Saturday 26 December 2009

Essential Items for Travel

Okay, not really essential, but things I always have to pack.

Toilet paper (top left).  Bathrooms generally do not have it, even in some homes.  They do have spray hoses, but it is nice to be able to dry off.

Hand sanitizer (top right). Bathrooms usually lack soap and towels. Luckily there is a market for little personal bottles of hand sanitizer, the large stores have whole aisles of them. I haven't heard any protests from Muslims here about alcohol jelly being haraam. It's haraam to drink or otherwise ingest intoxicants, and we're not drinking our hand sanitizer.

Chocolate. In case of low blood sugar, obnoxious men, or general chocolate deficiency. I managed to find actual M&Ms, made in the UAE.

Qu'ran and misbaha (bottom right). For long waits, bureaucracy, air turbulence, and terrible drivers.

An extra niqab. I forgot to include that in the picture. I can't count the number of times I've gotten coffee on a light-coloured niqab and walked around for ages without realizing it.

I should have packed an extra pair of glasses. Mine have been sat on, mangled by small children, and dropped repeatedly.

What are the little things that you always pack?

4 comments:

  1. My essentials for travelling:

    * Extra Insulin and Needles (I always get the weird looks from security, too!)

    * A book I've never read before. And a book I *have* read before (so I can just pop it open and read for a few minutes and put it away when I need to)

    * My iPod. That thing is, like, necessary (even if you don't listen to it, you can put the ear buds in so that weird guy won't talk to you!)

    * Fruit Leathers. You carry M&Ms... I carry Fruit Leathers.

    * Breath Mints. Breath Mints are an instant confidence boost. I don't know why.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, breath mints! *adds to list*

    ReplyDelete
  3. I usually bring a book, iPod(good for ignoring the chatty person who inevitably sits beside you), extra socks so I can kick off my shoes and still have warm feet, and snacks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Definitely snacks! What is it with all the chatty people?? It seems like the majority of us do not want to be talked to.

    ReplyDelete