Bottles of liquid soaps (shampoos, Conditioner, Body wash): Lush has great (and slightly pricey) options for shampoo, Conditioner and body wash bars now, on top of the fact that many places (a few hostels included) give shampoo/conditioner/body wash to the people staying with them.

When travelling off the beaten path I make a point of buying from Lush as they are so super eco-friendly, the products are fresh (take for example the woman who had sports growing in her shower!)

Dry Shampoo: I take showers way more often than I ever realized and since I usually end up swimming and wearing hats basically every day in warm climates, the dry shampoo takes up space in my bag and ends up making it round trip usually only being used once, which in a 3-month trip is not worth it

Bug Spray: Yes, bug spray, even though I am the person the bugs love to go after, I don’t really travel with bug spray anymore. Why, you ask as you start to scratch yourself, because most of the time local guides, friends or even other travellers are willing to share with you. Another reason is that most bug sprays only work regionally and don’t necessarily work the same way at Australian beaches (damn sand Mites! (don’t worry, I don’t swim with any products on!))  the same way they do in the mountains around Tremblant.

A suitcase: Ok, hear me out on this one. As someone who moves around a lot when they travel, and who travels very minimally with a “take only what you can carry” mentality, of course, I wouldn’t travel with a suitcase. Only 3 of the hostels I’ve ever stayed in had elevators, and they were all part of the “Nomads” chain (brand? Still not clear on the way that worked) in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown. The rest all had staircases and I cannot imagine dragging a suitcase up 7 flights of stairs and down a hallway to get to my shared room. If you’re travelling long-term or even just a few weeks, I would recommend switching your suitcase for a backpack.

An external hard drive: I grew up being told to save stuff often, and I usually brought an external hard drive with me, until my trip to Australia where JUST after I got home it crashed and cannot be recovered. Almost all my photos, most of my videos, including my great barrier reef dive, gone. The company, Western Digital has been terrible and refuses to help at all. From now on, I’ll pay for WIFI and buy google drive storage, or Dropbox storage or another storage online.

Clothes: Ok, let me make this clear, I’m not walking around nude, by ‘clothing’ I mean clothing I’m not willing to lose, get rid of, or otherwise wreck. Most of the clothing I end up travelling with long term ends up in shreds by the time I get home. I also don’t over pack so that I’m weighed down by clothing I can’t or won’t wear because of weather or I don’t have enough time for multiple wardrobe changes each day.