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Packing for long term travel can be intimidating! Sure, there are stores pretty much everywhere where you can buy most essentials… But sometimes there are things that it just makes sense to bring from home so that you are always at the ready. In 4 years of full time travel, I’ve found a few items that come with me no matter where I go or how long I’m on the road for. These backpacking travel essentials make my life easier and my trip more enjoyable. Some things just aren’t worth worrying about when you’re trying to have the best vacation possible!

Read on to snoop inside our backpacks and see 20 things we consider to be necessary in our carry-on only travel life!

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Backpacking Travel Essentials: The Travel Packing List You’d Never Think Of

1. A Rechargeable Battery Pack

This has saved my life (well, battery, but they’re pretty much the same thing) COUNTLESS times! There’s nothing worse than a long travel day or a busy day of playing tourist in a new city and seeing that dreaded ‘low battery’ message pop up before your day is ready to be over! Between using my phone as a camera and searching for directions with GPS on, your battery can die quicker than you want it to. Throw this pocket-sized charger in your bag for those days you need a little boost to make it home.

This compact Anker battery pack charges my Samsung Galazy S8 3 times per charge and always tops my list of backpacking travel essentials!

2. A Sarong or Scarf…. or 3 😉

Talk about versatile!! Sarongs are another constant on my backpacking travel essentials list. A sarong can work as a blanket, towel, scarf, top, dress, beach cover-up, even a window covering or beach mat! Plus, they’re usually super cheap so you don’t mind if they get pretty heavy use.

You can order online from a ton of different sites, or usually find them for pretty cheap during your travels. They are actually one of my favourite souvenirs to find now!

Check out youtube for ways to wear them, there are SO many options. The more I wear them, the more creative I get!

TIP: These clips can help make tying your sarong a bit easier, and they add a bit of style

3. Disposable Face Cleaning Wipes

Nothing feels better after a long day of travel than jumping in a hot shower and washing off all the grime from the day. Unfortunately, this luxury isn’t always easy to make happen while on the road! These face cloths are the perfect add-on to my packing list. Whether in an airport between flights or hitting the town after a salt-infused beach day, the ability to pull one of these out and give my face a refreshing wipe has saved me more then a few times. And the small pack size means it doesn’t take up much of your precious space OR weight allowance.

4. First Aid Kit

A first aid kit is a backpacking travel essential without question, regardless of your travel plans. You never know when something might come up that needs treating- from blisters to stomach troubles… when you’re in a new place the last thing you want to do is have to run to a pharmacy to search for something to help!

Our first aid kit is pretty comprehensive, if I do say so myself! We carry band-aids, gauze & tape, antibacterial ointment, Afterbite, Immodium, Pepto, cough and cold pills, lozenges, Advil, Robax, and electrolyte tabs. Everything fits into a small 6″ x 4″ x 2″ pouch, which is important for carry on-only travel!

You can buy a pre-made first aid kit, but I prefer to build my own. I find the pre-made ones don’t include many of the things I consider to be necessary. This case is a good size to fit everything I want to, but small enough to not take up too much space in our packs.

5. A Neck Pillow

A neck pillow is one of the top backpacking travel essentials, no matter how you choose to travel. It has come in handy SO many times in our travels! A good neck pillow makes plane and bus travel much more comfortable and can double as a head pillow when we have to spend a long layover in the airport.

The hunt for a good neck pillow led me to the Cabeau Evolution Memory Foam Pillow. I actually saw someone on a flight with one and had to ask the name! It rolls up into a ball about twice the size of my fist, so fits perfectly in our packs when we’re not using them. This alone is a major selling point! (It’s also super comfortable, which is obviously important.) We’ve used these everywhere, and won’t travel without them now.

6. Hand Sanitizer or a Small Bottle of Liquid Soap

I’m actually not much of a believer in the regular use of hand sanitizer, so this was unusual for me to get used to. But fact is, when you’re travelling through new countries and cities, sometimes water to wash your hands with is a bit harder to find than you may be used to. And even when you do find running water, often there’s no soap to accompany it! So carrying a small bottle of sanitizer or liquid soap will make sure you are able to wash when you need to!

7. A Water Bottle with a Carabiner Clip

Carrying a water bottle has become a requirement for us especially on travel days and when exploring around the hot climate of Mexico! Contigo has the top spot as our favourite brand, in part because of how convenient the built in carabiner clip is. This offers the ability to clip it onto our packs for hands-free carry through an airport, which I’m sure you know is invaluable!

Lifestraw is a new favourite of mine for travel to Mexico. Each removeable filter is good for filtering 260 gallons of water, and because it’s removable I can use it for filtered water anytime too. Only drawback here is the the filter can’t dry out (unless you are prepared to let it re-hydrate for 24 hours before use), so I have to remember to keep the bottle filled pretty regularly.

8. A Buff

If you haven’t learned this already, versatility and multi-use items are pretty much the name of the game with backpacking and budget travel. A buff fits perfectly into this requirement, so it quickly made its way onto my backpacking travel essentials packing list. It can be used as an eye mask, headband, hair tie, sweat band around your neck, a belt, face/neck mask in the cold, and even protection from the sun, since it offers UV protection! My main use is as a combination eye mask and headphone holder while I’m sleeping. In Mexico the dogs bark pretty constantly, and I’ve learned that a rain app with headphones is the best way for me to cover the noise. The buff is the easiest way to keep the headphones in, without hurting my ears.

The one I have is a ‘full buff‘, but you can also pick up a half size if the full is too much material for you.

9. Packing Cubes

If there’s one hugely underrated and under appreciated travel necessity, packing cubes are IT!! When I started using these a few years ago while packing for our backpack-only travel lifestyle, I was immediately hooked. Not only do they offer general organization for your clothes but they also just make packing SO much easier! Most offer a small amount of compression so your items pack smaller, and being ‘cubes’ everything fits in better- like tetris!

We use 2 different sets:

• My set by Bagail has various sizes so we could decide who’s clothes fit better in what. We roll our clothes and some of the bigger cubes are nicer for larger items like pants and long sleeve shirts. The biggest one was actually too big though, so it isn’t even getting used.
• This set by Amazon basics are long and narrow and fit perfectly in between the larger cubes of the previous set. This size is prefect for socks & under wear, t-shirts and tank tops, and other smaller items. I often use one of these to carry odds and ends like meds, travel games and sunglasses. I will say though that they are starting to fall apart, so I will be switching to this set by Travel Fashion Girl for my next trip.

10. A Compression Bag

We grew up in Alberta, Canada, and most our family still lives there so we often go back to visit. As many of you have surely experienced, when you leave a cold climate for a hot one you end up having to drag around your hoodies and long pants, even though you only needed them for your flight! We’ve learned to minimize the thickness of our flying clothes but we’re still faced with carrying them around in our packs.. and they still take up way more room than we’d like!

The solution for this was to find a good compression sack. This style of bag was rated highly and proved to be the perfect size for our sweaters and pants. Now we still had the weight of the clothes but they take up much less space, which was the ultimate goal.

Having recently switched to a smaller pack we’ve had to readdress our use of compression sacks. I ordered these ones because of good reviews, and they’re now a staple on my packing list. They fit our packs better than the larger ones, but don’t offer quite as much compression. Despite this they’re actually perfect for our needs.

11. Ziploc Bags

Ziploc bags are a surprising but necessary backpacking travel essential, without question. Most people don’t think about this when planning to travel, but they actually come in so handy! I bring a handful each of sandwich and large freezer bags. They take up hardly any space, but are helpful for SO many things. From open snacks to wet clothes, the uses are endless. I actually used these to organize our luggage before discovering packing cubes. So in a pinch, they’re a great option!

12. Carabiner clips

We keep s-clips on our packs to attach our water bottles or extra bags so we can free up our hands on long walks & travel days. They’re also helpful to attach the various key sets we get in each home to a lanyard. Nite Ize has a cool elastric strap attached to a couple clips that has been awesome for attaching jackets and hats to the outside of our packs, and can double as a clothes line, too. Our packs always have a couple regular carabiner clips just hanging out, because you’ll never know when you might need one.

Beauty hack: I use a regular carabiner to keep my hair elastics together in my bag.

13. A Pillow Case

This is a backpacking travel essential that doesn’t get used too often, but it’s so small that I need to bring it anyways. Every now and then we rent a place that doesn’t supply pillowcases, or worse yet- doesn’t supply pillows! In that instance I can use the case to fill with clothes to make my own pillow. It is also helpful as a laundry bag.

14. Cheapie Flip Flops

We’ve all stepped into a shower that had us questioning the last time it was cleaned… Since we started travelling that seems to happen more than ever! The best way I’ve found to combat that is to just bring cheapie flip flops with me everywhere. They’re super small to pack, but have saved my feet dozens of times, so definitely qualify as a backpacking travel essential. And added bonus… I now have ‘indoor shoes’ everywhere I go! I’m a big fan of wearing shoes indoors (despite my Canadian upbringing) but after a long day of walking I’m tired of my good sandals, and these are the perfect solution.

15. An External Hard drive

Whether it be for backing up photos (do that often, trust me!!), storing our movies and TV shows, or holding onto Seth’s video games, we pull this out almost daily. We each have one of these WD 2TB harddrives. They are slim and light, so take up next to no room in our bags. And the accompanying bag keeps it safe from being thrown around. Since we upgraded to each have a hard drive, we’ve switched to using a case that holds both at once so they stay together while we move around.

16. Microfiber Towel

When living out of a backpack, carrying a towel is a bit of a space-hog. But on the flip side, many places we rent don’t provide towels! So these microfiber towels are a travel essential for us. They come with a little carrying pouch, too. On hiking days the little ones are perfect for putting around your neck to help cool down.

Special shout out to this microfiber hair towel… My mom gave it to me for Christmas one year, and it’s now absolutely one of my backpacking travel essentials!

17. Lush Shampoo Bar

One of the hardest things about carry-on-only travel is trying to figure out how to fit enough shampoo and conditioner into those little 100mL bottles to last your whole trip. Which is where these babies come in…

Lush cosmetics have created a solid shampoo bar that lasts around 80 washes, so you no longer have to face this battle! They also have conditioner bars. Not all bars are created equal though, so if you find you don’t like one, don’t hesitate to try another. Lush will even exchange your purchase if you find you don’t like it after your first couple uses! When you find the perfect match for your hair you will be so happy to have these in your bathroom kit!

There are MANY other options of shampoo bars, so if you don’t have a Lush nearby, try something else and let me know if you find a great one!

TIP: Talk to an associate at the store about your hair type so they can help you pick the best bar for your hair type.

Note, the conditioner has a bit of a learning curve to get used to. It also needs fairly warm water to soften enough to condition your hair and then rinse out, so isn’t awesome when we travel to Mexico.

18. A Travel Wallet

This wallet is essential for cross-border adventures. It’s the perfect home for our passports, birth certificates, insurance forms and any other important documents. I also keep a pen for filling out customs forms and a few dollars in any relevant currency so we always have a bit of money in airports. I also keep an extra debit card in here, just in case something happens. It has RFID technology which means it protects your cards from any potential copying, which is super comforting when travelling!

19. Earplugs

Earplugs are definite life-savers. Well, sleep-savers, I suppose. In Mexico there are dogs barking everywhere and at all hours which can make sleep hard to find sometimes. I always carry a few pairs of these for those particularly noisy neighbourhoods. Thankfully there haven’t been too many yet!

Ear plugs are also helpful when flying, travelling on a night bus and sleeping in airports. We’ve spent a few nights in airports and having earplugs helps dull the background noise enough to get a bit of sleep!

As an alternative, I’ve started using earbuds with my cell phone to play rain sounds while I sleep. With my bed and surroundings changing fairly regularly this is one way to keep some things feeling consistent.

Considering how little space they take up, earplugs/ear buds make the backpacking travel essentials list without question.

20. A Good Backpack

As per the name, this one technically sits at the top of the list of backpacking travel essentials, though I know not everyone wants to travel with a backpack. If you’re not a backpack traveller you can easily opt for a wheeled suitcase or duffel bag instead.

Nevertheless, we haven’t regretted the choice to switch from luggage to packs, and highly recommend it for anyone considering longer-term travel. Backpacks are easier to move around areas with bumpy sidewalks, lots of stairs and through public transit.

After making the decision to move to backpacks and to try to live a carry-on-only lifestyle, I did a TON of research on brands, styles and sizes. Osprey brand came up top of the list in so many areas. Not the least of which is their lifetime warranty that they say covers EVERYTHING. Since this pack was literally going to be a home on our backs for the next few years (at least), that warranty was no doubt going to come in handy.

I found our packs during ‘boxing week’ in Canada, for only $130 cad each. So the choice seemed to be made for me! We went with a 66L Kyte for me, and a 68L Kestrel for Seth (the men’s version of the same pack). I investigated before buying, and the measurements of the frame will fit carry on requirements with most North American and Asian airlines- as long as it’s not stuffed full.

Recently I’ve decided to try out a smaller pack because 66L has started to feel REALLY big. I picked up a 40L pack by Hynes that opens up like a suitcase and it has proved to be a great choice. The sides aren’t sturdy so it can be annoying to pack at first, but once I get a couple cubes in it sits better. Overall the minor annoyance is worth the increased comfort when flying and walking around. I chose this one because it was a cheaper alternative to the much-talked-about Ebags Mother lode series

You’re Welcome (and I’m sorry) for making your life easier, adding to your packing list AND increasing your Amazon shopping cart!

Do you have any must-pack items? Share them with me in the comments!

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