Never leave it at home!

[Simon]

Ok, you´ll read thousands of packing list and many are right and give good advice.
But my grain of sand is this: ALWAYS pack at least 3 meter of strong but thin and light rope.
I always wash my own clothes in the sink and there is never a line to hang them! Also useful to tie things to you backpack.

[Robert]

Simon, The funny thing is, I have never brought any cord with me anywhere..

Although now that I think of it my room usually looks like a laundry mat. hmm...

I always have a couple of climbing clips with me to clip my bags together and/or to what ever table I am sitting at.

[Greg]

While on the subject of laundry, I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I had a guy write in with a cool tip.

He washes his clothes in a plastic garbage bag. I am always using my sink stopper, but then it takes several cycles and
rinses in a small sink to get everything. He just fills the bag with water and soap, throws everything in, and kind of swishes
it around.

Simple, but ingenious.

[Anna]

While on the subject of laundry, I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I had a guy write in with a cool tip.

He washes his clothes in a plastic garbage bag. I am always using my sink stopper, but then it takes several cycles and
rinses in a small sink to get everything. He just fills the bag with water and soap, throws everything in, and kind of swishes
it around.

Simple, but ingenious.

I really like that idea. When I was in Europe, I tried the whole sink stopper thing and my clothes never turned out quite right. I'll give it a try

[IndieTravel]

Most of my stuff smells too much that kind of treatment  It's hard hand-scrub or burn.

[jodi44]

I always bring Baby Wipes, delicates mesh zipper bags (just a mesh zippered bag usually used for delicate washing, I use them for everything), kharma solid shampoo from www.lush.com, and get a www.skype.com account!!

Baby wipes if a shower is not around any corner for the next few days or weeks:) Or use it on anything that is travel funktafied.

Delicates mesh zipper bags are awesome to keep all things separate in your pack, easy to throw in a wash, hang, etc... You can buy packs of them cheap at dollar stores. I always end up giving mine away to travelers in need - after seeing them digging in their pack for something at the bottom with everything spilling out.

The solid shampoo idea is awesome.  I keep it in a tin and use it for shampoo and soap.  It lasts forever, never leaks and gives me good Kharma. haha

Skype it's free and you can chat or talk to anyone in the world if you find a headset and a computer.  I use it to stay in touch with my worldwide friends.

A few things always on hand when I travel, next to my passport.

[Greg]

Skype rocks!

I've got an article here that talks about calling home while traveling by using Skype:
http://www.startbackpacking.com/1-calling_home_while_traveling.html

Use my link when you fund your Skype account, I get like .50 cents or something....just enough for a bowl of fried rice somewhere.

[Applette]

Skype does rock!... Make sure you log out properly and be careful not to end up saving your skype account password on the PC you're using. Despite all my precautions, I ended up having my account hacked in Egypt last October. Which was a real pain in the b**t.

I did manage to get my username back and password reset after contacting Skype when I returned to home. Surprisingly, whoever "borrowed" my account only used a few Euro worth of credit.

jodi44: I also use dollar store mesh bags. They're cheap and come in a variety of sizes with zip or drawstring closures. Baby wipes are also in my kit bag. I've used them for all sorts of things, including wiping camel doo-doo off my shoes.

One little piece of packing gear that I wouldn't be without is a small plastic container to store electronic bits such as batteries, chargers, cables, etc. I use a small one with tabs on the lid which fold down and snap shut, also bought at a dollar store.

[narfette]

bungee cords. you never know when you'll need them.

[Greg]

Skype does rock!... Make sure you log out properly and be careful not to end up saving your skype account password on the PC you're using. Despite all my precautions, I ended up having my account hacked in Egypt last October. Which was a real pain in the b**t.

Haha, funny, I lost my account in Egypt as well!

Which is actually a good idea for an article. When I was in Thailand, I saw in 2 different internet cafes where the icon on the desktop for Internet Explorer actually started up a small script first, then launched the browser. I used to be a computer nerd security guy so I knew exactly what it was, it was a keylogger to grab passwords from your accounts.  Ever since then, I pay more attention now and I also change all my passwords to things that I will be logging into (email, credit card, bank, etc) to something temporary before I leave home, and change them pretty often. Anyone can pretty much go into a low budget internet cafe and install something like this to grab traveler's passwords and account numbers....if the cafe owners themselves don't do it first!

- G

[Applette]

ha!...well, funny you should mention the keylogger thing....I suspect my skype "thief" was the owner of the internet cafe that I went to in Siwa...

After having my account hacked, I wasn't too keen on using my credit card online to buy more skype out credits while in Egypt.  Next time I travel, I'm going to set up 2 skype accounts with some skype out credits, just in case.

[IndieTravel]

My never leave at home item has to be my camera and microphone. My camera's waterproof, so it stands up to most of the treatment I put it through.

My microphone has become a great companion -- it's made podcasting so much easier and it's fun to revisit those aural memories too.

[Vhan]

Earplugs!

And I have to second the rope, its amazeing what you can do with a little bit of rope in a bind!

[Greg]

Yes....earplugs will save your sanity when sharing dorm rooms in hostels for sure!

I think if I had to add one more piece of travel gear to the list it would be my silk "sleep sheet". It compresses into about the size of a fist, and is pretty much like a very thin sleeping bag. You climb down inside to protect yourself from all the nasties on dodgey guesthouse mattresses.....God knows how many times it kept me from getting bed bugs, fleas, or feeding the mozzies. Not to mention unidentified love stains on mattresses.

In places like Egypt where you pay $3 a night, you can almost bet money that your linens won't be so fresh....sleep sheet to the rescue.

If you have the budget (I think its worth the investment) you can order them from http://www.jagbags.co.nz/ and they are tough. I would really recommend getting the double. Jagbags is a really cool company as well.  I met people that sewed their own out of cotton, and its better than nothing, but its way heavier and some bugs can still bite you through the wider meshed fibers.