Packing a Travel Survival Kit

Whenever you leave home to adventure abroad, there’s definitely a lot of excitement. The anticipation of meeting new people, visiting new places, and experiencing new cultures is thrilling. However, wherever you decide to travel, it’s best to pack a travel survival kit with all of the essentials. Here’s what you should pack:

Food

Carrying some kind of food on you is always a good idea when you travel. Protein bars are a good choice for keeping energy levels high and filling you up in case you go hours without eating. Meat eaters can pack tuna packets and beef jerky. For us vegetarians, I like to pack nuts, dehydrated fruit and fruit leathers, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, or anything else that’s portable and easy to pack.  

Water

For a travel survival kit that goes into the trunk of your car, bottles of water are handy. But if you’re traveling abroad and carrying the pack on you, find a good refillable water bottle. It’s now the norm to find water bottle refill stations in airports and most public transport hubs. Save the planet and reduce your plastic use by purchasing a reliable refillable water bottle. (Amazon link)

First Aid Kit

Purchase a pre-made first aid kit or make you own for your travel survival kit. Be sure to make a first aid kit that has bandages, antibiotic ointment, pain reliever, and hand sanitizer, as well as small scissors and tweezers. Other things handy to have in a first aid kit are water purification tablets, anti-diarrheal and anti-nausea meds, and oral rehydration salts. Oral rehydration salts are helpful if you experience fever, the stomach flu, extreme hiking or other activity, or experience any type of severe dehydration when traveling.

Ear Plugs

Even if you’re not sure whether you’ll need ear plugs, it’s still a safe bet to pack them, especially since they are so small and portable. Staying in a hotel or hostel or even a campground means being around lots of people, some of whom are louder than others. Get your necessary sleep by putting in the ear plugs, regardless of how much noise is around you. It’s better to sleep a solid eight hours of rest than to wake up in the middle of the night due to someone else’s noise.

Money Belt

While traveling, don’t risk losing your essentials like money, ID, and your passport. Keep cash, credit cards, your passport, and other ID in a money belt that is designed to wear on the body. 

Money belts are a lot safer than carrying a purse or having a wallet in your pocket where anyone could easily grab it. Whether you’re in the Smoky Mountains, Paris, or hiking in the wilderness, be sure you know what to do if you lose any of these important essentials.

Emergency Contact List

Within your travel survival kit, write down all the people you would need to contact in different emergency scenarios, such as your doctor, your parents, hotel or location for where you are staying locally, house-sitters, etc. For each contact person, write their full name, phone number, and email address. Hopefully, you’ll never need the contact info, but it’s best to at least have it and keep it in your travel survival kit. If anything even happens to you, whoever is caring for you can find out who to contact, if necessary.

Phone Accessories

Having your smart phone with you is a must, just in case you’re ever in a situation that requires calling for help. Don’t run into a scenario where you find your phone is dead. Keep your phone charged and bring along at least one portable charger in your travel survival kit. Also, make sure your device has a sturdy case so that if it drops, it won’t break.

Your Skills

Especially if you’re a woman traveling alone, it’s helpful to include within your travel survival kit some essential reminders on how to travel safely and protect yourself. The biggest goal while traveling is to remain safe, getting through any mental or physical obstacles that may come up while abroad. Whether you write down some helpful tips about self-defense, add locations into your phone on where to find safety in a hostile country, or learning certain spy skills, you can jot these reminders down on paper or put them in your phone for a quick reference. By simply writing down some first aid information while backpacking, the location of the US Embassies, or emergency contact numbers for the police in the countries you are visiting, you are helping yourself immensely in the rare case that something goes wrong. 

By packing a travel survival kit, you’re preparing yourself for anything. We all know that travel doesn’t always go as planned. Yes, it does take a little effort to pack the kit, but a travel survival kit will prove to be an invaluable tool, in the off-chance your travel isn’t picture perfect. 

Happy Travels!

Julie

Disclaimer: EscapingtheMidwest.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I do make a small commission for purchases made through links, but this doesn’t affect you or your pricing.

This post was published in collaboration with other companies and may contain affiliate links.  All opinions in this blog are my own and are not affected by any advertiser or product. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs, or otherwise. Any references to third-party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice.