My Essential Travel Gear: The Gadget Bag I Never Travel Without

My packing routine is fairly settled by now, whether I’m heading off on a sailing holiday or a road trip, but it always shifts a little with the weather, the kind of journey, and sometimes simply my mood on the morning I leave.

One thing never changes, though. Over the years I’ve put together a small bag of essential travel gear that comes with me everywhere, no matter the destination: the bits of kit I genuinely can’t travel without.

It’s one of the questions friends and readers ask me most often, by email or over a glass of wine, so I’ve finally written it all down. Here is exactly what lives in my travel gadget bag, why each thing earns its place, and what I’d buy today if I were starting from scratch.

Before I forget: if you’re travelling with any serious hardware, make sure your travel insurance includes dedicated gadget cover, and check the excess on any claim for loss or theft.

And if you’re a minimalist who still likes to feel a touch more put-together, a few featherweight extras go a long way alongside the gadgets below: a tinted SPF lip balm, a pair of dangly earrings, a light scarf, and a Travalo (a lipstick-sized refillable perfume atomiser).

The quick list

For anyone who just wants the at-a-glance version, here is everything in the bag:

1. Packing cubes
2. A waterproof wash bag
3. A silk sleeping bag liner
4. A microfibre towel
5. Three small padlocks
6. A digital luggage scale
7. A universal travel adapter
8. A power bank
9. A camera (my Canon EOS 750D)
10. A Kindle

Now the detail, and the reasons.

1. Packing cubes

I pack and carry my clothes in these cubes so I can find everything quickly, without rummaging through the whole bag. They are simply zip pouches in various sizes for keeping clothes tidy, usually sold in sets of three or four, each one with two compartments.

I divide things by type: barefoot shoes, T-shirts and tops, jumpers, trousers, evening dresses, underwear, and so on. It makes packing, unpacking and living out of a bag far easier, and it keeps the chaos to a minimum.

2. A waterproof wash bag

A few years ago a bottle of shampoo exploded mid-flight, and when I opened my bag at the hotel I could have wept: nothing clean or dry left to wear. So I swapped my old beauty case for a Helly Hansen waterproof wash bag.

Now, even if a bottle of shampoo or shower gel decides to leak in transit, the damage stops at the bag. I rinse it out, and everything else stays clean and dry. Once I’m at a destination, I also use it to keep my phone, money and small valuables dry during boat excursions. Quietly one of the most useful things I own.

3. A silk sleeping bag liner

I bought my first cotton liner in early summer 2001, for a music weekend in the Provençal sun. It was comfortable, but not quite as much as I’d hoped. A few months later, wandering into Nature & Découvertes, a French shop I adore, I found the same thing in silk, and it has travelled with me ever since.

A silk liner lets me sleep soundly whatever the state of the sheets, which is especially reassuring in cheap city hotels. I use the Stretch Silk Liner, and after well over ten years and countless trips it is still perfect: light, warm in the cold, cool in the heat, and barely bigger than a fist when packed.

4. A microfibre towel

These microfibre towels, the kind you see at swimming pools, are sold at Decathlon and most sports shops, in every colour and at every budget. They are light, take up almost no room, and dry in minutes.

Like the silk liner, a microfibre towel sets my mind at ease when I’m not sure how clean the accommodation will be. I went for a set of two in a cheerful shade of pink.

5. Padlocks

I always keep three small padlocks in my bag to lock the zips, and to secure the lockers in hostels and guesthouses that feel a little less than reassuring, like the one I once booked in Siem Reap. They weigh almost nothing, and they buy real peace of mind.

6. A digital luggage scale

Over the last few years I’ve cut my luggage right down, to under 7 kg for a month on the road between Paris, Argentina and New York, across big changes of climate and pace. One habit I never dropped is travelling with a small digital luggage scale and weighing honestly, so airline check-in holds no nasty surprises. More often than not I end up lending it to other travellers I’ve met along the way.

7. A universal travel adapter

I keep one tucked in the pocket of my bag at all times, just in case. I went for a universal adapter with built-in USB ports so I can charge several things from a single socket. If you’re buying now, choose one with USB-C as well as the older USB-A, since most newer devices use USB-C.

8. A power bank

A digital detox is something I try to lean into on any journey. These days, though, I usually end up working a few hours a day even on holiday, which means staying connected, so a power bank saves me from a dead phone at the worst possible moment.

I’ve travelled with the same one for a long time now, the RORRY Flow (10,000 mAh), and I love it enough that I’ve bought a second in a different colour. What makes it so good for travel is that there are no extra cables or charger to pack: a USB-C cable and a folding wall plug are built into the body, so it’s a power bank, cable and charger in one slim block of about 250 g. It charges fast, enough to take my phone to roughly half in around twenty minutes, powers my phone, watch and a couple of other things at once, and gives me about two full phone charges before it needs topping up.

9. A camera

For a while, especially in the early days of the iPhone, I left my camera at home. The phone photos weren’t bad; the phone was light, and I could share pictures in real time, but the frustration always came in the evening, in front of a beautiful landscape, or when some small detail caught my eye.

So I’ve gone back to basics and happily carry the weight of my Canon EOS 750D, which has never once let me down. The exact model matters less than the principle: the best camera is the one you’ll actually carry. If a DSLR feels like too much, a compact or a good phone you commit to using will still beat the camera left at home.

10. A Kindle

In 2009 I backpacked through Thailand with my brother and several kilos of books. I can’t leave books behind, I won’t swap them away, and I usually get through at least two a week, so by the end he could barely lift his rucksack for my paperbacks. Back home, half in revenge, he gave me a Kindle.

I didn’t want it. It had none of the smell of paper, none of the charm. Then the things that won me over crept up on me: a font size and brightness I could set to suit my eyes, a battery measured in weeks, most of the books I wanted either free or far cheaper than print, and a whole library carried in one hand. I could highlight and take notes, and download a new title in almost any language in under a minute.

Since 2010, art books aside, I’ve read almost entirely on a Kindle. I also load mine with travel documents: insurance, a scanned copy of my passport, anything I might need to reach offline on the road.

Mine was a Kindle Voyage, which I loved for years. It has since been discontinued, and the old models with free mobile data are gone too, so today’s Kindles connect over Wi-Fi. If you’re buying now, the natural heir is the Kindle Paperwhite, waterproof and the best all-rounder, with the colour Kindle Colorsoft as the step up. For the number of books I read, whichever you choose pays for itself quickly.

FAQ

Insert at the foot of the post, above the closing question. Each answer opens with a self-contained first sentence, the part snippets and AI engines tend to quote.

What should I keep in a travel gadget bag? A good travel gadget bag covers organisation, safety and power: packing cubes, a waterproof wash bag, a few small padlocks, a digital luggage scale, a universal adapter with USB-C, and a power bank. Add a silk sleeping bag liner and a quick-drying microfibre towel for comfort in uncertain accommodation.

What is the most useful piece of travel gear? The most useful items are the ones that prevent disasters rather than the flashy ones. A waterproof wash bag stops a leaking bottle from ruining your clothes, a digital luggage scale saves you from airline excess fees, and packing cubes keep a small bag genuinely usable. They are cheap, light, and earn their place on every trip.

Is a silk sleeping bag liner worth it for travel? Yes, a silk sleeping bag liner is one of the best-value items for independent travel. It packs down to the size of a fist, weighs almost nothing, keeps you warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot, and gives you a clean layer of your own whatever the state of the sheets. A good one lasts well over a decade.

What is the best Kindle for travel in 2026? The Kindle Paperwhite is the best all-round Kindle for travel: it is waterproof, light, and holds thousands of books on a battery that lasts weeks. The colour Kindle Colorsoft is the step up. Older models, such as the Kindle Voyage and cellular Kindles with free mobile data, have been discontinued, and current Kindles connect over Wi-Fi.

How do you pack light and still stay organised? Packing light is mostly about a system, not sacrifice: divide clothes into packing cubes by type, choose multi-use items that dry fast, weigh the bag honestly before you leave, and carry only the gadgets you reliably use. With cubes and a luggage scale, a month on the road can fit into under 7 kg.

A few honest gaps

These are the essentials I’ve carried for years, but travel kit moves on, and there are three things I’d genuinely tell anyone packing today to consider: an eSIM for instant data on arrival instead of hunting for a local SIM, a Bluetooth tracker tucked into your checked bag, and the quiet shift to USB-C for almost everything, which lets you travel with fewer cables.

As I said at the start, these are my essentials, yet I still fill my bright orange Helly Hansen bag with far more than this, while somehow keeping it remarkably light. The full method is in my short guide to packing light.

Do you have your own list of travel essentials? Is there something I should add to mine? Tell me in the comments.