What’s in my toiletries bag?

Whether one travels for a quick weekend getaway or for a multi-month jaunt around the world, one indispensable part of every traveler’s luggage is his collection of toiletries.  Like shoes, this is another portion of the travel ensemble that can get quickly out of hand if you’re not careful and you start packing a whole bunch of extra stuff that you don’t really need and likely won’t use.

Here’s my own toiletries bag that I take on all my travels:

This guy measures 8 inches across, 4 inches tall, and 3 inches deep.  I got this bag as a gift about 15 or so years ago, so I’m not even sure this company exists anymore.  No matter; the brand of bag isn’t really important.  Just get something small-ish, like this one.

Here are the contents:

We’ve got:

• Toothbrush
• Travel toothpaste (my favorite is Arm & Hammer)
• Floss
• Deodorant stick
• Plastic container of hair gel (Style Sexy Hair Hard Up Gel.  This is great stuff.  You don’t need much, and it doesn’t flake at all like the cheap stuff.)
• Nail clippers
• Small travel sewing kit
• Shout wipe.  Comes in handy for unexpected mustard accidents.
• Packet of travel Woolite (this is in addition to the bottled Woolite I bring)
• Disposable razor
• Chapstick
• Ear plugs.  Cause sometimes the walls aren’t that thick.
• Bottle of pills (ibuprofen for aches, benadryl for insomnia, and antibiotics if I’m going to a developing country)

I also travel with a Panasonic electric razor.  I charge it fully before traveling and do not take the charging cord.  I’ve found that a full charge lasts me a little over 2 weeks when I shave my ‘stache area daily and my beard area every 3 days.  I don’t like facial hair, so not shaving isn’t a good option.

Toiletries I don’t travel with:

• Soap.  Every hotel, even the cheapo ones, have soap.
• Shampoo.  See Soap explanation above.
• Body wash.  I hate body wash.  Just gimme a bar of soap.
• Comb/brush.  I have short hair, so I wet it down, throw a little gel on there, look in the mirror, give myself double finger guns with a click, and I’m off.
• Mouthwash.  If my breath gets stank, I either brush my teeth or eat one of those Listerine breath strips.
• Aftershave
• Cologne.  Cause it’s not middle school anymore.

If you’re a lady lite traveler, you’re going to likely need some more toiletries than the average guy, so here’s a link to a recent guest post written by my better half with a list of her travel items, including her toiletries gameplan.

One other very important item not shown in the photo above:  a travel sized packet of tissues.  I wrote a post not long ago explaining in great detail why one should always have some tissues handy.

Pretty simple right?  Since almost every hotel nowadays provides the basic items to keep oneself clean, it’s a piece of cake to travel without hauling around too many toiletries with you.  Easy as pie.