When you pack light, you leave unnecessary items at home. There may however, be an item you just don’t want to do without. For me, that is a Japanese Salux scrub cloth (available here and through Amazon). I find that it’s the best scrub cloth in the entire universe, and it’s practically indestructible. Fortunately, Salux scrub clothes take up almost no space, and dry really quickly.

I was curious if other people had any special item they still travel with, so I posed the question at the forums at Tom Bihn’s website. People seemed to take some very interesting things close to their heart.

• Autolycus travels with a small Travelocity roaming gnome, which was given as a gift from a co-worker.
• TavaPeak travels with a small paper journal.
• Jenne travels with a portable hula hoop (one that collapses so it can be packed)
• AVService travels with a tiny but full-featured amateur radio transceiver that provides AM/FM/weather, as well as VHF, UHF, aircraft, marine, shortwave, railroad, and public safety broadcasts, as well as transmit.
• JLE likes to travel with tiny travel candles to mask the odor of hotel rooms, a Bluetooth speaker for her iPad, and very small hair-straightening irons. Most unusual, however, is her squeezy tube of Vegemite.
• Snowbot likes to travel with a small nightlight.
• WhiteStar likes to travel with three to six dogs (probably not packed in the carry-on, though).
• Badger has two stuffed Uglydog dolls that travel with her everywhere.
• As a chiropractor, Chiro75 carries a lot of odd chiropractic instruments that cause the TSA a lot of consternation.
• Kinsale confesses to carrying a mini-bottle of vodka in their 3-1-1 toiletry kit. “Just in case.”
• Frank II from One Bag, One World likes to take a telescoping backscratcher.
• KmK likes to travel with a very small owl figuring that allows her to feel at home wherever she goes.
• Moriond likes to travel with some emergency food in the form of Lärabars.
• BChaplin likes to take instant coffee in the form of Starbucks VIA packs, an insulated Thermos, and a 220-volt instant water healer to avoid any caffeine withdrawal.
• Dorayme, always takes her knitting or crotcheting things with her, but when traveling by car, takes her spinning bike!
• When traveling by car, Darbs always packs some Diet Coke.
• Eire takes a small shortwave radio.
• Tzporah takes a headlamp and earplugs.

Is there anything special you like to take with you on your travels?