5 Multipurpose Items for Your Summer Travel Bag
Summer is fast approaching and while you’re looking for cheap flights and paying for checked-baggage rates also a good chunk of change, it is especially important to save where you can. Luckily, summer is the perfect travel season for packing light. Tees and shorts take up little space, but somehow people still end up over-packing. To help you pack less and still take everything you need, consider investing in some great multipurpose pieces that will save you room and, in the long run, money.
Essential Carry-On Items for Any Flight
Sarong - It may be a beach staple to you, but you can use it for so many other things: a picnic blanket, a make-shift towel, a head wrap, a skirt, a top and much more. Carry this in your bag and use it to cover up your shoulders when entering temples and wearing a tank top.
Packable jacket – Summer showers happen, and can be unexpected. Don’t let a surprising downpour ruin your day. A packable rain jacket is the perfect companion to a travel bag. It won’t hinder you while hiking or shopping like an umbrella would. It keeps your hands free, packs down super small and also can double as a layer if you meet with some chilly weather or air conditioning.
iPad or tablet – If you don’t need a laptop for doing work, but still like to watch videos, read books and magazines and check email, then a tablet should be on your list of must-have travel items. It lets you eliminate so many items from your bag, as you can surf the Internet, buy train tickets, make dining reservations, Skype with your friends and family, listen to your favorite music and get directions to wherever you are going next. You don’t even have to shell out all that much money for a tablet, as there are many that are more affordable than the coveted iPad, like the Kindle Fire.
What To Do About iPads and Tablets When Going Through Security
Tinted moisturizer – Get your morning routine done just a bit faster by taking the foundation, moisturizer and probably SPF for your face out of your 3-1-1 bag and replacing it with this amazing product. It gives you light coverage for a natural summer look, while also keeping the sun from making your face look like a beet after a day outside.
Traveler-Approved Products for Your 3-1-1 Bag
Reusable grocery tote – One of those fancy totes that packs into its own pocket is a great addition to your travel bag. You can find one in your favorite color or pattern and use it for laundry, groceries, a beach bag or all those souvenirs you find on your days out sightseeing. You never know when it will come in handy. You may even find it holding all your extra items on your plane ride home that you don?t want to pay to check!
With these items in your carry-on, you can still have room for your extra pair of flip flops, some cool shades and all the yummy snacks you want to bring along. Congrats. Your packing list just got a little less complicated!
About the Author
Shereen Rayle is author of the blog Shereen Travels Cheap and two budget travel books, including Secrets to Summer Savings. For years she has been planning her own vacations using the Internet to extend her limited budget as far as possible and shares the tips and tricks she has learned, along with useful sites like FareCompare.com, to help others get the most out of their travel dollars. And to further inspire budget travelers everywhere, she finds terrific travel bargains and posts them each day on her Facebook page.
