What do you pack for a month of travel?

My most recent month of travel was exciting, but I’ll also admit it was quite random.  Northern Europe to Central Europe to the Middle East. I spent many days remote working, but I also went hiking, attended a business conference and even went paragliding. How do you prepare for all of those different scenarios and still fit everything into a reasonably sized suitcase?

Well, chances are even if you are a seasoned traveler, you are going to make a mistake and forget somethings you need and bring some things that never leave your suitcase.  But after returning home and unpacking, here are 5 essential items I am so glad I had with me.

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links and if you purchase products through those links I will get a small commission. There is no increase in the price for you and I will be able to put the money towards my Maldives overwater bungalow. And as always, all opinions are my own.

1. A Good Pair of Versatile Sneakers

Just before I left for my trip, I came across a pair of UGG sneakers that caught my eye in the store. Did I really need them? Um…maybe not. But then again, I kind of did. They are low profile so they don’t take up as much room in my bag as my thicker soled adidas and the little patch of tan leather on the back dressed them up just a little bit. They worked great with jeans, skirts and dresses and honestly I wore them more than any other shoes I brought with me. Shoes are one of the bulkiest items you will pack, so finding a shoe that fills multiple purposes definitely helps you successfully pack for a month of travel.

And slightly messy me was so glad to have a shoe made of leather. The first day I wore them in London I gingerly stepped around puddles and over dirty curbs keeping a few extra inches from others on the tube to avoid any smudges on my new shoes. But then in the afternoon I managed to spill coffee directly on my shoes….TWICE! Luckily the coffee wiped clean away and aside from a telltale drop or two on my shoelaces, my sneakers showed no damage. Even by the end of my trip through bustling cities and dusty country roads, they stayed relatively clean. Impressive! They will for sure be coming on future trips with me

2. Shampoo & Conditioner Bars

My entire life I’ve been told how much hair I have.  I count it as a blessing, but it is not always easy to deal with, especially when you’re on the road and away from a bathroom full of products. Traveling for a month would mean carting around large bottles of shampoo and conditioner which honestly, I did not want to deal with.  I decided to make it easy on myself, first by simplifying my hairstyle (the curly style was going to have to wait until I got back home because that requires at least 3 extra products I wasn’t about to pack) and I swapped out my regular shampoo and conditioner bottles of soap from Black Travel Box.

I admit, I was skeptical. Sure it would make it easier to pack for a month of travel, but was a shampoo and conditioner in a solid form going to work as well as the traditional liquid? Not to mention just the risk of switching to a whole new brand that I’d never tried before.

Being a last minute “planner”, I ordered a bar of the shampoo and conditioner just before I left for my trip, meaning I only had one day to test drive it before I hit the road. If I didn’t like it, I was going to have to resort to full sized bottles of the liquids to make it through the month, which would have put me over the limit of my suitcase space.

I gave the bars a try the night before I left and I was relieved to find it worked just as well as my regular products, saving me a lot of space and packing headaches.

Now I admit that I am stuck in my ways and while I am at home I prefer to use my traditional liquid shampoo and conditioner. However, I doubt I’ll ever pack those for travel again. I am a convert to solid shampoo and conditioner for traveling.

3. Travel Soap Holders

So, great. I found solid shampoo and conditioner bars to travel with, but how am I going to pack them? Yes, of course I could easily pick up soap holders at my local drugstore, but I had heard that the bars can start to dissolve pretty quickly if they stay wet. Instead I tried to find something a little better engineered than your basic two piece soap tray.

These Kiasona Travel Soap Holders did the trick!  The most important element is the small sponge at the bottom of each case. It absorbs extra water and keeps the shampoo bar from sitting directly in a puddle of water. I needed to make sure that these bars of shampoo and conditioner lasted for the full month, so keeping them dry meant extending their shelf life.

In addition to wanting to keep my products dry, I also wanted a product that wouldn’t leak and cause a mess in my bag.  These soap holders have a very tight rubber seal and thick band which makes sure the lid stays in place. I never had any issue with messy soap dishes in my bag. And as a bonus I love the color options the soap dish came in, making it both stylish and easy to remember what was held inside each (blue for shampoo because, well…it rhymes).

4. Flat Pack Water Bottle

While traveling in Romania, a friend convinced me to go on a hike (a decision I have some regrets about now, but that’s for a different blog post) outside of the city of Brasov.  I knew it would be a longer hike and started looking for a water bottle to take with me. Of course I had a perfectly good water bottle … which I neglected to bring with me on the trip.

I spent the days before the hike looking for a bottle, but they were all either overpriced, non-insulated bottles aimed at tourists, or way too big or way too small. Eventually, I decided I’d buy a couple of bottles of water to take with me, making a mental promise to recycle them of course. Luckily I found a great solution the night before the hike.

I followed my friend into an outdoors store as he was looking at hiking shoes and ended up seeing a water pouch that folded up flat when not in use. It was still a little smaller than I wanted, but I knew that having a bottle I could easily fit into my luggage would be great for the remaining two weeks of my trip. So I did my hike with the foldable bottle and one additional bottle of water, which was plenty since the day of the hike was not very hot.

I ended up using it multiple times during my trip. When not in use, it tucked away into a corner of my suitcase. I was super happy with my purchase and will definitely be taking it along on future travels and local hikes.

5. Light-weight Backpack

I always travel with my Tumi backpack because it is carry-on sized and I can stuff so much into it. A partial list includes 2 laptops and chargers, a pair of shoes, notebooks, hard drive, makeup, a change of clothes, a small purse and of course Sai the traveling Rhino. I usually stuff it to overflowing and I’m just glad no one ever asks to weigh it. But the truth is, it is not the easiest to take on a quick day trip. It is on the heavier side and if I need to use it, I have to unload all the items I store in there.

That’s why I threw a small backpack into the side pocket of my larger one.   It is light weight, compact and I can wad it up into a tiny ball. Now you’re not going to want to lug around a lot of weight in this bag (that’s what the bigger backpack is for). But it was perfect to use on day hikes or running around town.

I can’t remember exactly when my mom gave me this Clöudz Folding Travel backpack, but sometime last year I finally included it in my packing. Now I don’t travel without it. Even if I don’t use it, its small enough that I don’t mind having it in case of emergency.

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And the one thing I wish I brought with me? Well, it would be a Portable Charger for my phone. In my haste to pack at the last minute, I forgot to pack a portable battery pack. For the first part of my trip, it wasn’t too much of a hassle. I was regularly popping into restaurants or hotels where I could charge my phone for a bit. However, once I arrived in Lebanon, I was on the go and didn’t have a way to charge my devices.

Occasionally I relied on the kindness of other travelers who let me borrow their battery packs, but that option wasn’t always available. Also, I hate being a content creator who has shown up without some of the most basic materials. It is not a good look, so I will make sure not to let this happen again.

Packing for a month-long trip in different climates and covering various activities can be challenging, but definitely not impossible. One of the best things you can do is start with a good generic packing list (either one you have created for yourself or one you’ve found on line). From there, add and subtract items to tailor it to your unique trip. I will definitely add the above 5 items to my list plus the battery pack I wish I’d brought.

What are some essential items you have learned you need on your longer trips? Let me know in the comments below.

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