MY TOP 8 TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

If you are also from the Philippines, a lot of us will be soon packing up for the much-needed holiday since  “summer time” has finally came in. Holy week is a bit early for this year and is already fast approaching. By this time, a lot of us have planned our week-long itinerary for this season. Will you be spending it by doing the traditional Visita Iglesia or have you planned on going to the beach or spend it with your family by coming home to your home town? No matter where you planned to travel with your family or friends this season, make sure to pack these basics.

1. HEALTHY SNACKS 

photo via breaking muscle

Snacks and food has been coming with me every time I travel. I find this a must in cases such as unexpected delays in flight or simply on unexpected circumstances. If you are travelling with kids, for sure they will start asking for snacks even before you leave your drive -way so this one is really a necessity. Bring along some healthy choices such as pretzels, energy bars, cookies and water bottle.

2. SHAWL/ PASHMINA

photo via exporters india

Ever since I started traveling, I have always carried a Pashmina/Shawl or Scarf. I have considered it as an indispensable essential since I was able to use it to warm me up on chili weather, as cover up in religious sites, as a beach towel, as my accessory to complete my outfit and as a converted bandana to cover up my hair from dusty adventures. It has even become even more useful now that we are travelling as a family because it has served as a blanket to my daughter. 

3. FIRST AID KIT

photo via moms magazine

It’s better to be prepared for the worst ~As they say, it is better to be safe than sorry! Make sure to have medicines on hand. Below are the items that you may find in our first aid kit. 

www.unilab.com.ph

Anti-Nausea Medication - Travelling may be fun but motion sickness isn’t. So weather you are traveling by land or by air, you should have an anti-nausea medication.

Ibuprofin - A sudden pain after a whole day of adventure can quickly strip the fun you just had from any holiday. Make sure to bring in some Ibuprofin or acetaminophen in your kit like Alaxan FR. It is used for the quick relief of mild to moderately severe pain of muscoskeletal origin such as muscle pain. 

Antihistamines - A simple allergic reaction can stop you from having fun or worse, can tend to be life–threatening. Make sure to be prepared and have antihistamines on hand. In my case I always have Allerta in our kit. 

Paracetamol - When travelling, a sudden change of weather can sometimes give us a headache or at times can cause the temperature of our body to go up. That’s why even on ordinary days, I always have the ever reliable Unilab's Biogesic in my bag since it is used to treat many conditions such as headache, muscle aches, arthritis, backache, toothaches, colds, and fevers.

Loperamide - When on a holiday or a vacation, we tend to get over excited and would want to try and take every food that we see. Little do we know we ate a little too much of everything which made our stomach upset. You never know when you will experience an upset stomach so be sure you take along Diatabs with you.

Thermometer - This should always come in handy so as to minimize the less-than happy times. 

Wipes, Hand Sanitizer and Alcohol – These three are quick –fix alternative in hand cleaning.

Insect Repellent – to make sure that we all get protected with mosquitos.

4. KIKAY KIT

photo via womens forum

Have you ever had an instance that when you browse through your travel photos, it made you cringed on how you looked? This is because travelling can make you look really haggard and tired especially on photos so don't disregard the power of having a little make-up. Stay on the safe side and have that no-make -up look. 

Essentially, I always have the basics. I always pack a tinted lip balm, a BB Cream, Sunscreen, a facial wash, toner and a moisturizer. These are always present in my kit.

Tinted Lip Balm - The lip balm to keep my lips moisturized. Actually, I always have the tinted Burt's Bees on my bag everyday. 

BB/ CC Cream - If you are to pick your BB/CC Cream, I suggest that you settle on one that works as both a sunscreen and moisturiser. Skip the heavy ones and go for lightweight or water-based. You don’t need to put on too much. Remember that you’re going on a trip and not to a photoshoot. For my personal use, I use Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream.

Sunscreen - Weather or not you are exposed on extreme sun activity we all need our sunscreens so as to keep us guarded from the harmful UVs. I have tried and tested Dermplus Moisturizing Sunblock SPF 80 and it kept my skin protected from the harmful UV rays. Dermplus sunblock physically blocks and reflects light and it also helps heal skin damage caused by over-exposure to the sun. It is formulated with unbeatable UVA and UVB filters to protect our skin in the harsh ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Facial Wash, Toner, Moisturiser - It is very important that we clean tone and moisturize our skin every night especially if we have been exposed on activities and sunlight. Celeteque Travel Basic goes with me all the time. 

5. SMART PHONE

Nowadays, we never leave home without our smart phone to stay connected. During our travel, our Smart Phones come in handy in so many ways. For our road trips, it gets to be so useful by using apps such as foursquare, waze, google maps and the like. It has also become a great role to keep my daughter busy during travel time by letting her watch movies that I have downloaded from iFLIX even when I'm offline. And most of all, my Asus Zen Phone 2 laser has really became a great part of our lives as we record our happy family moments through its amazing capture of our photos and videos. 

6. PORTABLE CHARGER

photo via hightech coupons

It’s always best to bring along a charger that you can plug into our car during road trips. Nowadays, portable chargers such as power banks have become a part of our lives so we can charge our devices on-the go whenever necessary.

7. COMFI TRAVEL CLOTHES

photo via jetset times

Whenever I travel, I always make a point that I wear comfortable clothes. A shirt and a short or a yoga pants or a flowing dress has always been my go-to travel clothes especially on land trips. In cases of long trips via plane, I always see to it that it is comfortable yet fashionable ~ so as it will always be OOTD photo ready~

8. CAMERA

This would definitely be not left off the list. You could let me travel without any comb but definitely without a camera. Taking photos captures each great moments and memories. May it be just a simple building or just the sand or as small as a photo of a leaf. For me, our photos are the essence of all our travels so that when we look back, we can be able to realize how things may have developed and changed but the good memories remain. 

So there you have it. That’s my top 8 list of our Family Travel Essentials. 

I think since I find them as my essentials, perhaps you would also find them as useful in your list too. 

What about you? What are the ones that you include in your travel essentials regardless of your destination? At the end of the day, bottomline is pack –light and plan well for a hassle- free holiday.

Xoxo,

Jaimie 

xx THE MERMAID IN STILETTOS xx

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