A sarong has always been an essential travel item for me. Not one of those gauzy little numbers that wouldn’t fit across my hips. My sarong is strong, opaque and expansive. Of course the sarong is great for the beach and I know that there are a 100 ways to tie it into some fancy dress. I do use it like that but it’s the other uses that make it essential for my bag. The sarong has a multitude of uses: a dressing gown, beach mat, towel, picnic rug, table cloth, a sheet on dubious beds, scarf, modesty covering for temples, mosques and churches and it’s a great creator of shade. I’ve even wrapped my dirty laundry in it. It takes up next to no room in the bag so how could I not take it?
My friend Kerryn tells me that her travel essential is aluminium baking trays and oven bags which she packs into the bottom of her suitcase! In recent years she has travelled with her family to Europe for Christmas. No need to traipse around unfamiliar supermarkets, where you don’t speak the local language, looking for a tray. No danger of the duck or goose not being cooked for lack of a tray. No need to scour an oven clean for lack of an oven bag. Wise thinking, if just a tad unusual.
Steven’s travel essentials are two tools, a corkscrew and a Leatherman. In Botswana a few years ago I was appreciative of that Leatherman as he used it to fix our broken down tour bus. Of course the he has opened many bottles of wine and cut into a range of exotic fruits. What’s your must have travel item? Is there something you don’t leave home without?
Cannot agree more with the sarong. I bought mine 9 years again in Koh Tao (I’m back there today intact!) and it has come on every holiday since (bar one when I was fuming that I forgot it)
How fantastic that there is another sarong lover in the world. This time I am taking a beautiful blue one with me but I my first ever one was an Indonesian batik that I had for years.
I always take a couple of Pashminas – similar to sarongs but smaller. Anne I think I’ve used mine for the very same applications you have listed plus also for a pram cover and baby changing mat when out with my grand babies! There is always one in my handbag! I also take a fold up travel umbrella. Serviceable for both rainy weather and bright, hot sunshine. I now have a tiny, and very stylish, “Marilyn Monroe” printed one I bought in Paris a couple of years ago. It’s also a conversation piece!
Good extra ideas for the Sarongs I forgot I’d used them with my kids. Yes certainly the rain/sun umbrella has been popped into my bag for this trip
Sarong also great for Nanna Nap in hot climate & Pashmina great for Nanna Nap in cold climate
Absolutely!
I agree with your choice and your husband’s, but your friend’s choice of cooking trays and oven bags on her trips to Europe make for a boring trip and make her sound quite backwards. As for me, my trips aren’t usually as exotic as yours, so I never leave with my SLR film camera and a few lenses. And film. Lots of film.
My friend travels with a family of six and extras. She loves cooking a goose or duck for Christmas bought from the market but in past years has struggled to find trays or had to spent a day cleaning duck fat off the oven. So now she pops disposable ones in her bag and spends more time doing what she loves. Yes the camera always comes but we are not as keen on photography as you.
Well, yes, I figured the camera isn’t as important to you as to me, but since you asked… 😉
Wet wipes and antiseptic hand wash – i am not a germophobe at all .. but when travelling in remote places cannot do without them … and my favourite camera!
Yes unfortunately the hand wash comes. And of course you would take your camera. Steven is the photographer in our team
love to hear of your adventures.. You are well out of the workplace 🙂
Thanks for following….not missing work lol
Always take a Moleskine notebook, we record everything we eat and drink because that is all we do on holidays! Oh and making room for books, must explore all the bookshops.
Yvette I can tell you are an old fashioned gal, my mini iPad has replaced those albeit doesn’t have the same feel…or weight.