Planning for Europe – Personal

Now we come to the more personal items, things that we just don’t travel without. Some things for me, some for Stu, and some for both of us.

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The first item is traveling with pills. All those pesky tablets and capsules we take on a daily basis. Originally Stu was carrying this HUGE thirty day case that was truly overkill. I was carrying several small seven day cases. I finally found what we like and are now using (and we personalized them with stickers so they are easy to tell apart. They hold 28 days which covers our normal two weeks of cruising (plus travel days). 

For Europe, we will bring our pill bottles (or small zip-lock bags) along with a copy of the Rx and refill as needed. 

For those that don’t know, Stu has had both knees replaced and needs a small pillow between them to sleep (ask him how heavy the knees are now). Normally he takes a camping pillow but with limited space we decided to have him try this inflatable pillow. It works quite well and is perfect for our trip and other cruises.

For me, it’s a little bedside fan that runs off a USB plug. Initially they were used with small power banks that would let the fan run all night. I have several of these – folding fans. Last year, I discovered a folding rechargeable fan. What a game changer! Run it at night, charge in the cabin during the day. It can still run off a power bank if needed (maybe during our 5 day guided tour of the Highlands). It’s adjustable and has three speeds. I’m in love!

And speaking of rechargeable, we added a battery operated toothbrush. Does a good job and AA batteries should last us the entire vacation. At home, I have the rechargeable version.

The next item is perfect for hotel bathroom as well as cruise bathrooms. It’s actually two items. A USB LED light and a compact power bank. We each carry a set of the lite and a power bank in our toiletry bags. The lights come in a four pack.

We have two sizes of power banks for this purpose. One is smaller, the other lasts a bit longer. Typically the small will last two nights before needing to be recharged.

Now let’s head into the shower. You may or may not be aware but many hotels in Europe do not offer wash clothes (face cloths). Some people buy the compressed ones, use, and toss. We opted for the quick dry microfiber ones.

We also are both carrying soap bars in place of liquid soaps to help meet the 3-1-1 rule for carry-on liquids. Stu is carrying the CeraVe bar for oily skin and I’m carrying the CeraVe bar for dry skin. So what do you do with a wet bar of soap? You could opt for the cheap plastic cases and hope they don’t leak. But we like this solution much better and they work quite well. A soap bag! We used them on our last cruise and had no issues.

I’m also using shampoo and conditioner bars that I got from Lush a couple years back. I have little tins from them to hold the bars.  Recently I found something I could cut to fit in the bottom to help them dry out between uses. I cut two from each pad and they work great.

Last but not least. We have used passport covers with a side slot for our COVID vaccination cards for a couple of years but they were padded and thick. So we ordered these, perfect size and much thinner and will fit in our cross-body sling bags nicely. They come in multiple colors, mine is pink and Stu’s is black.

There may be some items I’ve missed (probably because we’ve used them for cruising for the past several years) and there may be more items to come before we leave. In September, I promise to write up what we are packing when it comes to clothes. That is AFTER our practice packs….LOL!

1. Planning for Europe…
2. Planning for Europe – Electronics
3. Planning for Europe – Comfort & Safety
4. Planning for Europe – Packing
5. Planning for Europe – Electronics Take 2
6. Planning for Europe – Laundry
7. Planning for Europe – Personal

Ciao for now!

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