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With Christmas being two months away, many people have already begun browsing the internet for gift ideas. If you have stumbled upon this article, you are most likely in search of the perfect present for the adventurers in your life.
More specifically, you may be the parent of a university student living abroad. Alternatively, you might be looking for a special gift for someone who has just accepted a job offer overseas. Or, you might just be an expat or travel lover who is looking to make your own trips easier.
Having to travel back and forth for the majority of my life, I have found some items that I believe every traveller should have. Now, I am here to share them and simplify your life:
1. Digital Luggage Scales
I remember watching my mother frantically pack, unpack and repack suitcases when I was a little girl, over 15 years ago. She would neatly fold all of our clothes and pack them away in a way that saved as much space as possible. Once everything was tidily packed away, she would close the suitcase and hope that it was under 23 kilograms.
Then, she would pull out the scale and weigh herself. After this, she would lift the suitcase and peer over it, trying to see the new number on the scale below. When she could not read it, she would call me and I would squat down to read the number out loud. We would then subtract the difference to figure out the exact weight of the suitcase. If it was above the limit, we would take several items out and do the same thing over and over again.
Not surprisingly, we immediately left this tiresome technique in the past once we were gifted a digital luggage scale. All we now had to do was clasp the scale around the suitcase’s handle and lift for several seconds. In just a flash, the exact weight would appear on the little screen.
In my opinion, its best feature is its small size as it allows you to easily pack it away and take it on holiday with you. In other words, it helps you ensure that you do not go over the baggage limit after stocking up on souvenirs.
2. Hanging Toiletry Travel Bag
Before going away to university 5 years ago, I was gifted a hanging toiletry travel bag that I cherish to this day. I must admit that when I first received it, I thought it was cute but I did not realise how much easier it would make my life at university. Put differently, I had no clue just how small dorm rooms were and how little space there would be for storing my belongings (let alone my toiletries).
Thankfully, I was not one of the many students who had to go to IKEA in search of cheap storage solutions. All I had to do was open and hang up my toiletry bag to the back of the bathroom door.
While my experience proves that this item is ideal for students, it is also perfect for travel lovers who want to store their toiletries simply and effectively in hotel rooms.
Of course, there are also larger bags for those who do not travel light.
3. Packing cubes
If you’re anything like me, you cannot stand to see a messy suitcase in which space has not been maximised. Being someone who has always viewed packing as synonymous with playing a Tetris game, I have recently fallen in love with packing cubes. These luggage organisers have recently taken over the internet, with travel vloggers and influencers showing how they use them to maximise space and neatly pack their belongings.
The best part is that the set includes a shoe storage bag. This means that you no longer have to search for plastic bags in which you could put your shoes away. Or worse, you no longer have to toss your dirty shoes on top of your clean clothes.
If you do not need a full set of packing cubes, you could opt for a set of half-transparent shoe pouches.
4. Kindle
I recently moved abroad and left behind over 14 kilograms of books that I could not transport to my new home. (And yes, I used a digital luggage scale to weigh exactly how many romance novels I left behind).
A Kindle makes travelling so much simpler for book lovers in more than just one way. That is, it not only simplifies transporting your favourite literature but it also allows those living abroad to purchase and read books in whatever language they want. This means that international students and expats can always stay connected to their home country and read books in their mother tongue. (Plus, the screen lights up making it easier to read from on a long night flight.)
Stay tuned for more gift ideas over the coming weeks!
Sip of Culture 