Tropical Travel Kit

One of the purposes of this blog is for Bob and me to be able to remember our travels—and our own travel advice. This post falls into the travel advice category. It’s what we’ve learned you need to carry with you if you are going to travel around for an extended period in the tropics. All of these are small and lightweight, and we’ve found all of them necessary at one point or another in our travels.

Wine Bottle Opener: Whether you enjoy an occasional glass of wine, are a serious connoisseur, or, like us, are somewhere in between, you should always travel with a wine bottle opener, no matter where you are headed. You don’t want to be caught out, finding a good local bottle of wine and then being able to open it. If you don’t drink wine, your friends probably do, so you need it for entertaining, too. While you can buy inexpensive wine bottle openers all over the place from grocery stores to gas stations, why do that when you can carry this small tool with you? Taking your own also means having one you like and you know you can use that won’t leave half a cork in the bottle.

Lime squeezer: We love the ubiquitous limes of the tropics and use them for many drinks and dishes. Whether it’s refreshing lime in cold glass of ice water, the necessary lime for a Cuba Libre, or a squeeze of lime on fresh fish, we end up using limes almost every day. The advantage of a lime squeezer is that it’s smaller than other squeezers, which makes it easy for carrying, but it can still be used for larger citrus fruits like oranges or lemons, which just need to be cut smaller to fit. We’ve made fresh-squeezed orange juice with our lime squeezer and even crushed garlic with it. In the tropics, a lime squeezer is a most useful tool.

Multi-purpose pocket tool: The first three places we stayed in in Panama City had loose toilet seats. (Really!) All Bob needed was a screwdriver to secure them, but who packs a screwdriver along with snorkels when heading to the tropics? We would have preferred a Leatherman, but since one wasn’t available, this $7 multi-purpose pocket tool has done the trick. We won’t leave home without one of these again.

Can opener: This is not a news flash, but steel, even stainless steel, rusts in humid areas. The kitchens of the first four places we stayed in Panama either didn’t have a can opener or had a rusty one that didn’t work. We finally bought one at a local department store for a whopping 99 cents. Don’t do that. Spend the extra $2 to get a $3 can opener that will last longer than one use. While many cans these days have pop tops, you never know when you’re going to need this old-fashioned yet highly useful tool.

Knife sharpener: A problem with staying in other people’s places where other people stay is the abuse taken by kitchen equipment. Finding sharp knives in any Air B&B kitchen is rare, so we are traveling with a tiny knife sharpener from now on. It’s not the world’s greatest, but it gets us through until we are ready to move on to the next place.

Measuring tape: You don’t realize how often you need a measuring tape until you don’t have one. What will you need it for? Who knows? We’ve needed it to measure the dog’s crate, measure the distance from electrical plugs to appliances, and measure the bed for a new set of sheets. A measuring tape takes up little space. It’s really nice to have it when you need it.

Lifestraw Bottle: We’ve told you before that we love Lifestraw (https://www.lifestraw.com/) because these microfilters not only can protect us from icky things in the water when we travel, but the company supports clean water projects in places throughout the world. We are into that. Stay hydrated heathily, friends.

Extension cord: If you travel with a phone and/or a computer, take a 6-foot extension cord. You never know where your charger is going to need to reach. In our travels, we have also needed it for the electric fan and the coffee pot, which are not included on this list because of bulk, but they sure have been necessary!

Scissors: You think scissors are everywhere until they are not. When it comes to making homemade face masks to help stop the spread of corona virus, for instance, the scissors from the multi-purpose pocket tool can’t hack it—well, actually, they do hack. They don’t cut. That’s the problem. So, carry a small pair of good sewing scissors. Just don’t leave them in your carryon bag when you go to the airport.

Beach “blanket”: We hate sand, which is one of the reasons that, although we love the ocean, we are not big fans of the beach. Still, the two often go together, so it’s best to carry something that’s lightweight and flexible to throw on the sand when visiting the ocean. Something like a sheet is good because it doesn’t collect sand like terry cloth towels or fleece and is smaller and lighter to pack.

Sewing Kit: Many hotels have small sewing kits that include some threads, a needle, and a safety pin or two. Next time you have the opportunity to take one, do. Alternatively, small sewing kits are also usually available at department stores, and you can pick one up before you travel. Again, you just never know when you might need these little resources that don’t take up much space and you will sure miss if you don’t have it when you need it.

All of this equipment can be packed compactly and will make your travels that much easier. Many of you reading this probably have your own experiences and ideas. Please feel free to share them in the comments.

Then, let’s get going—as soon as we all get out of quarantine.