(+) Essential Things I Never Travel Without

I travel a lot. In a 12-month period this year I am visiting Iceland, Denmark, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and China, two trips to Salt Lake City, multiple trips to Massachusetts, and one trip each to Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as several Caribbean islands. I may add some more trips to the schedule before the year is over.

Some of these trips are for business, but quite a few are for personal reasons. Several trips are to attend genealogy conferences. I also get to spend a bit of time researching my own family tree occasionally. Whenever possible, I try to combine business trips with a few days of vacation, especially when I have an opportunity to go to places I have never visited before. That includes most of my trips overseas.

I have become a fanatic on lightweight packing.

Most of the time, I can squeeze all of the needed items into one carry-on suitcase that easily fits into an airplane’s overhead compartment plus an “over-the-shoulder” bag that fits under the seat in front of me. With today’s price-gouging by airlines for checked bags, use of carry-on luggage saves a lot of money. Besides, I don’t like dragging all that heavy luggage with me. In past years, I have wasted far too much energy wrestling with heavy suitcases on shuttle buses, taxis, and in rental cars. Never again.