Travel essentials: The six items that fuel the perfect holiday

The Indy travel team share the must-take travel gear they pack for every trip

What's on your packing list? (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Even for those of us who like to travel light, there are some key essentials that help take a trip from good to great. Here, the Indy travel team reveal those holiday items that they simply couldn’t live without.

Map

Looking at the backpack which, I hope, will take me over the Pyrenees this week, one thing stands out: a 1:50,000 map. The Catalonian Cartographic Institute’s chart 31 reduces the spectacular landscapes of one of the most beautiful regions in Europe to two dimensions. Yet its 50 shades of grey, yellow, brown, pink, red, black and blue combine to allow the hiker safely to steer a course across the watershed between Spain and France.

Online mapping is one of the greatest gifts of the internet age. Yet a screen cannot generate the same seductive and instructive swirls of contours as a paper map, and neither can it provide inspiration as well as information. Worth bending the cabin baggage rules for.

Simon Calder, travel correspondent

Waterproof purse

I love to swim on holiday, be it in the ocean, a lake or at a water park. Heck, I’d paddle in a puddle if there was nothing else going. The trouble is that, if travelling alone or with a significant other, leaving valuables on the beach while you head in for a dip can be nerve-wracking. I find that worrying about all my holiday money going missing while I blithely skip through the spray really dampens (pardon the pun) the experience for me. So I now always take a waterproof case to pop my currency into. They cost around £15 and, depending on what style you get, can fit cards, keys, cash and even your phone. It means I can relax and get my swim on without suspiciously eyeing the shore every five seconds – and for me, that’s priceless.

Helen Coffey, deputy head of travel

Tiger Balm

I first discovered Tiger Balm when I was backpacking in South-East Asia after graduating uni - really original, I know. From Thailand to Bali, Indonesia to Singapore, my tiny pot of Tiger Balm was a life-saver, and now I take it with me whenever I travel. Western insect-repellents did nothing to deter strange creatures in Asia, but Tiger Balm did. It's also miraculous for soothing bites and making them fade away. What's more, it's incredibly cheap, lasts forever and smells great too.

Rachel Hosie, lifestyle writer

Patterned scarf

A scarf covered in geometric patterns about the size of a cushion is always in my suitcase when I travel. It elevates my go-to “plane uniform” of black hareem pants and a cosy jumper. When my hair gets messy at the beach, I fashion it into a 1950s-style head wrap. On the slopes I tie it around my neck and into my ski jacket as an extra layer of warmth. I even used it to shield my face from desert dust at Coachella. It's so versatile yet takes up hardly any room in my luggage.

Kashmira Gander, lifestyle writer

Mosquito repellent (and a good book)

I couldn’t go away without mosquito repellent, or a good book. But if push comes to shove, I’d rather be bored out of my mind by the pool than spend my evenings leaping around my room in the wee hours like a murderess trying to annihilate the entire mosquito species. And aggressively scratching blotchy red bites at the dinner table is an unsightly experience for all involved.

Olivia Petter, lifestyle writer

Sleep mask

While a good sleeper whenever there’s a bed involved, I am completely incapable of reaching the land of nod when I climb aboard an aircraft. I don’t know what it is – the altitude, the engine noise, the random bouts of turbulence – but even when flying long-haul through the night I struggle. My travel essentials are therefore designed to give me the best shot at getting some kip: ear plugs are a must (the proper waxy ones that mould to your ear), as is a superior sleeping mask. I’m not talking some bit of nylon with a twang of elastic here – I invested in a blackout sleeping mask, which is contoured to ensure no light gets in and features plush material so it’s extremely comfortable on the face and back of the head. It has been responsible for more than one in-flight disco nap, for which I am eternally grateful.

Helen Coffey, deputy head of travel