There’s little I need in my hand luggage these days apart from hand sanitiser, wipes and noise cancelling headphones, but whether I’m flying to Corsica or California, here’s what’s always in my suitcase.

I’ve rarely been on a trip that doesn’t see me coming back with a bottle of wine. Many years ago during a trip to Hong Kong, the exchange rate was so ridiculously good and the range of wine available was even better. I brought back so many bottles of wine that my luggage burst from being overpacked – my packing efforts are much more streamlined these days.

A WineSkin is a reusable bag perfectly shaped like a wine bottle. It has an inner lining of bubble wrap and a velcro-style seal to minimise leakage in case the bottle breaks. A pack of two is about $29 and available on Amazon. 

Dry skin, cuts, bites, cracked lips, burns, rashes – it’s my version of Gus Portokalos’ ‘put some Windex on it’. Buy it here.

Phones are so much more these days, especially when travelling. It’s my camera, navigation system, travel guide, planner, proof of Covid vaccination and brag board. My portable charger is the real MVP for getting me from A to B and capturing every moment.

Think me straightly-180, but I always print out some 300 pages of my product disclosure statement (PDS) from my insurer and keep it in my luggage along with a copy of my passport and travel insurance details. Yes, I know I can download a digital version of my PDS, but I have this printed version with my disaster hat on assuming I have no Internet and lost my phone. Besides I think in times of crises a printed version is much easier to refer to.

I actually carry two of these bags. One as my day bag and another extra large version in my suitcase. Inspired by origami, Le Pliage has been travelling the world for nearly 30 years now and every bag can be folded down to a miniature version of itself. I keep the extra large version in my suitcase as a backup for any fragile purchases that can’t go in my suitcase or in case I overshop – it happens.

It’s reliable, durable, elegant and better yet, I can chuck the entire bag in the wash when I get home, leather and all.

Not all hotels have beach towels and if I’m staying in serviced accommodation, a Turkish towel is much more convenient than lugging around a beach towel. They are deceptively absorbent and dry in no time, making them super convenient when you spend a whole day out and about.

I like that it’s light and small enough to go in my handbag and double up as a picnic rug, skirt or shaul if I’m visiting a religious site that needs me to cover up.

Having a couple of Ziploc bags in my luggage are handy for separating basically anything: jewellery, cables, leftover snacks, makeup, liquids for flying. You can clean and reuse them throughout your journey as needed. The possibilities are endless.

It's about $3.30 for a pack of 15, which works out to be around 22c a bag. You'd be hard pressed to find a frequent flier who doesn't have a few of these in their suitcase.

Having a kid means we spend a lot more downtime in our accommodation and Peppa Pig sometimes comes to the rescue. Instead of using a phone, an HDMI cable means I can boot up Netflix and stream Peppa on the big screen. Then when my kid goes to bed, it means we aren’t stuck watching local tv in a foreign language.

You can take the girl out of Australia, but not Australia out of the girl. I always chuck in my humble Havaianas for when I need to quickly run out but can’t be bothered with real shoes, hitting the breakfast buffet, going to the beach and questionable showers.

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