What is something non-standard that you take with you when you travel?
Mine is a small bottle of liquid bandage. It stays in my toiletries, can go through that, and is superior to most bandages!
Travel router. I can plug it in to a router (if available) and instantly have a network all my devices connect to automatically that can either connect to a commercial VPN or my home VPN. Works to rebroadcast a WiFi network as well. If you have to pay for WiFi, you can pay for one device and clone the MAC onto the router and rebroadcast a signal all your devices can use. Works on planes, hotels, you name it. I have a gl.inet but there are a few.
My proudest script kiddy achievement was at hotel that had paid WiFi and a free tier. I clicked the free tier but it wasn’t very good and there was no way to upgrade to paid, even after changing MAC and deleting cookies etc. I found a piece of gym equipment that used internet in the hotel gym, cloned its MAC address onto the device, unplugged the gym equipment and boom I had full speed internet as it was on the network’s whitelist with no throttle.
Smart!! Do you have any recommendations for what to look for when buying a travel router?
A roll of 'for rectal use only' stickers.
I carry a box of assorted googly eyes. I'll see you out there, fam.
Ooh, that does remind me. I bring wet wipes, for rectal use only.
Amongst other things, I always carry some zip ties. They weigh nothing, yet come in handy in so many ways.
Ah yes, zip ties. I also carry them every day. Along with plastic sheeting, a machete, a shovel, and a bottle of moonshine.
you like Huey Lewis and the News?
Gotta have your TOOLS
I always make sure I bring a nice towel on my carry on. We got some high quality cotton Turkish towels that double as blankets when traveling. Not sure if it's standard outside the hitchhikers guide.
You sound like one hoopy frood
A towel, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with
I also bring liquid bandaid most places, it really is superior but you have to wait for the bleeding to (mostly) stop first
My travel kit includes way too many nails, mousetraps, an upholstery stapler, power drill, syringes/needles, and first aid stuff. Sideshow performer so it's just par for the course. I also use the needles for medication.
What
I've been looking for a portable humidifier. Hotel rooms are so dry!
I've just boiled the room kettle a few times, and leave the shower and bathroom door open before bed (not during a shower). Helps a bit, anyway.
That's a great idea!
I dunno, I've stayed in a few moist ones.
I guess it depends on where you go, what time of year it is, and the type of heating system used.
Cold weather + non-radiant heating =
Tea. A lot of hotels have tea and coffee making facilities, but a horrible selection of teas.
What out companies founder took along in his hotel bag had been interesting, too. He always had a 100W light bulb (back when they were common), as hotels used crappy, low wattage bulbs in the room. He just switched them for his own 100W bulb so he could actually see something. He switched it back when he left. The other important thing was a set of plumbing tools, so he could remove the pressure reduction from the showers.
I think this one wins the thread. Plumber tools are quite non-standard
As was the old boss.
Coffee making gear, so hand grinder, tiny scales, and either a tricked out picopresso or an aeropress or my wave dripper. I pick based on what sort of coffee beans I am expecting to be able to pick up where I go.
Get yourself a small hotplate and a moka pot if you like thick coffee. Add a milk frother and your choice of milk (I like oat milk in coffee), and sweeten with brown sugar and top with cinnamon.
It is heaven.
I use a foldable cone, and a dual voltage kettle. I'm thinking of adding a vial of electrolytes and minerals to add to distilled water. Many places I travel have absolutely terrible water, and water makes a big difference!
On the last camping trip I was on, someone brought a small coffee maker. Absolute genius. If you think that shitty instant coffee is a god-send when the local wildlife wakes you up after 5h of sleep, the imagine that with a real coffee.
Binder clips to bind the curtains together. Sometimes hotels have hangers with pants clips on them, for everywhere else? Binder clips.
Body glide blister balm, and laundry wash sheets (so much tidier than washing powder!).
Most of my other stuff seems standard to me...
Laundry wash sheets are a good idea
Shoe horn, thermoplastic.
A shoe horn is a good idea. What's thermoplastic?
Alcohol gel, pack of tissues, steam deck with vpn connection to my home server. Next time I'll be bringing a travel router to test WFH 😉
Those gl-inet routers are really handy. Great if you have a bunch of wireless devices too, login to the hotel wifi with one device, spoof on the router that device's MAC, then you have "one" device hooked up to the hotel wifi... And everything else connects to a pre setup wifi network and you don't have to login on all of them.
My regular electric toothbrush instead of a travel one. I have found its just easier to just throw my toothbrush in a bag morning of then to deal with having a 2nd one for travel which is often disgusting
I used to do this before I worked in an airport. The sheer number of incidents that arise from accidentally activated vibrating things will surprise you.
All toothbrushes I have seen come with a hard case, so I don't think that's a big issue
Ziploc bags, they weigh nothing, but grest way to separate snacks and other stuff. I use them to store used underwear and socks if I'm on a short trip.
Liquid bandages?
Yeah, they're like bandages, only liquid.
I didn't realize liquid got injured enough to have a product like this.
I bring my headlamp with me almost everywhere. It's crazy how often you need a flashlight at the most random times, and the best flashlight is one you don't need to hold.
i bring them too. I can leave the main backpack in luggage storage or my hotel and pick the foldable backpack along with snacks, water, small camera. Much better then walking around with 10kg bag
I don’t mean to poke fun, but is “bear necessities” a typo, or is that how you thought it was spelled?
I have a weed grinder in my wallet. It's one of those card-sized, flat, cheese-grater ones.
My buddy would have one in his wallet and all the doggies in the airport were mighty friendly with him. For me that’s just extra anxiety while traveling when I can use pretty much anything to grind weed in a pinch (all pun intended)
Sketchbook. On work trips, I always finish one drawing every night as a way to get out of a work headspace.
Probably not the most unusual, except for how I never see any other adults with theirs if they have one probably because of how embarrassed they might be, but definitely my favorite stuffed animal. Gotta have some sort of comfort object. Especially in a hotel, if there are no bed bugs.
Do you know those supermagnets that can be found in old computer hardware? I take one of those, a particularly strong one, which my BF and his relatives found for me once during the advent of their metal detecting hobby. Good for things like getting stuff out of hard to reach places or determining the material of something, though I'm told it's not so good for those who have put their phone or credit card too close to my baggage. I even once took a toy out of a grocery store toy machine this way (screw the rigged crane, especially when you have a kid who just went through a tragedy).
Does it cause any issues with airport security?
I'm not sure. I've never tested that out. Though I've heard that even just being made of metal risks extra vetting at the airport.
A small Brita filter helps with getting nice clean drinking water. A 20 foot Hdmi cable to connect my laptop to the tv. A universal remote since not all tv's allow you to switch the inputs. Also a powerbar, which can also be used as an extension cord.
Vaseline. Is that non-standard? It doubles as lip balm and for those really dry patches of skin that come around (currently in Japan and it's been dry af). Or even for small cuts, or used as hand cream.
Also can be used as a fire starter (for camping, just to clarify!).
My trusty bag, basically a small/medium duffel bag I can wear over my shoulder or carry. When I've traveled (been so long, I miss it), that holds everything. It makes travel so nice. I just carry it on the plane, shove it under my seat. One thing to worry about. No hauling luggage, no waiting for baggage claim (mostly). A single pocket for my passport. Just one bag.
Salt. I really, really enjoy salt on my fries. I have a few paper bags of salt in my purse at all times, so when I get a bag of take away fries and they forgot to put salt on it (which happens a LOT where I live) I can add my own salt! Saved me from disappointment many times.
A duffle bag that folds up to be very small. That way, I fly out with only carryons and have a laundry bag that acts as a carry on bag in case I buy too much on vacation and can't fit everything back in my luggage.
Someone else mentioned a walking around backpack separate from my flying/train riding backpack.
Travel wallet with Passport ID card. That way I'm carrying valid ID and some cash but not all my ID's and cash.
Water bottles with integrated Britta filters.
I've recently started to throw a mini screwdriver set into my laptop bag. I can even fit a small pocket knife and a bit of soldering tin into its case. Obviously not a good idea for flying, but it has been useful a few times.
I also keep some crappy headphones in that bag. Priceless if someone around you in public transport is being annoying.
Universal diffuser for hotel hair dryer.
