10 Things Experienced Travelers Know NOT To Pack (Never Take #9!)

travel has changed a lot over the past couple years and a lot of the stuff that you packed 5 years ago probably doesn't make sense to pack today there are better ways to do things now the first is the traditional travel pillow which usually just ends up getting in the way long flights will often give you a free pillow to use anyway although there's no guarantee that this will be a clean pillow my go-to is a trusty packable rain jacket I usually wear it in the airport to save space and weight in my bag and then I just bundle it up together if I want to use use it as a pillow in the plane or you can be like my genius wife and have a zipper sewn into her old neck pillow where she can now stuff in tons of extra stuff if you like Diane's Ingenuity and want to see more of her crafty Colombian travel tips hit the Subscribe button also if sewing isn't your thing I'll link to a pillow that you can buy that was designed specifically for this purpose moving on to number two towels think about the accommodation that you plan to stay in do you think they'll have towels for most places the answer is yes so there's no point in lugging around your own but for hosts the answer is often no in hosts it can also be nice to have a big quick dry microfiber towel to hang from your bunk for privacy but many hosts have privacy curtains nowadays and since we rarely travel in hosts anymore I usually just travel with a really small microfiber towel next up it's no longer necessary to bring stacks of cash or use those money exchangers in many countries you can just get get by with credit cards most of the time ideally you only want to use credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees and I'll link to the ones that I personally use down below but even if credit cards are widely accepted it's still smart to have a little bit of the local currency on hand but in other countries the opposite is true here you're only going to be paying with cash because credit cards aren't really a thing so make sure to do your research beforehand the best way to get the local currency is to withdraw from an ATM ideally outside of the airport with a no fee card Americans are pretty spoiled here because they can get a free Charles Schwab checking account which reimburses you for all ATM fees worldwide if you're not from the US you can look into revolute y or bank accounts in your country that are part of a worldwide ATM Network all that said I still recommend traveling with a little bit of emergency USD or Euros hidden in your luggage because you never know when you're going to need it on my very first backpacking trip when I was young and naive I rented a motorcycle and left my passport as collateral I scratched the mirror a little bit and they demanded $100 to fix it I didn't have $100 cash on me my debit card wasn't working in the ATM for some reason and if I didn't leave soon I was going to miss my Ferry which would then make me miss my flight all the way home from tand right before completely panicking I remembered that I had $200 cash stashed away hidden in my backpack without it I would have been totally screwed another reason to travel with a hidden stash of USD is that in some countries you can actually get a better deal by paying with US Dollars than paying with the local currency next up SIM cards no longer necessary after using travel eims for the past couple years these tiny little chips feel like ancient relics you can now virtually add an eim to your phone before leaving for your trip and have international data working on your phone as soon as you arrive I've been using eim companies like Olaf the sponsor of this video to stay connected in nine different countries including way out in the Sahara Desert olly offers data planes in 170 plus destinations but what sets them apart from other eim companies is that they offer unlimited data PL in over 122 of those destinations that makes it perfect for heavy data users or anyone who likes to do a bunch of video calls or binge YouTube or social media you no longer have to worry about connecting to your hotel's Wi-Fi which let's be honest probably sucks and best of all you don't have to constantly monitor your data usage or worry about running out of data while you're out exploring to get a discount on your eim you can use the link in the description with discount code project untethered next it's usually no longer necessary to bring printed boarding passes or tickets most Airlines nowadays have apps where you can download your digital boarding pass or they'll send it to you in email I say most here because some Airlines have yet to make it into the 21st century and budget Airlines like to sneak in extra charges for anyone who doesn't print out their boarding pass ahead of time so make sure to read the airlines instructions and emails to know if you need an old school hard copy one tip that I learned from the portable professional YouTube channel which is Awesome by the way is that in some airports they have separate lines for people who have digital and physical boarding passes so one advantage to printing it out is that you could choose either line and maybe save some time but boarding passes are just one common travel item that's been digitized and I'll cover another big one in a second next is the tech trap it's easy to go overboard with adapters charging cables headphones and other junk that you probably won't end up using on my very first backpacking trip I got super pumped at all the cool GoPro shots that I want to take I didn't know exactly what I would use a head mount a chest mount a wrist Mount and other sticky mounts for but I just thought I'd regret it if I ended up in a really cool situation and didn't have the accessory to use to record it so I bought a giant bag of accessories and carried around with me in my backpack for a year 90% of them I never use and even when I did have one opportunity to use them I forgot that I even had them in my backpack also I know the world isn't perfect but in a perfect world you'd have all devices that charge with USBC cables that way you'd only need one type of cable and one power block to charge everything we still have haven't made it to this point because I'm not going to throw away perfectly good Electronics just so I can charge with only one cable but I am conscious of this whenever I buy new products in the meantime I use this cable which has different connection types built into it next we got the good old travel guide romantic yes but practical no digital guide books blogs YouTube and other social media should have you covered when planning your travels just be careful about planning your entire trip based on viral Instagram posts and YouTube videos trust me it won't be a Hidden Gem when you get there it's much more fun and adventurous to ask locals for those secret spots once you arrive unless you're a serious photographer don't pack that clunky DSLR camera if you have a relatively new smartphone you'll be just fine I'm a travel YouTuber that makes videos for a living and I don't even have a big fancy camera and if you're The Adventurous type you can also get some epic shots with a GoPro or or insta 360 which barely take up any space or weight all these options will help you blend in better because you won't have that heavy tourist Beacon hanging around your neck all day next are your big bottles of sunscreen shampoo and other liquids TSA is not a fan and neither is your bag's weight limits that sounds like Chad GTP for short trips you can just use small carry-on friendly containers to store all your liquids and for longer trips just buy what you need when you arrive in your destination to bypass liquid restrictions you can also try solid toiletries like bar shampoo sunscreen sticks and solid perfume the next thing that a lot of experienced Travelers are skipping is a little bit controversial and that is checked luggage but hear me out though because the minimalist carryon only life is liberating no lost luggage no Carousel wedding and no check luggage fees for the long-term slow traveling Nomads I get the appeal of a big checked luggage but for many other types of trips less is really more comment carryon or check bags below and let's see who wins not all experienced Travelers are a bunch of crazy Minimus though there are some items that they definitely do pack including some small easy to forget items that can make your trip 10 times more comfortable watch this video next for a complete list of long flight Essentials that you do not want to forget to pack and comment below if you disagree with any of these no pack items or have anything to add all right guys bye-bye

Channel: Project Untethered

Views: 13,802

Keywords: minimal packing, packing list, how to pack, travel tips, packing tips, what not to pack, travel hacks, travel essentials, packing mistakes, top travel products, how to pack a suitcase, how to pack a carry on, how to pack like a pro, tsa security, first time traveling, packing secrets, how not to pack, travel mistakes, easy packing tips for travel, easy packing mistakes, how to travel, bad travel products, first time traveler tips, packing tips 2024, minimalism

Id: 6pVIwZ97IMA

Length: 8min 31sec (511 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2024