion-forward thirteen-year-old asked with guileless sincerity, "Mom, isn't that what people in nursing homes wear?"  

                                   

I had to admit that she was right.  But this one meets my mission project needs, so it's staying on the list.  On LST projects, we almost always live with other people.  Sometimes it is a family from the local church; sometimes it's college students who are on our team.  Living in close quarters with people who aren't in your immediate family raises some privacy issues, of course, so I feel more comfortable going to and from the shared shower in a robe.  At home, I have a long-sleeved cashmere robe that my in-laws spoiled me with one Christmas.  But it's simply too hot for that one in the countries where LST tends to send us.  And I like the snaps on the "nursing-home" one because it's less likely to come untied and fall open when I'm passing a teammate in the hallway.  I get the heeby-jeebies just thinking about how scarred-for-life that poor teammate would be if that scene ever played itself out.  Ew.

7).  A vegetable peeler

I have no idea why the rest of the world (even the Italians!) cannot seem to produce a decent vegetable peeler, but I have had zero luck finding one in most places.  So now I just buy one and take it with me.  My kids eat lots of raw carrots and cucumbers, so this item is a must for us.  (NOTE:  In fairness, I did once buy a fantastic vegetable peeler in Switzerland, but I nearly had to take out a second mortgage on our house to pay for it.  I'd rather not have to do that again.)

There you have it - my deal breakers!  Granted, there are many other items we take with us each time such as a new box of Crayola markers, Sharpies, straight pins, scissors, dependable but expendable paring and chef's knives, church clothes, Luke workbooks for our readers, decorations for the parties we throw for our readers, etc.  But since we split these items up among the whole team, I decided that they don't really count.

Look for my upcoming post on my general travel must-haves.  And in the meantime tell me your travel necessities below!