The travel abroad packing list: what to actually bring (from someone who has packed wrong in 40 countries)

I once packed a full-size bottle of conditioner for a 10-day trip to Vietnam because I “wasn’t sure what they’d have there.”

Vietnam, a country of 97 million people with a thriving beauty industry, a 7-Eleven on every block in Ho Chi Minh City, and conditioner in literally every hotel bathroom I stayed in. I lugged that conditioner through five cities in 35-degree heat. It exploded on my laptop. We don’t need to talk about what happened to the laptop.

The packing list I’m giving you now is the one I’ve spent years getting to. Not the aspirational one I write at the start of a trip (including three notebooks and a silk scarf “just in case”). The real one. The one that survives.

The baseline rule for international packing

Pack for the hardest part of the trip, not the average.

If you’re going somewhere with warm weather but one cold-weather excursion (Sapa from Hanoi, for example, or the Atlas Mountains from Marrakech), pack for that. Not two jumpers for it. One layering system that handles the temperature drop. Same logic applies to formality: if your whole trip is casual except one dinner that requires something not-shorts, pack one thing that’s not shorts. Not a capsule wardrobe. One thing.

The goal is a bag you can carry through a long travel day, possibly up five flights of stairs, possibly in the rain, without hating yourself or your choices.

Documents and digital essentials

Before you pack a single piece of clothing, sort this.

Physical copies of your passport (carry one, leave one at home with someone who can scan and email it to you if needed). Printed copies of your first accommodation address in the local script, because immigration sometimes wants to see it and you will not have wifi to look it up. Your travel insurance documents, specifically the emergency line number, because the moment you need it is the moment you can’t think clearly.

Download offline maps for every city on your itinerary before you leave. Google Maps offline, or Maps.me for destinations where Google Maps is thin. This matters more than most people realize until they land somewhere and discover the airport wifi is either broken or requires a phone number from a local SIM to log in.

Speaking of which: your international connectivity plan sorted before you board. I’ve made the mistake of landing without data in countries where the airport SIM counter has a two-hour queue and the cab rank is in a completely different terminal and you have no idea which one. Get an eSIM or local SIM sorted in advance. For most of the countries I travel to, I use eSIMply because activation works before you land, which means you step off the plane with working maps and a working way to call someone if the plan changes. The countries where this mattered most: Japan (transit complexity), India (airport navigation without it is genuinely difficult), and Morocco (where you really don’t want to be dependent on strangers for directions from minute one).

Clothing: the actual international list

The neutral core

3-4 t-shirts or lightweight tops (dark colors travel better, neutrals mix better)
2 pairs of pants or shorts appropriate to the climate (and the cultural context: leggings that work in Europe are not appropriate everywhere in Southeast Asia or the Middle East)
1 pair of pants that are also acceptable for a slightly nicer dinner (chinos, linen trousers, something not elastic-waisted)
1 lightweight layer: a packable down jacket for cold destinations, a linen shirt or thin long-sleeve for warm ones (sun protection and modesty coverage multi-tool)
1 rain layer: a packable rain jacket that compresses to nothing, not an umbrella, which requires an extra hand and breaks in wind
5-6 pairs of underwear (merino wool if you’re serious about travel; wicks, dries overnight, doesn’t smell)
3-4 pairs of socks; 1 pair of compression socks if you’re flying anything over 6 hours
1 swimsuit if there’s any chance of swimming, hot springs, or a beach

Shoes (the most contentious item)

Maximum 2 pairs. Usually: one pair of comfortable walking shoes you’ve broken in before the trip (NEW SHOES ARE NOT A TRAVEL ABROAD ITEM. I cannot stress this enough. I have met countless people with blistered feet in their brand-new boots in the first week of a trip. Break them in first.), and one pair of sandals or flip-flops that work for everything casual and also for hostel showers.

If the trip genuinely requires a third pair, something has gone wrong in the planning.

The modesty layer (if applicable)

Japan, much of Southeast Asia, India, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Iran all have sites, situations, or entire regions where knees and shoulders should be covered, and some where women need a headscarf. A lightweight scarf that lives in your daypack handles most of this. It takes up no space. It saves you from being turned away at the door of somewhere you really wanted to see.

Toiletries: the abbreviated version

The working rule: decant into small containers, or buy on arrival.

Most countries sell the basics. Exceptions worth noting: Japan’s drugstore (called a kusuriya, look for the pharmacy signs) is extraordinary and cheap and carries things you didn’t know you needed. India’s pharmacies are excellent and extremely inexpensive, but bring your stomach prep from home (probiotics, something for upset stomach, rehydration salts) because adjusting takes time and being sick without your kit is worse. Australia has some products that don’t exist elsewhere but mostly you can buy everything there.

The things worth bringing from home regardless:

Any prescription medication, with the original prescription label and ideally a doctor’s letter for controlled substances (particularly important entering Japan, which has strict medication import rules, and Singapore and UAE, which have serious consequences for carrying certain items without documentation)
Sunscreen if you need a specific formula (European sunscreen is better formulated than Australian and American for most skin types; Asian sunscreen is excellent, especially for oilier skin types; American sunscreen is the worst of the group but fine in a pinch)
Preferred period products if traveling to countries with limited options (tampons are hard to find in rural Japan, parts of Southeast Asia, and much of Africa)
Any skincare you’re particular about (a lot of Southeast Asian products contain skin-lightening agents that people don’t expect; worth reading labels if this matters to you)

Electronics: the international specifics

Universal power adapter. Not a collection of country-specific plugs. One universal adapter that handles the G socket (UK/Hong Kong/Australia/Singapore), the A socket (US/Japan/Thailand), the C and F sockets (Europe/most of Asia and South America), and the I socket (Australia, New Zealand, Argentina). You can get one device on a single adapter. That’s fine. Bring a small multi-plug USB charger and plug it into the adapter. One socket runs everything.

Voltage matters. Most modern electronics are dual-voltage (your charger will say 100-240V on it, check before plugging in). Hair tools are the exception. Many hairdryers and straighteners are not dual-voltage. Plugging them in without a voltage converter in a country with 220V when they’re designed for 110V doesn’t work out well. Check the label before assuming.

Power bank. Days of navigating with your phone GPS active will drain the battery faster than you expect. 10,000mAh handles a full phone charge and then some. Get one that charges via USB-C if your phone is USB-C.

Laptop/tablet. Travel with a sleeve, not the original box, and put it in your daypack during check-in, not in checked luggage. Checked luggage sees forces your laptop was not designed to survive.

The daypack: what goes in it every day

Most international trips involve a checked bag (or carry-on) PLUS a daypack for the day’s activities. The daypack is its own packing exercise.

What lives in mine permanently: phone + charger, headphones, a small water bottle (collapsible saves space), snacks (because hunger combined with a logistical problem is how bad decisions happen), rehydration salts, paracetamol and something for upset stomach, a printed or offline copy of the day’s plan, the aforementioned modesty scarf, sunscreen, and at least some emergency cash in local currency.

The emergency cash point: I keep the equivalent of about 50 USD in local currency separated from my main wallet. A sock, inside a shoe in the bag, is a time-tested hiding spot that no opportunistic thief has ever searched. Not large amounts. Just enough to get me to an ATM or through an emergency if my main wallet goes missing.

The things people always overpack

The full first-aid kit that’s the size of a small suitcase (carry a blister kit, paracetamol, rehydration salts, and your personal medications; the full kit is available at pharmacies everywhere and you probably won’t need it). Multiple formal outfits (if you need more than one, the trip’s agenda hasn’t been thought through clearly). Every electronic device you own (pick the ones you’ll use daily; leave the rest). A travel pillow that clips to the outside of your bag (it’s enormous for one flight, and the plane has pillows).

The things people never remember to pack

A small lock for hostel lockers and bag zips. Earplugs, even if you’re not a light sleeper (neighbors, streets, roosters, 4am calls to prayer). A pen, for customs forms, because the plane always runs out of them and the person who has one feels briefly very powerful. A small reusable bag that folds flat (for groceries, souvenirs, beach stuff, and the days when you acquire more than you left with).

And water sterilization: for countries where tap water isn’t safe and you want to be able to fill up rather than buying plastic bottles constantly, a SteriPen or purification tablets weigh almost nothing and can be used everywhere.

The carry-on vs checked decision

If the trip is under two weeks, you can almost certainly do carry-on only.

The advantages of carry-on only for international travel are significant: no baggage fees on budget airlines (which add up across a month of travel), no 40 minutes at baggage claim, no risk of checked luggage going to a different country than you did. I’ve done six-week trips on carry-on. It requires discipline and access to laundry, but both are easier than the alternative.

If the trip is longer or involves multiple very different climates or genuinely formal events, check a bag. Just know that every item in it is an item you have to carry at some point, and pack accordingly.

The packing list above fits in a 40L carry-on backpack. That’s my benchmark. If it doesn’t fit, something comes out.

The final check

Before you zip the bag: passport with at least six months of validity (many countries won’t let you in otherwise), visa sorted if required, first accommodation address accessible offline, medications in carry-on not checked luggage, phone charged, offline maps downloaded, and data plan activated.

Everything else you can probably buy when you get there.

Even conditioner.