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4 cheap-but-indispensable things to pack in your “go-bag”

Chris McGinnis, CNN, bag

A dry cleaner bag is the cheapest thing I pack in my go-bag! What else is in there? (Image: CNN)

As a travel writer and all around travel geek, it’s important for me to be able do drop everything, pack and take off on a trip across the country or around the world on a moment’s notice.

For that reason, I always have my bags partially packed and ready to go. With only a few last-minute additions, I can be out the door in about five minutes with enough stuff to keep me comfortable, connected and looking sharp for a few days or a whole week.

What do I keep in my go-bag? Let’s take a look:

First off, let’s talk about my bag (or bags). I typically travel with two, a briefcase, which serves as my office on the go, and my carry on spinner, which contains everything else.

luggage, bag, Briggs & Riley

My go-bag on the gorgeous wooden floors at Copenhagen airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Both my briefcase and roller bag come from Briggs & Riley. Over the years, I’ve found that this luggage brand makes a product that can stand up to the rigors of the road and comes at a decent price point (mine costs about $300). It’s not cheap, but I’ve found that you almost always “get what you pay for” when it comes to luggage. A broken bag can definitely slow down a fast-paced trip.

When I walk out the door, I stack my briefcase on top of my B&R Transcend Widebody carryon, and I’m off. Those four wheels make navigating the airport or the airplane aisle (turn it sideways!) a cinch. Perhaps the best thing about Briggs & Riley is its no-nonsense lifetime guarantee: If your bag breaks, they will repair it for free, no questions asked.

apple charger

A 12W charger is faster! So buy one for your Anytime bag! (Image: Apple)

Did you know that your iPad charger can charge your iPhone about two times faster than the one that comes with your phone? That’s because the iPad charger is 12W  vs the 5W charger that comes with your iPhone. (Details here.)

Since iPhone and iPad chargers are the one thing I most frequently leave behind, I have recently decided to keep one 12W charger in my bag for travel and another 12W charger at home. That way I’m never without a charge. And I don’t beat myself up in the car on the way to the airport when I forget it, and then have to borrow or spend a fortune on a new one at my destination. With two, I know I’ll always get a good charge!

So just buy an Apple 12W USB Power Adapter ($15) online now, pack it in your go-bag and leave your other one at home or in your office. (Another tip: Your phone charges even faster when you put it in Airplane Mode.)

The cheapest thing in my go-bag is one of those clear plastic covers you get from the dry cleaners (see photo at top). Since I’m a frequent business traveler, I need to arrive for meetings sans wrinkles. When I first started traveling for work, my boss taught me to “hang, wrap and roll.” This means leaving your pressed clothing on hangers, wrapping them in the dry cleaner bag, and then rolling them up to pack in your suitcase.

Somehow, the plastic wrap prevents clothing from bunching up, which is what causes wrinkles, so when you get to your destination, just pull them out, give ’em a shake, and voila! No wrinkles! The cleaner bag also serves as the perfect receptacle for dirty clothes or soiled shoes for the trip home. See this tip come to life in this CNN segment (fast forward to about :36 seconds).

A Bucky contoured eye mask is a key part of my go-bag (Image: Bucky)

Getting a good night’s sleep on the plane or at the hotel is essential to a successful trip. I’m a light sleeper and have tried nearly every potion, drug, contraption or device out there, and have come to rely to two primary items that ensure good rest: A Bucky or Dream Essentials eye mask and Mack’s silicone earplugs.

The cheap eye masks provided by most airlines are uncomfortable, don’t keep all the light out, and leave marks on my face and temples. So every year I invest in new Bucky Contoured Blockout Shades ($13 on Amazon), which block out all light, have thick adjustable bands that don’t leave marks, are contoured so they don’t smush your eyeballs, and offer big velvety cushioning that is soft and cozy on my face. Plus, they are washable. I also like this cushy contoured mask from Dream Essentials.

Mack's Ear Plugs

Mack’s moldable putty plugs cover the ear canal (Image: Mack’s)

Thankfully, a swimmer friend turned me on to Mack’s earplugs. They are designed to keep water out of swimmers’ ears, but they also do a masterful job of keeping out unwanted noise! Those cheap expandable foam plugs that you stick into your ear canal can hurt, plus they do a minimal job of keeping out the noise on a plane…or a snoring bed partner.

Macks Pillow Soft Silicone Earplugs are disks of moldable silicone that cover the opening to your ear canal– and they block out nearly all noise. Ever since I switched to Mack’s, I’ve never slept better on planes, hotels or in any noisy environment. And they are cheap- just $7 on Amazon. (Warning: You might sleep through an alarm clock with these on!)

And based on the current brouhaha surrounding which states have Real ID compliant licenses, and which don’t, I now simply store my passport in my go-bag.

What would you or do you keep in YOUR go-bag? Please leave your suggestions below. 


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Comments

  2. I love Briggs and Riley. I had an issue with their hard sided luggage and ended up with a new piece of luggage when it was damaged beyond repair.

    Living in the Bay Area, you can even drive over to Half Moon Bay and drop off your bag directly with their repair shop.

  5. My cheap-but-indispensible item is … shoe bags! 🙂 I used to use those plastic wrappers that our newspapers come in, but they’re not really big enough for bulkier items like hiking shoes. So I invested 50 cents in a bunch of “real” shoe bags that I found at thrift stores — they’re the spiffy, silky ones that high-end shoes come packed in. They’re easily washable (just turn them inside-out, since the inside will be the dirtier part), and weigh next to nothing.

    Another thing I don’t leave home without is a supply of Airborne tablets — they saved my butt on our most recent trip, when I came down with a hideous cold two days before we left for Italy 🙁 I was downing those things all day long, washed down with hot green tea, honey and lemon … and by the time I got on the plane, I was feeling “normal” again. But I kept taking them for a few more days, just in case, and the cold never returned.

  7. I always carry purple foam Flents earplugs (NRR33) on flights. They’re very comfortable and I can’t hear a thing.

  8. So I’ve found that I carry one of the Anker multi-port chargers instead of the single iPhone/iPad one.. They do the quick charging, and can be used for multiple devices… and, in this day and age, I find myself carrying more and more devices. Personal iPhone, Work iPhone, personal iPad, Work Android tablet, noise cancelling headset, etc… all of which require USB to charge… So I have one of those little Tumi amenity bags (thanks Delta One!) with the Anker charger and 6 cables (usually 4 lightning and 2 Micro-USB)… I also carry a bottle of Ibuprofen, a couple of packs of gum, some spare pens, a small flashlight, a couple of “ChicoBag” reusable bags… and all of this is in my backpack when traveling… my B&R carryon is a completely different case… 🙂 And I’m with everyone else — My 3 B&R bags (started out with the carryon, bought the matching duffel, then bought the wife the 4-wheel big roller bag) have all been to repair multiple times and have always come back really quickly!

  9. This one is for the ladies:
    When my make-up & beauty products are about 80% used up, I buy a new one for home and put the old one in my travel bag. I also have duplicates of makeup and hair brushes, disposable razor, eyebrow tweezers, moisturizer, roll-on deodorant, etc. I only get travel sized of large items like hair spray and toothpaste. I also keep a stash of QTips in a baggie. A small magnifier mirror is in my bag of tricks too so I can apply make-up near a window, instead of in the bathroom.

    The other must have for me are make-up remover wipes. They come in a handy pouches of 15 or so sheets.

    Finally, I don’t like to walk around my room in bare feet, so I keep a pair of flip-flops in my suitcase.

    It’s nice to have everything in my bag at all times so I’m covered beauty-wise no matter how much of a rush I’m in

    FINALLY, I got TSA Precheck about a year ago. Worth every single penny. Period.

  10. Briggs and Riley only. I actually have two. My primary and a secondary. I’ve gotten to where I repair my own bag now. The repair shop in ATL has a owner (or manager I don’t know which she is) who is a pain. I’ve actually reported her to B&R. I call B&R, send them a photo of the part and they ship it to me. I mainly go through the feet. I use my feet like wheels and the slide well. I’m not hip on the wheelies as they seem to drag and wobble when I’m sprinting through the airport. Als don’t know how many times I’ve seen a runaway bag zipping away.

  11. Spare set of contacts and a travel sized flashlight (suprisingly I seem to use it at least once a year).

  12. Check out the video in the post and you can kinda see how I do it. It’s about :36 seconds in. I can usually do a sportcoat, 2-3 shirts and 2 slacks. It’s a quick process. I lay the plastic wrapped and hung clothes on the bed, roll in the outer edges and then roll up from the bottom about three times. The hanger fits longways in the bag. Hope that helps! Works like a charm for me.

  13. Great idea with the dollar bills for tipping. I have even heard if you are touring in a foreign country and in a pinch have only American Dollar bills on you, tour guides love those American Dollars as tips! (I also really appreciate your “Comment Policy” ). Very nice. Happy Travelling!

  14. Mr. McGinnis-Thank you yet again for the great tips on packing, ear plugs, getting through security. These are fantastic, amazing tips that I have never seen anywhere else. I will be traveling to Copenhagen in January and I have printed out this newsletter to take with me! Happy Travelling!

  15. Hi Chris,
    With respect to your tip on rolling up clothing in the plastic covers to prevent creasing, can you post a video/picture of how you roll up a dress shirt and a suit jacket while still on a hangar and place it in your suitcase? I find the hangar takes up considerable room in a carry on suitcase and both the jacket and shirts are wider than the width of the carry on, so I’m curious how you solved both problems and how many shirts and suit jackets (if any) and slacks you manage to squeeze in typically. Trust me, this isn’t obvious. I’ve taken to getting several of my shirts returned boxed from the cleaners so that they are already folded over a cardboard (like when they were new) and I can just place them in my suitcase without any folding.
    I also carry a complete set of adapters with me, an extension cord and small 3-way powercube, and 2 other important items – a vent clip to hold my phone in a car rental and a cigarette lighter socket to USB adapter.

  16. B&R rocks. I still use a suitcase I bought in 1998. Their repair policy in the best in the industry. We have an authorized repair shop in Atlanta, they agree on the repair guarantee. I had a piece that they couldn’t repair. They sent to Half Moon Bay. I got a call a few weeks later saying it was not repairable. They were so apologetic and seemed genuinely upset. I was then offered a coupon for half the purchase price or a salesman’s demo bag. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Briggs and Reilly

  17. In addition to most of Dan’s list above – some additional things in my briefcase:
    — chapstick [ before its too late in Denver or Arizona ]
    — sudafed [ go ahead and try to bring that cold home ]
    — spare cuff links [ how DID that shirt get in the bag… ]
    — spare earbuds for your phone
    — floss and plastic tooth picks
    — one day spare of all medicines AND
    — one or two week pill box for all meds [ rollaway at hotel – no help ]
    — spare personal credit card

    Concur about the Passport. It will get you out of a jam if you forget your wallet – or your wallet is stolen. Store the spare credit card with the ID – completely separate. Keep your wallet in your front pocket, and keep the Passport/Card Spare – in your briefcase or rollaway.

    The spare credit card – is for those times when your card becomes invalid or is lost. It can take two days for a rush replacement – longer if you are overseas. My second card has saved me numerous times.

  20. Been living out of a B&R Intl Rollaway during the week for 15 years. Two things I learned – just keep a second Dopp Kit, and use the Hotel dry cleaning bags for dirty laundry (yes, you have to roll to keep everything compact).

    When I get home – the dirty bag goes direct to the Landry, which lets me know what counts of things I need to repack for the following week – which I do on the spot. 10 minutes and done. No sorting, repacking the wrong amounts, leaving things at home etc. You’re ready to go.

    I’ll second that Briggs & Riley repairs everything. They do. In 20 years of travel with B&R gear, we have some seven or eight repairs. Two are “daily use” bags. I had one suiter (+mm) which was replaced after 10 years of hard travel. One was stolen…

    If you look at B/R bags closely – they are designed to come apart and for nearly all parts to be replaced, even the liners. I recently replaced a full size backpack, which was my daily travel partner for nearly 15years – but I did it to get features in the new bag. It was repaired three times – even the ballistic nylon can wear through – they replaced one of the shoulder straps which had stretched +4 inches. I gave the old one to my daughter for school…

    FWIW, I use the same duplication strategy for everything which goes in my briefcase. If there is a dongle I need for my Mac or iPad on my desk – it stays on my desk. Same for the workstation at my office. Yes, this means I have three of most things – it also means I have the least amount of stuff in my bag, and I don’t get any “I left it at…” surprises…

  21. I always take / have packed:
    -Small roll of tums
    -Extra medications/vitamins (I keep an extra amounts always packed so I won’t worry I’ll forget)
    -Extra long phone charging cord.
    -Phone charging battery (I hate the extra weight but this has saved my butt a few times).
    -Stand alone GPS (Not for everyone but I travel to extremely remote places where cell signals are questionable. With downloadable Google maps this one is going away soon).
    -My passport, even on domestic trips.
    -Ear plugs and white noise app
    -Advil
    -Small amount of cash stashed in my briefcase. A spare $20 bill can do wonders in an emergency

    My favorite bag is a 2 wheel, skateboard wheel style. These are MUCH better in snow, gravel, cobblestones, etc.

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