Travel Buddies

I had been hoping to wrap up the year 2009 with a long drive to the Asia's Longest Zipline. My cousins, my sister and I had planned to try a year-ender fun and adventure and so we decided to try out the new thrill in Bukidnon. But as luck would have it, and for some reasons, I had to back out at the last minute. But no worries though as I know I would get my chance to conquer the zipline one of these days. :-) Really, I can only hope to get on that Zipline thrill this year, not to mention a fun roadtrip going there.

Now, speaking of roadtrips, I have been asked many times about my must-haves when traveling -be it a long trip or not. So without much ado, I'd like to enumerate some of my must-carry must-haves:

1) Food. It can be bars of chocolates, a bag of candies, some bags of chips, packets of biscuits, fruits, or some bread. It can one or all of those. But I'm always leaning on the latter especially it it's a roadtrip when baggages of weight is a non-issue. Bringing something to appease the stomach can always save time for some food stops. And then I do not like to starve when travelling :-)

2) Beverage. During long drives, I actually rarely drink water or juice because I do not like looking for a place to urinate in the middle of nowhere. This is also my issue when traveling by plane because I hate to stand up and walk up the aisle to the CR while the plane is cruising at God-knows-where. But still, I always carry drinks (non-alcoholic, that is) during trips. Besides water can be used to freshen the skin on warm long drives.

3) Apart from bringing in some food to munch during a roadtrip, a must-bring for me is some form of entertainment to keep me occupied during long drives. A game such as Bingo, Crossword etc...perhaps. I know my husband wouldn't think twice of solving Soduko puzzles while traveling. I don't mind solving Soduko too but I'm much more interested in Bingo games and crossword puzzles. My son can also use some form of entertainment offered by an iPod (music everyone?) or the PSP. It could get boring you know. During road trips, these things would surely come in handy during long stretches of silence while everyone is occupied with his own concerns. And then most of the time, when too engrossed with the games, before you know it you're already at the destination. You simply forget the time and distance!

I also bring a paperback although most of the time I rarely read on the road.

4) Mobile Phone. Need I elaborate? *smile*

5) Some toiletries and ample packs of wet tissues. Of course, how can I ever go out of the house without these things?

6) Last but absolutely not the least, my camera and its accessories (extra batteries and memory card, cleaning cloth, charger). The lot is a bit heavy but I just cannot leave them behim. Not when I know that every trip, near or far, will always present an opportunity to capture great photos.

So what about you, what are your travel buddies?