There can be many essentials to carry when traveling but the following are a pure no-no. If you ever went on a trip and didn’t enjoy, you probably need to take notes. There are my five travel essentials I tick mark surely before I leave.

1 No Guilt

There can be a whole big list of trips I have had with the guilt of missing something important. A friend’s birthday, family occasion, some interview and what not. Throughout these many guilt trips, I have had the evident company of sorrow with a toss of weird emotional state.

Back when I began trekking and having big vacations, I was in college and would only have weekends to spend time doing something else. And so there would be some family gatherings or a night out at a friend’s place or something planned for the weekend.

It was still manageable back then as I would meet these important people during the week and make up for not being there for the weekend and traveling instead. But now that all work, missing a weekend gathering gives a bigger guilt.

After ruining a few trips, I added this to my checklist before I leave. I spoke with two of closest friends and told them why traveling is important for me. They have a better backstory of my life and they got it. It gets difficult, but now they always know when I am heading out and all our night outs and meets are planned way ahead.

2 No Emotional Baggage

How are guilt and emotional baggage different? Well, here I mean, if there is something is bothering you real bad, it is sucking the life out of you, it can be anything, big or small, don’t let it be in the way of you having fun on a trip, instead use the trip as a way to let go of it and feel lighter.

I have a habit of overthinking and it sucks. I still remember years back, I had a small argument with a very close friend before I left for a trip and I didn’t enjoy the day at all. It was so bad I couldn’t stop whining about the fight to a few I was traveling with.

I realized instead of being there and enjoying with people I was with, I spread gloomy vibes. Only if I could go back and change that day, and be a better person, I would. But hey, that day gave me this pointer. If you are an emotional fool like me, make sure you don’t miss ticking this off.

3 No Responsibility

This is one a little more subjective than the ones above. I am a responsible head otherwise. I have taken charge of things, people and situations and have done well. But, when I travel, I love to be with myself.

It is purely my time, where I get all my thoughts out and just be me. Be amidst nature and feel the love around without a single thought about the real world back home.

Last week I had been to Gorakhgadh and I trekked it with an eleven-year-old girl. It was her first ever trek. I saw the entire fort through her eyes, her observations, her happiness, her care and concern for others, her idea of fun and laughter. It was beautiful.

But, the entire climb up and down with her, I was worried. For this trip, she was my kiddo, she was my responsibility. It was different and difficult. I am not good with kids in general who are big enough to speak. I get very awkward, shy, or I don’t know why very conscious. But this kiddo was different.

Among the many things I learned from her, I surely figured that I can’t travel with someone’s responsibility. It was a fun trip with her but it isn’t something I can do often. I can do such a trip once in a while but not too often.

4 No Health Issue

This is the most important one and you should definitely add this to your checklist. I have traveled with a cough cold and fever and managed. But, always listen to your body, it does tell you if you can or cannot do something.

Do not mix this with the feeling of fear. Feeling sick out of fear is normal, but if there is something severe, just don’t go. Oh, yes, I have traveled sick and that trip is one of the worst I ever had.

I just had to travel and so I head out. But that day I realized when you are sick you slow down the entire group. You aren’t able to enjoy much and you kind of spoil it for others too.

I don’t even let someone carry my bag even if it is extremely heavy and the climb extremely difficult. If I am not able to carry one bag, how would someone carry two? Don’t let your health issue or any sort of physical trouble spoil someone’s fun. Stay back home and if you head out, give it all you got.

5 No Virtual Presence

I have made it a habit for my mom now that on one-day trips I call her only once when I began my journey back home and on two-day trips, I call her twice. On bigger trips, I call her once in two days. This is because of a simple rule I follow that is to use my phone only to click pictures, take videos and call mom once.

My phone is full time on airplane mode to save battery too as I still own an old Moto phone. If you have read my previous travel posts and loved how I connect to nature and people around, add this to your checklist and make sure to do it. This will help you be more present in the place you are more than just physically.

There is not a single trip I had where I haven’t followed this rule since my first ever trek. And the results have been beautiful. If not always, try this on your next travel, do let me know how it works for you.

These are five travel essentials I check before I head out. It may or may not work for you as they are purely subjective to my travel experiences but hey, if you try any of these, or do follow any, I would love to know your story.