Anytime one of these items came in handy during my flight or I packed something away out of arms reach, I wrote it down to remember for next time to keep these items as the carry-on must-haves — so here’s my compiled list below and a printable version to the right: 

• Refillable water bottle — I love reusable/refillable water bottles since it saves you from buying expensive water on the plane and is eco friendly.

• Hand sanitizer — even before COVID this was a must for me to carry around, but ESPECIALLY now this should be a given.

• Snacks & Gum — my personal favorite plane snacks are trail mix, dark chocolate bars & beef jerky.

• Ibuprofen and Emergen-C / Vitamins — Feeling rundown from a long journey is never a way anyone wants to start or end a trip. I always carry with me Ibuprofen to make unwanted headaches go away and then vitamins to keep my immune system up. Whether it’s a placebo effect or not, I do not care! Because I haven’t gotten sick since I started bringing my Vitamin C along on flights, and that’s all that matters to me (:

• Portable charger — sometimes those charging stations on the plane don’t work, y’know? (Your laptop could also double as a giant portable charger in a pinch).

• Phone’s charging cable — very crucial item to keep within easy reach since you’d need it for when either the charging station on the plane does work, or when you need to use that portable charger.

• Change of socks/sandals — If you’re wearing sandals for boarding, socks have always been much needed once the icy air conditioning kicks in. If you/re wearing shoes and you take them off in-flight, instead of fumbling to put them back on for a trip down the aisle, it’s WAY easier to just slip the sandals on.

• Ear plugs & face mask — for a better sleep. I don’t know about you but I always happen to sit near a crying baby or they turn on the cabin lights right when I started closing my eyes to rest.

• Wallet / Bank Cards / ID — These items are definitely good ones to not keep not too far from you. 

• Passport –If you prefer to keep this tucked away safely somewhere while flying, take a photo with your phone of your main passport page so you’ll have easy access to the info if needed on forms and paperwork while landing.

• Headphones (with a cord) —  So you can plug into the in-flight entertainment. When I got my first wireless headphones I thought “Awesome! No more getting tangled in my seat with the wires.” But it for some reason didn’t occur to me that although the in-flight entertainment has been improving, it’s not THAT high-tech yet to connect to bluetooth headphones. Wireless ones might be great with your smart phone, but bringing some with the cord will come in handy for watching movies.

• Contact lenses, solution, or glasses — I personally feel bringing all vision-helpers are probably a good idea. My eyes get too dry for the plane, so I fly with glasses but then before landing I switch to contacts if I’ll be wearing sunglasses once I leave the airport.