Seven Small Things That Make Hand Luggage Work

I travel with hand luggage only, which turns packing into a small engineering problem. Before a conference called TBEX – my first was in Costa Brava – and a separate trip to Romania, I knew I would be moving constantly and would need to stay reachable. A phone that gave up by lunchtime would have been a genuine problem, so I planned ahead and bought a few things. By the end of the trip I was glad I had.

These are the items that earned their place, roughly in the order I reach for them. The shopping links are left out; what follows is what worked, and why.

What went in the bag

A power bank that charges two devices

My smartphone's battery was already weak. I did not want to be stranded without a way to reach anyone, so I bought a power bank after surveying the local market and finding mostly expensive options. The one I ordered could charge two devices at once, once it had been filled overnight. It was the difference between a phone that died in the afternoon and one that kept going: I was using it for quick notes, photographs, maps and looking things up, and the battery often began to fade by early evening. Charging on the move meant I never had to hunt for a plug point in a café.

A phone case that holds a card

For a long time I wanted a flip case with room for a card or two. My bag is a mess of small things, and digging out a wallet to pay for something was a daily irritation. I bought one when I first visited Barcelona a few years ago and kept a single debit card in it while the rest stayed in my wallet. That decision saved a trip. My wallet was stolen on the metro, and the spare card paid for the rest of the journey – including the next ticket.

TripIt for the paperwork

Bookings and plans were piling up, and I wanted addresses and timings in one place while moving between cities. I tried TripIt, having won access to the TripRider app in a giveaway as well. TripIt won because it pulled flight details and booking confirmations straight from my email. I used the free version; TripIt Pro adds better services and continuous updates on flights and delays. For me the appeal was a single account holding everything, and a printout of the whole itinerary with directions to each stay and every confirmed tour, meeting or plan. The app carries the same details, but I wanted paper as a backup.

A roaming sim card

I usually rely on free wifi. My normal phone plan charges an unbelievable 19 CHF per MB while roaming, at least the last time I checked. This trip was different: I was using Couchsurfing, AirBnB, a hostel and a hotel for accommodation, and I expected to call people. I wanted maps on demand, updates on my plans, email and the ability to post.

MTX Connect solved it. The sim is delivered free, provides internet while roaming in more than 25 European countries (with coverage expanding), and offers several plans that you recharge online: 1 GB for 30 days, unlimited data for 24 hours if you plan to work, 100 MB for 24 hours for maps and email, or pay-as-you-go. Each time you change country you select a local provider in your settings. Setup confused me briefly in Spain, but their support team answered by email almost immediately (over wifi, naturally). The credit stays valid for a year, so money left after a recharge can go towards a package on the next trip. It kept me in touch with hosts, let me look up maps and emergency numbers, and helped me block cards when disaster struck.

Since 2015 I have used MTX on most short trips in Europe, including one in Portugal. For heavier use, a wifi hotspot such as My Webspot gives 5 GB of data a day. That works best in a group, or when you need constant access. I used one in the Czech Republic and was glad of it on three-hour train journeys. I also wrote about travelling with a wifi hotspot in Paris.

Packing cubes

These make a real difference. With cubes I feel organised and seem to fit more into a cabin bag. If you have never tried them, they are a cheap experiment with an obvious payoff: you stop unpacking the whole bag to find one shirt.

An e-reader

For anyone who reads a lot but cannot spare the weight of thick books in hand luggage, a Kindle or similar is sensible. I am not a great fan of e-books, and I still travel with paper, but the logic is hard to argue with when every kilogram counts.

A safer way to carry valuables

A friend had a waterproof wallet from Jack Wolfskin that struck me as useful for camping or travelling in the monsoon. Whatever you carry, watch your wallet and passport. Split the important things between two places, and consider a pouch worn under your shirt. There is a useful round-up of anti-theft bags if you are buying new kit.

What I learned from the list

Nothing dramatic. The useful accessories are the boring ones: power, payment, paperwork and a way to reach people. Everything else is a preference. A cabin bag forces that discipline, because there is no room for the items you merely like the idea of carrying.

None of these items is expensive or clever. The pattern is that each removes a small recurring annoyance: a dying battery, a wallet buried at the bottom of a bag, a booking confirmation lost in an inbox, a data plan that punishes you for checking a map. Remove enough of those and a trip feels calmer, which is most of what useful means in this context.

If you are buying for a first trip, borrow before you buy. Most travellers own a power bank, a packing cube or two and an old e-reader, and a friend's spare is a cheap way to find out whether the habit suits you before you spend anything.

The habit started earlier than this trip. A first visit to Costa Brava taught me to pack light before I owned any of the kit above, and the lesson has held on every trip since.

Leave a comment telling me about your Europe travel plans.