Daypack essentials for travel have to be carefully calculated. Because when you are traveling longterm, that daypack literally becomes a daily pack to carry.
It’s not as big as your checked in bag – many airlines only allow carry on to be 7kg max – and so it can’t carry as much.
But for full-time travellers the items inside your daypack are invaluable.
Here is our guide to packing the absolute essentials into your daypack for travel.
So what is actually essential?
Obviously you are carrying your passports, phone and money.
Those are the absolute basics and the most invaluable.
But beyond that there are other items that from our experience of traveling as a family for six years full-time that you can’t set out each day without.
We’ve narrowed those items down to the bare essentials – with a few memorable near-emergencies that confirm reasons for theses choices.
So which items do you actually need?
And more importantly; why??
Unpacking Our 10 Most Useful Daypack Essentials For Travel
- Sarong or scarf
- Reuseable straws and cutlery
- Reuseable shopping bag
- Waterbottle
- Power pack, USB cord, phone
- Change of kids clothes (underwear, light shorts and t-shirt)
- Reuseable KeepCup
- Plasters, paracetamol tablets
- Hat and sunscreen
- Toilet paper
1. Sarong – Daypack Essentials For Travel
This baby is essential!
Little did I know when I picked this up at the marketplace for a bargain in Tonga, that it would at time become a sheet, a skirt, blanket, shade-sail, scarf, makeshift tie bag, towel, wind-break, and picnic blanket.
We travel to a lot of modest countries too. So as well as providing comfort on travel days, it can also be used to cover up where appropriate.
2. Cutlery
We would definitely not travel in Asia without our own cutlery. Seeing the plastic straws, chopsticks, cutlery and plastic bags handed out with drinks and food was scary, and we felt horribly responsible as travellers ourselves that we were part of the consumerism that was adding to their insurmountable challenges of waste management.
We found this small bag in Laos at the Luang Prabang night market. It’s officially a chopstick bag. We carry one each in our day packs – it’s perfect for coconut-drinking-straws, morning-coffee-spoons, lunch-ready-chopsticks, and roadside-picnic-spreading-knives!
3. Reusable Shopping Bag
This one is only from our local supermarket in New Zealand.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, just reusable!
4. Water Bottle – Daypack Essentials For Travel
A drink bottle is an absolute must.
On travel days we carry 2 adult bottles, and 2 kids water bottles.
We boil water to drink where we can, and are constantly refilling each of our water bottles to try and decrease our need for using single-use plastic bottles. Though this is something that is a challenge in travel and especially travelling as a family of four.
We were recently sent the WaterWell Travel Bottle which filters drinking water, removing 99.9% of waterborne bacteria and parasites.
We’ve tested this out in New Zealand but can’t wait to take it with us this time. I KNOW it will be an absolute game changer.
- Read our tips for how to avoid Delhi Belly travelling in South Asia.
5. Battery Pack – Daypack Essentials For Travel
This is such a great invention!
Definitely one of the daypack essentials for travel we could not do without.
My one is really light, and therefore not a hassle to carry.
We don’t do heavy duty charging with it. But it has been a life saver when navigating with a dying iPhone battery!
6. Reusable Cup – Daypack Essentials For Travel
This is worth its weight in gold and can be used right from the first day you leave to enjoy a coffee at the airport or accept a hot drink on the plane and prevent one more plastic cup going to landfill.
We often book a hotel room that has a kettle in so we can make a cup of coffee.
Or in an (ahem) emergency, you can always make some instant noodles for a snack!
7. Plasters & Bandaids – Daypack Essentials For Travel
Self explanatory, but fairly mandatory when travelling with two rough-and-tumble little boys!
Paracetamol tablets for adults also essential.
- Read our detailed packing list for a Travel Medical Kit.
8. Hat & Sunscreen – Daypack Essentials For Travel
In summertime anywhere; do NOT forget these!
9. A Change Of Clothes For The Kids
Trust me. This is also essential!
Without going in to gory details, I always carry one very light pair of kids shorts and underwear that could fit either child.
And you are going to have to take my word for it…
That it has been well worth it!
10. TOILET PAPER
Sound obvious?
IT IS ESSENTIAL!
Daypack Essentials For Travel
Well, there you have it. These are what we recommend as the daypack essentials for travel.
Those are what we would consider the essential, sub-essentials – aside from money and passports!
You can even get around places without connectivity or your phone.
But you won’t get far travelling with children if you haven’t got a change of clothes and some toilet paper in your daypack!
Well, that plus a well-stocked snack bag…
Happy travelling!
Read more about packing for travel
- Our Travel Medical Kit.
- Our Packing List For Full-Time Travel: 2 Packs, 4 People.
- Packing List For India.
- Kids Daypacks For Travel.
- Electronics Packing List For Travel.
More about travel planning and preparation
These are the companies we use and can recommend for planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. It is easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere online.
- Skyscanner– This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.
- GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world. Everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country.
- World Nomads – Make sure you have insurance before further contemplating further on your packing list and daypack essentials for travel!