12 Travel Essentials You’ve Got To Have When Travelling Solo

7 min readJul 30, 2018

Before you start reading our blog, we would want you to read our blog regarding the key tips to keep in mind while packing for a solo trip — Taking A Solo Trip? 10 Tips And Things To Keep In Mind While Packing Your Bags

One of the most important things to keep in mind while packing up for your solo trip is to travel light with bare minimum travel essentials in your luggage. It’s high time you download travel apps before you even start backpacking as you will definitely need them. They’ll guide you with almost everything from safety to eateries — everybody needs help with transport, accommodation, routes and what not, surviving without essential travel apps would be equal to putting yourself in a tough situation. Always keep a bunch of knick-knacks handy like a Swiss knife, needle-thread, pepper spray, an additional purse to keep your cash hidden, and a pack of tissues for starters. Apart from that, we have curated just the list you need for travel essentials when going for a solo trip:

1. The Right Backpack

The foremost item a solo traveller needs to have is a compact and multi-utility backpack with multiple hidden pockets so that you can always carry all your packed travel stuff wherever you go without much worry of anything getting stolen — (22L/ 32L/ 38L/ 40L or whichever one that would be able to fit in all the stuff you need). Preferably it should be strong, lightweight with a lot of pockets so you don’t have to dig in for every small thing.

2. Reusable Water tumbler/bottle

One advice you’ll always get before leaving for your trip is: Stay hydrated! If you want to avoid the hassle of looking for places to buy the water bottle from, then just keep a reusable one which you can also strap on your backpack. Lightweight, leak-proof, filtered water bottle would be a great option. The filter in your bottle is necessary as it removes harmful bacteria like E. Coli, Giardia and Cryptosporidium oocysts and many other waterborne contaminants.

3. Finance

Carry enough cash when you’re traveling solo. You can’t rely on your cards since there’re places where you might not find an ATM easily and cards might not be acceptable at all local shops. Managing your finance becomes a very important part when you’re travelling safe so be calculative and responsible with your money.

4. A Multi-Purpose Knife

A basic Swiss Army Pocket Knife comes with a set of a knife, can opener, corkscrew, scissors, screwdriver, bottle opener and nail filer. Clearly, such a knife has multiple uses, one of the most important ones being opening up a wine bottle or a can of beer. Other than that your safety also comes first who knows when you might need it for self defence too.

5. First-Aid Kit

It becomes all the more necessary to carry basic medical supplies when you’re traveling solo because you don’t have anyone to look out for the nearest medical store when you get injured or sick. So either get a ready-made first-aid kit which comes with all the possible essentials or make yourself one at home. One should carry crocin in case of fever, an anticeptic cream for bruises and wounds, avomine works mostly when it comes to curing travel sickness.

6. Universal Adaptors

You can’t afford to run out of your phone battery when you are traveling alone. Even if you have a charger, you might not find the correct power socket and that’s why you need to carry an adaptor which would fit any socket in the world. This is another thing for which people usually rely upon the hotel staff wherever there are going to stay but you should never take chances with the charging essentials of your gadgets. Some hotels may provide you with an adapter or a universal socket but you are not going to be lucky enough in every trip so do pack a universal adapter to not run off batteries of your essential gadgets.

7. Multi-purpose shoes

You must have a comfortable pair of sports shoes so that even if you make an impromptu plan of trekking or hiking, you are sorted with that pair itself. You neither have to worry about keeping multiple footwear or canceling that trek plan. We recommend waterproof durable sneakers which will support your long walks around the city or your impromptu trek plans as well.

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8. Food Supplies

You should never rely on street vendors for food essentials while travelling, there can be times that there will be nothing on the way to provide you with food, so you should essentially keep extra food supplies like chips, biscuits, glucose and other small food items. Keep these food supplies in an easily accessible pocket on your backpack as these items should be easily accessible when hungry. We recommend — Carry a couple of chocolate bars, small packet of chips, easy to make noodles or oats and maybe protein chocolate bars as well for energy.

9. AirTight Water Proof Bags

AirTight Water Proof Bags for storing food items, laundry, or anything for that matter to protect them from getting ruined by the weather or surroundings. This also helps keep things organized and easy to access and store. You can get a LOKSAK waterproof, reusable, sealable storage bags for best utility. Weather conditions change and can be equally disturbing for you. Keep airtight bags to keep your belongings unaffected by rain or dust. Unpredictable weather can ruin your backpack in that case keeping a rain cover also sorts the issue. You’ve got to keep your personal documents, gadgets, phone and essential belongings safe to save them from unpredictable leaks or weather changes.

10. Emergency Contact Information Card

Safety always comes first be it surviving dangerous situations, dealing with theft cases or being in any kind of trouble. So always keep two to three copies of emergency information card will all your important details filled so in case of any emergency — someone can easily help you out by contacting the right people and make the best use of it. Carry one in your backpack and keep one inside any of your clothing pockets — easily accessible one.

11. Padlock

You might end up staying in hostels or in the worst of situations you might end up sharing accommodations — it’s important to take care of your belongings so keep a padlock to keep your stuff safe. Keep your suitcase or backpack locked when not in use as theft rate is high in hostels and shared accommodations.

12. Copy Of Your Personal Documents

Keep your personal documents intact as you can’t afford to lose them anyway. Keeping their copies is a wise decision you can make. Secure them in a small folder and keep it inside your backpack maybe in a zipper. Keep the copies handy as you might need them while taking an accommodation or during security checks while travelling.

FAQ

Q: Which are the best places in India for Women Solo Travellers?

A: Kasol, Pondicherry, Udaipur, Mysore

Q: Which are the most essentials travel apps within India?

A: Uber And Ola — For Transport, Google Maps — Routes