Ten Useless Items To Avoid Packing On Your Next Vacation, According To A Veteran Traveler

The internet is awash with packing tips. There are game-changing carry-on hacks that help squeeze in some extra space for clothing. Voluminous texts extoll the virtue of rolling vs. folding. Bloggers wax lyrical about checklists and plane pouches, while traditional media speak of fuss-free travel. Meanwhile, out in the real world, friends and family are positively pregnant with tips, tricks, and good advice.

And yet, there is an underexplored aspect of the whole process of trying to squeeze every conceivable eventuality into a space barely larger than a microwave. Indeed, over decades of travel spanning different countries, I've learned that the secret to professional-level packing is more about what not to take than sleight-of-hand tessellation.

The Pareto principle – which states that 80% of outcomes stem from 20% of effort — certainly applies here. We carry in our heads an inventory of items that find continuous use in our lives, that sweet spot where 20% of our possessions are used a full 80% of the time. When travelling, anything that falls outside of those parameters simply isn't worth bringing along. Or, to put it more succinctly. Comfortable shoes, yes, barista-grade hot chocolate whisk, no. Here, then, is a list of useless things to leave behind, and yes, there's something hyperbolic at work here. My hot chocolate whisk is a thing of unadulterated joy; it's far from useless. But do I take it away with me? No, no, I don't.

Of all the old-school travel tips designed to engineer a fool-proof getaway out there, few have more of an impact on your journey than the need to pack light. Thankfully, even a cursory look at a fully laden suitcase is going to reveal a simple truth: it's mostly about clothes. Packing hacks will only get you so far.

The basics, then. First, you should only ever take about seven days' worth of clothes, irrespective of how long the actual vacation is. The aim is to wear some items for more than one day and to launder the rest on the go. Second, weather is fickle, and you'll never be able to plan for every eventuality. 

Layers are preferable to bulky items for obvious reasons: with them, you can adapt to fluctuations in temperature. You don't need hiking boots unless you are going hiking. You won't need a tuxedo unless you expect a fancy soirée to show up on your itinerary. And no, that puffy jacket you think you look cool in isn't worth the time it will take to vacuum-pack it small enough to fit in your luggage. True, there are some bucket list adventures to check off before you die that might prove more demanding. Don't try a layered approach if you're heading out on an Antarctic camping trip, and a Singaporean rainy season adventure isn't something you can improvise your way through with a plastic poncho and a slug of derring-do. For everything in between, though, comfortable shoes, foldable tops, and enough variation to navigate the day/night cycle in style are all you really need.

There are some among us — present company included — who wake up with a different hairstyle every single morning. Those afflicted with such non-Euclidean follicles look with envy at those people for whom a fork of fingers through the mane is sufficient preparation for the rigors of the day to come. Some of us need product. Some of us need tools. Empathy abounds, but that's no reason to weigh down your backpack with unnecessary items. Packing light is all about the brutality of form.

To start with, your styling tools might not even work; there are 15 plug socket types worldwide, and although, yes, you can buy a universal adaptor, it won't be much use if the actual voltage differs from that of your home country. Getting that one wrong can cause an explosion. A more fundamental issue, however, is that such things take up way too much space. All those hair dryer attachments, crimping irons, and oversized diffusers create ripples in the space-time continuum lurking within your suitcase. If you have to sit on something to make it close, there's been a failure of communication somewhere down the line.

Take a hat, grab a scrunchie, book a room with a balcony, and sun-dry over breakfast. Or don't do any of those things; there are plenty of ways to keep your hair looking beautiful while travelling. Besides, most hotels have a hair dryer stashed away somewhere, even if one doesn't come with your room.

The concept of compact toiletry bags known as dopp kits traces its origin back to the early 20^th century. In the early 2000s, fears of terrorist attacks caused aviation authorities to clamp down on what kind of products you were allowed to bring in your carry-on. True, many of the more stringent restrictions were eventually rescinded or modified in some way; however, the practice had and still has merit.

There are, after all, a limited number of things you need to take. Hotels usually provide soap and shampoo, so you can leave them behind. Deodorant is a must, but think small: two-and-a-half-ounce sprays exist, are carry-on compliant, and can easily last a week or two of continuous use. You may need a razor, you might need some shaving gel, and by all means, bring along your ChapStick, favorite toothpaste, and hand sanitizing gel. Just leave all the bulky stuff behind. Full-figure shaving gel dispensers, towering bottles of SPF 60 sunscreen, mattress-thick packs of facial wipes? Such things are just going to slow you down.

Not even skin care regimes are exempt from the cull; take only what you need, decanting lesser amounts into more manageable airtight containers. The same goes for any hair products you simply cannot live without. There are few places left in the world where anything forgotten cannot be replaced, and fewer reasons still to try to cover every single eventuality. Stay clean, sure, but also, travel light, and live a little.

Given the full span of human years, the world we are born in will not closely resemble the one we die in. Times change, and things move on even as we slow down. There is a risk that one day we will become an aged Methuselah, shaking our fists at the sky, a real-life vampire Lestat cowering before the hideous pace of modernity. All of which, really, is just an overly dramatic way of admitting that I miss guidebooks.

There was a time when a guidebook was as fundamental to planning a trip as the airline ticket itself. Buying it ahead of schedule was essential — a feeling that they jacked up the price of books at the airport was a pervasive yet rarely verified rumor. Technicolor Post-it notes were applied to points of interest, and maps were folded and unfolded until muscle memory took over. The books were scanned, read, and then re-read on the plane until every morsel of relevant data was assimilated. Annual updates were essential: nobody wanted to visit Prague in 1998 with the 1997 guide. Those who preferred to keep a spring in their footsteps opted for the pocket-sized version. They were wild times. And they are very much a thing of the past.

If you want to know where to find Japan's most spectacular cherry blossom views, go online. If avoiding tourist cities with terrible public toilet access is high up on your list of priorities, Google it. The internet is awash with advice and up-to-date information about anywhere you could care to visit. No, guidebooks are not dead; some of us still like to flick through real paper from time to time. But when it comes to traveling light, such things are  have no place taking up precious real estate in your luggage.

A broad category, to be sure, but hear me out. If there is one item that you should never take on vacation with you, it simply has to be the travel pillow. U-shaped and yet poorly contoured, such inflatable monstrosities rarely provide the level of comfort promised in their promotional literature. The one-size-fits-all philosophy can wreak havoc on your posture, and their velvet-effect/unnecessarily fluffy padding makes them nigh impossible to scrunch down into an acceptable size. Oh, and they don't help you fall asleep. You are sitting upright on a plane; a poorly made pillow wrapped around your neck isn't going to change that fact.

Not that it's all about the pillow. Sleep masks are a good idea, but many flights will provide you with one gratis. Compression socks are a trickier proposition. They are overused, the science on their efficacy is patchy, at best, and truth be told, unless your doctor has recommended you wear them on long-haul flights, you probably don't need them. Your carry-on allowance is finite, and most flights are of limited duration anyway. Take only what you need, not what you think you need. There is a difference.

The days of the internet café have long passed us by, and while roaming charges for cell phones are often super-pricey, free Wi-Fi is relatively easy to come by. Laptops not only take up too much space, but they remain, even to this day, weighty things that are annoying to carry around. Tips for keeping your laptop safe while traveling abroad are all well and good, but the truth is that such expensive items are safer left at home. True, there are hotels I would happily leave my laptop in while I mosey around some of the friendliest cities in Europe. But, there are others where I would hesitate to leave even a bar of soap lying around for fear it would have disappeared into the ether by the time I returned. As for hotel safes, well, they are becoming increasingly common, but your laptop probably won't fit in one, and the further down market you go, the less reliable they become.

There are other issues to consider. The voltage differential is of critical importance; you don't want to short out your motherboard, trust me. There's also the question of damaging it in transit; we've all seen footage of luggage being tossed around by airport staff. A tablet is a more portable option, but I question the need for those also, unless they are being used as an e-reader. If so, you'd be better off with a dedicated device fit for that very purpose. Smaller, lighter, and cheaper, any theft or damage incurred is a diluted tragedy at best. Put succinctly, unless you make your living writing about travel or are expected to do work while on vacation, laptop and laptop-adjacent items are just one more thing best left behind.

Spoiler alert: Every country has snacks. The fear of eating new things is known as neophobia. Although it is most commonly found in children, adults also sometimes find themselves struggling with the unfamiliar. Of course, you don't have to stick a label on every idiosyncrasy you find yourself battling with. Chances are, when going on vacation, you simply worry that you'll miss a few of your favorite things. It's a natural enough concern. Just one you should probably ignore. Taking some Oreos with you in your carry-on is one thing; filling your suitcase with boxes of mac & cheese is quite another. Indeed, there are after all several snacks that flight attendants wish you would stop eating on a plane — looking at you, egg salad — and all those Ding Dongs, pretzel bites, and carefully wrapped croissants take up valuable real estate.

To make things worse, there are often restrictions on what you can and cannot take into specific countries. Attempting to enter an Australian port with an undeclared banana may net you thousands of dollars in fines. In truth, unless you have some kind of dietary restriction or happen to be heading to one of the worst countries for travelers with common food allergies, you probably don't need to take anything with you whatsoever.

If ever there was a time to bring along the fake stuff, it's while you are on vacation. There are, of course, items that people refuse to be parted with. Bracelets that never leave the wrist, wedding rings that are permanent fixtures, and the odd locket of sentimental value. Other items skew a little more in the direction of self-indulgent. Those diamond earrings that look great with that dress. The sovereign ring that once belonged to your grandfather. The blingiest of bling that you usually hold back for special occasions. On vacation, such things are surplus to requirements.

For once, it's not about space. Sure, there's no excuse for an enormous jewelry box stashed away in the depths of your suitcase, but even smaller items can be a real nuisance. You should always use single-trip travel insurance when you go away, but few of us ever take the time to read every single term and condition. Most policies will place a cap on the value of jewelry, so any very expensive items that get lost on the beach or go missing from your hotel room may be difficult to replace. As for items of sentimental significance, well, once they are gone, they are gone.

As with laptops, there are certain times when you may need to bring some professional-level equipment with you. Wedding photographers and photojournalists are more than welcome to skip over this section. For everyone else, it might be wise to leave your beloved camera set up behind.

It is, perhaps, a happy fact that many of today's smartphones can produce images that rival the quality of all but the very best DSLR cameras out there. True, you can find more versatility in the traditional point-and-shoot camera setup, but that truth comes with a caveat: For a truly versatile ensemble, you'll have to bring a selection of lenses. Bulky, heavy, ruinously expensive, and oh-so-tempting to would-be thieves, such items are more like treasured heirlooms than practical possessions.

There's also a time contingent to consider. That unexpected trip that has you taking the best travel photos of your life is all well and good, but switching lenses and adjusting the aperture is a time-consuming affair. The risk of only ever seeing your vacation through the eyes of a lens is a real one. It is far better to point a phone at the object in question, take the shot, and walk on by.

Pro tip incoming: take some shoes with you. A 100% barefoot vacation is nearly impossible to pull off. The issue here is that any attempt to cover every potential footwear scenario is doomed from the very start. The first question you should ask yourself is where you are going and what you will be doing. You don't need to consult a list of the best hiking boots of the year if you're planning a city break in Vienna. Yes, you'll be tramping around the city's old town plaza sampling some of the world's finest confectionery, but no, you don't need specialist gear for that. So, comfortable walking shoes, check.

What about dressier shoes? Well, you may not need them at all, but if you simply cannot be parted from your favorite pair, make sure they're something neutral that goes with the clothes you are bringing with you. There is an argument that the shoes you walked onto the plane wearing are all that you should need, but there's no shame in a backup ensemble, and few people would begrudge someone a pair of sandals earmarked specifically for the beach. Just ensure that any items of auxiliary footwear you do bring are kept to the absolute minimum.

The over-ear headphone market has exploded in recent years as manufacturers tempt potential customers with flashy new features and ever-higher fidelity of sound. For many, they are status symbols in and of themselves. For others — looking at you audiophiles — it's all about the details: the active noise cancellation, the richness of the bass notes, the faithfulness of the reproduction of sound. And sure, for some, it's really just all about comfort.

Still, when travelling abroad, it might be a better idea to downgrade to some earbuds instead. Over-ear headphones suffer from many of the same drawbacks as other items on this list. First, they take up too much space — these things come in a case for a reason — and second, they are expensive. Headphone theft is a thing; thieves know the brands and recognize a high-end item when they see one. As with phone theft, the snatch and grab routine has been honed to perfection, and the thieves will be gone before you even realize your music just cut out.

There is, perhaps, a safety issue at play here also. Many earbuds have pass-through tech built in and can be worn without cutting you off from the ambient sounds of the surrounding area. Even when navigating the safest destinations for female solo travelers, over-the-ear headphones may make you feel less secure.

I've been traveling the world since I was 16 years old, and, while technology has changed, the basic rules of packing remain the same. The list comes from my own personal packing philosophy, which, stated simply, is all about traveling light, avoiding vacation-ruining loss or theft, and only ever taking what I truly need.