-tiger balm
-my favourite lipsmackers
-safety pins - lots of em!!

Imodium - some food will come out faster than it went in.

Camera - get some memories. Even better, get bragging rights

Something to eat in an emergency, a small can of meat and crackers. - To be honest with you, since I carry this with me I never actually came across a place where I could not buy food. But you never know. Every single trip two to three days before the end I look at the smashed crackers and discard them. I then think about it and through the can out...It's more of a ritual

]earplugs
]journal
]ipod

wouldnt consider the journal or pics as unnecessary...really needed to write my thoughts down and the pics were nice memories from home and really great things to share with people from the towns I visited...it was interesting for them to see my family and friends...

also what was kinda cool (although I would probably bring my ipod now) I broke my cassette player so had to buy one in india....the kids loved that I was listening to a player from their home...it was a great ice breaker..

actually what I didnt need until I got to europe was the one pair of jeans I had at the bottom of my pack-it was normally too warm and in the mountains impractical-they dont dry quickly..;(

1.) Frisbee
2.) Running shoes (They are the only shoes I have to take. All other shoes are only if I have space)
3.) Lucky rabbit foot (I carry it with me all the time even though I don't think it really brings me any luck but don't want to take the chance of not having it.)

I read the question wrong. 3 UNecessay items would be:
-tea tree oil
-makeup
-cell phone

Concur that earplugs, camera, journal and alarm clock are necessities.

Put another way, three LUXURY items I can't leave home without are:

1. Fancy schmancy clothes dryer (cloth covered elastic with hooks on each end and 10 moveable preattached clips in a small silk pouch, 18 years old and going strong)

2. House slippers (fake Birkenstocks, $9.95 per pair) for hanging out and as shower shoes, large enough so that my ever present socks fit nicely. Not for outdoor use.

3. Brand new item purchased for my upcoming RTW: Sound recorder (a Belkin attachment for my semi-luxury iPod). In all my years of travel a major disappointment is not having a voice recording of the wonderful SOUNDS of travel. (The one that got away: a woman in St. Peter's Cathedral making a audio-video recording of the interior complete in a florid Bronx accent [think Fran Dresher crossed with Linda Richman])

1. My camera - being a photography nut I couldn't leave ti behind.

2. Noise reducing headphones - for those long haul flights

3. iPod - When I travel (on my own in particular) I'm listening to music for the majority of the day so no iPod would be a nightmare for me.

Cheers

Chris

I agree with the iPod, especially as I found a solar-powered charger. I'm okay without my music (mostly classical) for short trips but over the long term I ache for the sound of Mozart or Mahler and so my iPod is only a semi-luxury. That is: the music is essential. I could have made do with a much less expensive MP3 player.

Tammy,

Solar-powered iPod charger? Do go into more detail, it might just save me on my loooooong train trip from Moscow to Ulan Bataar

Chris

Chris - if you google solar recharge you will find several options. This is the one I found most useful

YMMV

Thanks for that Tammy.

Three unnecessary things I absolutely COULDN'T leave without would be my:

-Appendix
-Coccyx
-Nipples

They follow me wherever I go!

Mahlerite - you v funny...
Like that post a lot LOL
This list is insane - you never know whats coming next. Just as you think there aren't any more unecessary things that people would actually choose to take away with them - up comes another triplet. Great stuff!!

quote:

pack since

Travel Guitar ( 1/2 size kiddies guitar)

Playing Cards (To make money along the way I don't like being conned by locals so would rather take it to them first )

Notepad and Pen