13 Essential Items for India, and 5 We Wish We Had

A couple of months ago we wrote a post about items that were essential here in India.  Now, after 3 months in India and one in Sri Lanka, we have found other items that are needed to pack for  traveling through India.  You can see the other items that we list in our post Travel Gear Did We Need it All? and we have found a few more items that we really needed, others that we feel so passionately about that we want to reiterate them again and other items thatt we really wish we brought.

We hope that this helps you to bring a few essential items when you are making your packing list for India.

Dry Gear Bag – We bought an ultra light weight dry bag and didn’t regret packing this item at all.  It has been great to bring cameras and electronics to the beach. If you are doing any type of water sport, the dry bag is a must for your electronics.  For Holi , India’s water festival and other festivals it is good as well. When people are throwing water, you can rest assured that your camera is safe.

-

-

Soloman Bags – These extra day packs have been essential. We carry them on the front of us when traveling and they hold our computers.  They don’t look like computers bags, so nobody suspects that we have expensive electronics on our chests.  They are lightweight and can be packed to the fullest. They are perfect for treks and day packs.  They can be used on multiday trips instead of carrying your entire pack with you and are durable.

-

-

Mesh Bag all Purpose Sack Odd choice to put on our packing list you say? This has been essential.  The mesh lets our clothes breathe.  We use our mesh bag as a laundry bag and surprisingly the clothes don’t smell up our packs.  It has been excellent to cart our clothes to and from the laundry shop or front desk. No more trying to find a plastic bag to big enough to put them in and the laundry shop doesn’t have to put our clothes in something to return them to us. It’s good for the environment.

-

-

Petzl E97 Tikka Plus 2 Headlamp
- This has been used almost every day that we have been in India.  Lighting is dim in many guest houses, roads and beaches are dark at night. A head lamp keeps your hands free to go about your business.  This is a must item for any packing list when traveling, not only india.

Howard Leight MAX1 Earplugs Uncorded – India is a loud country.  We talked about this in our post 10 things that will keep you up at night in India. While we are used to the noise now and can sleep through anything, these earplugs came in Handy for the first couple of months and you should never travel without them. They are great for buses, trains, planes and India! Always pack earplugs for any travel. They are a necessity.

-

Neoprene Laptop Case Case Logic 15″ MacBook Pro® Laptop Sleeve – These cases have put our minds at ease when it comes to our computers.  they protect them from the environment.  when it is hot and humid, we know that our computers will not sweat.  They are padded, so our computers can be knocked around in our bags and they are lightweight and thin. They don’t take up much space in our day packs and nobody can even notice that we are carrying around to computers on our fronts.  We don’t need a computer bag, we just pack them in our daypack protected in their neoprene case and go on with our day.

-

-

Iphone.  We never would have thought that we would use our iphone so much. In India and Sri Lanka talk time and data time is reasonable. When we can’t get to the internet, we can get on the internet to check email and comments.  Update our facebook status and send the odd tweet.  While the iphone hasn’t taken the place of the internet yet, it may become more of a tool in the near future.  We have loved calling ahead to hotels for room bookings and arranging transportation as well.  Texting home has helped us stay connected with family and we love the games for passing time on the train.  Love our iphone and will probably travel with two next time. This has definitely been an essential item for travel through India.

-

Cocoon Silk TravelSheet

While we aren’t complete budget travelers, we still aren’t luxury traveler either.  Sometimes we stay in some pretty nasty accommodation and we are thankful for our silk liners.  It seems like they have a difficult time getting sheets clean in India.  We ask them to change sheets and they come back with stained white sheets to replace the old white sheets.  So, we hop into our silk liners and sleep a bit easier knowing that there is something between us and the bed.  They are also perfect for the trains and buses.

-

Pacsafe PacSafe 55

While a lock would do just fine, the pacsafe really sets our mind at ease.  On the train we can sleep soundly and not worry about someone slashing our bags and silently making off with its contents.  We can leave our room and not worry about someone breaking in and easily walking away with our stuff.  We lock up our computers, passports and other important items in a bag, lock them to the bed and off we go.

-

-
121-Piece Road Trip First Aid Kit

Cipro and rehydration salts/Cough and cold medication, we have used it all.  You must pack a good first aid kit for travel. You will need to take care of yourself a lot and having essential items on hand can make your life a lot easier.  Go to a travel doctor, see what you need for the part of the world you are traveling to and have the proper medication on hand. Chances are pretty good that you will use them.  We seem to go into our first aid kit a lot even if it is for something as simple as a bandaid.

-

Wet Ones Antibacterial Moist Towelette

We got a lot of comments for our post India is Filthy.  It caused some discussion, but the truth is, India is a very dirty country.  Germs are everywhere and nothing has come in handier than hand wipes. Long train journeys, buses journeys, restaurants and bathrooms without soap. We have used our handiwipes countless times.

-

-

Belkin BZ103050vTVL Mini Surge Protector/Dual USB Charger

In conjunction with an adapter with multiplugs we can charge several electronics at one time. We couldn’t function without our Belkin mini surge protector. It is better than simply a power bar because we can charge our iphone and ipods and the surge protector eases our minds since there are so many power outages and surges in India.

-

MASTER LOCK COMPANY – The padlock comes in handy several times.  Many places lock from the outside and although hotels offer locks and keys, we feel more at ease using our own combination lock.  We know that people can’t get in easily and we don’t have the hassle of carrying around a key. We just never feel safe using the lock supplied by the hotel.     We sometimes lock our packs together on the train or bus making it more difficult for a person to grab a bag and run and if we have to leave our bags at a guesthouse for a few days to go on a trek, we do the same.

-

Travel Items We Wish we had Brought.

We did fairly well with our packing choices for our travels through India. But even people with a lot of experience under their belts can make mistakes.  We left behind some essential items that we are kicking ourselves for not bringing. What makes it worse is that we own all of these items. They are sitting at home while we wish we had them with us.

If only we weren’t so worried about packing light. While it is important to keep the weight down in your backpacks, it is still important to be comfortable during  your travels. So pack the items that you definitely think that you will use. Like the items we listed below.

The North Face Womens Thunder Insulated 800 Down Jacket

We have always brought our down jackets with us when we traveled. We have even made a point of adding them to other essential item packing lists that we have made in the past.  For some reason, we didn’t bring them this time.  We thought that it would be hot enough in India. In Nepal we thought that our jackets probably wouldn’t be warm enough and we would have to buy the heavier parka type coats. But we were wrong. India can be freezing! We wished we packed several times but our cozy down coats top our list. We will never travel without them again.

Featherlite +20 Ultra Light, Ultra Compact, Sleeping Bag By Ledge

There have been times when we have frozen in India.  Many places don’t offer blankets and the ones that do have old ones that have probably never seen a washing machine.  I can be a bit of a germ-a-phobe and hate having a used blanket up around my face. Plus, the heavy Indian Blankets don’t breathe and as we freeze, we also build up a sweat under the dense cover.  Our ultralight sleeping bags would have been used many times here in India. The next time we travel to India, we are packing our sleeping bags.

Texsport Hiker’s Mosquito Net

While many guest houses supply mosquito nets, most have holes in them or are a little worse for wear.  Some places don’t offer mosquito nets at all and we are faced with the little pests buzzing around our ears all night long. Mosquito repellent doesn’t do the trick and there is nothing you can do but suffer.  A Mosquito net is an essential item for future India visits.

Peppermint 100% Pure Essential Oil – 10 ml

We used Tiger Balm in its place, but peppermint oil has come with us on all previous trips.  It cheers up a musty room and helps with undesirable odors. India is filled with some very scary smells and a dab of peppermint would have done the trick.   Peppermint oil also clears the sinuses, soothes aching muscles and a few drops in some water can calm an upset stomach.  Peppermint oil will be packed in our backpacks on our next trip abroad.

-

=

Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle Shoulder Sling (27-Ounce Bottles)

We had them packed.  We used them in Peru at machu Picchu and we have used them on countless other treks.  Having a sling to carry your water in frees up the hands and makes walking enjoyable.  For some reason, at the last minute we took them out thinking that our Salomon Bags would be enough. They have water bottle holders on the outside that we can use when we go hiking or trekking.  But what about every day use? When we are siteseeing, we don’t always carry our Salomon bags with us so we are stuck carrying our water bottles in our hands while we figit with our camera’s, video and guidebooks.  These are going back into the packs when we get home to Canada.