The 9 Worst Things to Forget to Pack

Sometimes travelers get a visitor of their own–a visitor they didn’t pack for. Whether it’s your first period or your fifty-thousandth, by definition surprises are that they happen when you least expect them. Thankfully, menstruation is totally normal, but it is also arguably more annoying on vacation.

An unforeseen period may ruin your vacation-specific white linen pants, but it doesn’t have to ruin the whole trip. If you haven’t packed any menstrual products, ask the front desk of your hotel or hostel if they have a spare product of your choice to hold you over until you get to a store. If that’s a no, try dashing into the lobby bathroom of a fancy hotel. 

In the U.S., 38% of adults under 30 take a daily prescribed medication, and the percentage increases with age, so it should be expected that many people also pack their medication with them on their travels.  

Until… they don’t.

Forgetting your medication can feel catastrophic, especially when it might be the only thing keeping you upright and functional, but don’t cut your trip short just yet. For some common medications like levothyroxine, travelers may be able to pick up their prescription over the counter or with a quick pharmacy appointment in other countries. On the other hand, it’s always good practice to look up if your medication is banned in any country and what to do in that situation.

If you’ve never had to balance your toes on two quarters in a cold hostel shower in Rome like some sort of sad game of “the floor is lava,” consider yourself blessed. For travelers who opt for accommodations with shared bathrooms, shower shoes are a necessity for maintaining good hygiene. But necessities are not exempt from being forgotten.

If you are adamant about not buying an emergency pair of flip-flops or there are no flip-flops available, you do have a few options. The first is the risk of infection. The second, but potentially equally dramatic, is to use something in place of shower shoes.

Solid substitutions for emergencies include but are not limited to: plastic bags, maxi pads and tin foil, or even condoms (they DO stretch). Or just use your sneakers and leave them out to dry; you should probably wash them anyway. Either way, be careful and don’t slip!

Nothing says stranded faster than not having internet or cell service and not having money. Only one of those is usually within your control. It’s good practice to carry at least a bit of local currency in cash, but it’s even better practice always to have a backup debit and credit card.

Yes, we all love racking up credit card points, but you still want to bring a debit card along with you in case you need to pull money out of an ATM at your destination (which 99% of the time has a better currency rate than exchanging cash at a counter). The key is also to bring a backup card or two in case they get eaten at an ATM, or your bank’s card is not widely accepted internationally (I’m looking at you, American Express).

Like death and taxes, bad hair days are just a part of life. It could be a result of weather conditions, hard water in your shower’s hotel, trekking for days in the beautiful outdoors, or partying so hard you sweated out your edges. Maybe you were working 50-hour weeks before your trip and didn’t have time to squeeze in an appointment, or your hair is that awkward length of growing out of your intended cut but not long enough for another style.

If you forgot to bring along your hair product of choice to tame your mane, or it got thrown away at airport security, you still have options. The preventative way is to get into the habit of packing a backup hat or wig to throw on when you don’t want to deal with your hair.

The reactive way is to buy a hat once you arrive at the destination and realize you forgot your hair products. Your options may be hit or miss, but a beautiful scarf meant for outfit accessorizing can also come in a clutch.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy workaround for forgetting your retainer. Depending on the length of your trip, you will just have to pay for your dental transgressions when you get back. May the tooth fairy have mercy on your mouth.

Forgetting your favorite pair of headphones or earbuds sucks, especially on the airplane. If the flight is long enough, you can settle for the shoddy free headphones given out by the airline. But when you decide that watching Jumanji just isn’t hitting the same on the fourth run-through, it’s useful to keep an ebook downloaded to keep you entertained. For those allergic to reading books, you can also download web articles to read later (even offline) by saving the web page to your “Reading List.”

There’s a unique feeling of utter despair that befalls someone who has traveled to a destination for a very specific event, usually an expensive event, only to realize they forgot their event tickets or wristband at home.

The best case scenario is that there is a box office at the venue where you can pick up replacement entry tickets, though there may be a replacement fee. Nine times out of 10, that should cover the mishap. However, if that is not an option, you can try buying a last-minute ticket, which may be a lot cheaper than your original ticket price but usually has worse seating.

You really only need one form of identification to travel, but if you happen to forget or misplace your passport for your international trip, you have a few options–unfortunately, they are all expensive.

In the U.S., if you have two to three weeks before your trip, you can try your luck with expedited passport processing and hope it arrives in time. However, if your trip is within five days, you can schedule an urgent travel appointment at your nearest passport agency. There is also an emergency passport processing within 72 hours for unexpected travel, such as sudden death or life-threatening injury or illness, and documentation is required.

If you are already on your trip and your passport goes missing, you will need to visit your country’s embassy or consulate. If your country does not have an embassy in the destination you are visiting, you may be able to visit an embassy in another country that is associated with your home country (commonwealth member agreements, EU countries, etc.).

Information that can be found on your government’s travel site. If there is still no option, file a police report and take the documents with you to the immigration officer, and hopefully, they will understand.