What Not to Bring when You Travel

What should I wear? What should I pack? We spend s lot of time worrying about what to bring when we travel. But we don't give enough thought to what we should leave at home. Here are a number of documents and personal items you should leave in your drawers at home.

Originals of any documents
Except for your passport, visa or other travel documents, do not bring the originals of any important papers on your trip. These include birth and marriage certificates, wills, divorce papers or school transcripts. If you lose these abroad, you'll never get them back and it could be dangerous to for someone to get hold of these papers with your signature on them.

In most cases, copies of these documents will suffice. If you must bring original documents, then make sure you make copies of them and keep these copies at home where someone can easily get hold of them for you. An alternative to making hard copies is to scan the document to a "cloud" application (like DropBox, Google Docs or Evernote) that stores your information on the Web so you can get access to it anytime. All you need is a computer connected to the Internet.

Medicines not in their original containers
Naturally, you need to take your prescription medications with you when you travel. But don't even consider putting them into smaller containers to save room. That's fine for shampoo or toothpaste, but not for medications. If you replace your original containers with different ones, you put yourself in danger of forgetting what the medication is for (especially if you take several medications). And if something should happen to you, a doctor needs to know right away what medications you're taking. If your medications are in unmarked containers, your doctor could waste a lot of time trying to figure out just what you're taking. In addition, unmarked containers with drugs in it could cause you some problems at airport security checks.

Expensive jewelry
Of course, you want to look great on your vacation. But this doesn't mean you need to wear your most expensive pearls. Unless you have insurance that covers you for loss or theft of jewelry abroad, you should leave your pricey trinkets at home. And that does give you an excuse for buying a new watch or pair of earrings on your vacation.

Expensive equipment
Unless you're a professional photographer, leave your expensive camera at home. It will only add weight to your luggage, and you run the risk of having your equipment break or get stolen. Your small digital camera will do just fine for those good-memory shots. Remember that your travel companions will also be taking photos and you'll have plenty to go around after your trip.

Clothes you might need
At the beginning of my EFL classes in Malta I always ask, how many pairs of shoes did you bring with you? Typically, the female students bring four or five; the males two or three max. It's smarter to go male-style when traveling. Bring less--not more--to wear. If you find that you can't do without something, you can always buy it on the trip. Extra, unnecessary clothes add weight and become a pain unpacking and repacking, especially if you travel to several destinations on one trip.

Ilene Springer lives and teaches EFL in Malta. She is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.