15 Carry On Essentials For Long Flights

Travel Document Holder

This surely is a no-brainer, but print out any documents you might need for your holibobs. Pop them in an easy-to-access travel document holder. Think visa documents, accommodation information, even flight confirmation.

You don’t want to be wandering around the airport trying to connect to the Wi-Fi to prove that you did actually book a ticket! Check out these different types and choose one that includes space for everything you’ll need!

Electronic Organiser

If you lose your holiday suitcase, then you can go on a shopping spree and buy a whole new wardrobe. However, you’ll less likely to want to spend thousands of pounds replacing all of your technology.

Try putting everything in one of these small organisers. That way, you also know where everything is when you come to watch a film on your laptop, read a book on your Kindle or charge your phone.

Don’t forget to buy strong padlocks as well for not just your hand luggage, but your hold case too! Don’t use brightly coloured ones though; they might attract the wrong kind of attention and get you targeted by plucky thieves.

A Change Of Clean Clothes

Have you ever experienced a delayed flight? An hour or two isn’t so bad but sometimes you can be stuck in an airport for what seems like forever.

A quick change of clothes from your hand luggage can do wonders for your mental state! Make it simple – a t shirt and leggings/light trousers and new underwear will make you feel like you’ve started a new day, not continued the old one on for weeks!

Hair Ties

If you’ve got long hair, you’ll know that the worst thing to experience is having it stuck to your face when you’re all hot and sweaty!

Although aeroplanes can be chilly, you can also get quite warm if you wrap up in a blanket and have someone to lie on next to you (whether you know them or not…).

Tie your hair up before the flight, but also buy a few spare bands for your hand luggage – those little bastards like to break at the worst possible moment so you don’t want to be caught out!

Slippers

No one likes to wear sturdy shoes on an aeroplane (you know the ones, you want to wear them on the flight because they’re too heavy to pack!) but on the other hand, other people don’t want your stinky feet in their faces.

Wearing socks or even bare feet (!) is frowned upon for a reason, but consider buying a brand new pair of soft slippers if you get uncomfortable – they’ll be nicer to wear than shoes but you won’t get complaints or dirty looks! Click here for a decent selection.

Lush Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster Mouthwash Tab 1.5oz

Cleaning your teeth can literally make you feel like a new person!

Halfway through a flight, take a break from sitting down and go and chew on a tab. You’ll be surprised about the difference it makes!

You could also buy toothpaste and a bamboo brush if you have the space.

Dry Soap Leaves

In addition to the cleanser, you should invest in some dry soap leaves.

They’re handy for airport layovers where you can have a shower but they don’t provide toiletries.

A quick spruce in the bathroom will leave you smelling less like a dirty traveller and more like an important jet-setter!

Face Cleanser

In an ideal world, I would advise against wearing any make up at all on a plane.

However, I always do because when I leave the house or hotel, I’m raring to go and excited for my next destination, and I want to look nice in all of the selfies!!

Realistically though, it will come off soon into the flight, so take some facial cleanser and take some facial cleanser to completely remove any foundation, concealer or even mascara. Don’t forget to bring some reusable pads too!

Your face will feel fresher for it, and you won’t even remember you’ve gone bare by the time you get off the plane!

This kit actually includes multiple moisturisers as well so take your pick!

Lip Balm

We all know that flying can dry the hell out of our skin, so pack in a tiny stick of lip balm. Moisturise your lips first, but you can also rub a small amount into your hands and even your face if you’re really desperate!

These flavoured lip balm sticks are vegan and bee-free too!

Pens and Paper/Colouring Books

You may or may not enjoy writing and drawing, but sometimes it’s nice to look away from
a screen and do something productive.

Make a list of things you want to do on your trip, fill in one of these naughty adult colouring books or even start writing your own story!

You don’t even have to complete it. Just get creative and the time will fly.

Snacks

Keeping the hunger at bay can be difficult if you’ve got multiple layovers, red-eye flights and long transfers.

The easy thing to do would be to grab some salty crisps or a cheeky Snickers from the expensive airport shops but realistically that’s only going to make you feel sluggish.

Take a few granola bars, a bag of raisins or some nuts to snack on between meals whilst you travel. It sounds boring but you’ll feel better for it!

Kindle

If you don’t have a Kindle or similar, speed up to modern day life and buy one!

Honestly, there’s nothing like holding a real book in your hands but when you’re travelling, you could literally never run out of things to read.

Plus, the most modern e-readers you can buy are super light and fit in almost any space in your hand luggage. They’re important long haul flight essentials because you can just wile away the flying time!

Medication

You should have easy access to your medication at all times. Not only that, but a small first aid kit might come in handy too.

Even if you just need a headache tablet, or a little plaster, you’ll be glad that you were smart and don’t have to dig around in your suitcase for it!

Try this mini kit – it has 92 different medical supplies that will help you with the most common minor injuries until you need to get to a hospital if need be!

Reusable Water Bottle

Bring an empty water bottle to fill up at the gate or on the plane.

Choose a highly-rated, reusable and sturdy one like this, or this one so that you can use it on your travels too.

Don’t wait until after security to buy a bottle because in some airports, security is directly before the gate area. This means that there won’t be anywhere to buy any.

Keep hydrated throughout the whole flight – not a good idea to drink alcohol before or during the journey (do as we say, not as we do!!)