A washcloth, a couple of ziplock bags, and a couple plastic garbage bags.
Sometimes it’s so nice to be able to wash your face in the middle of a day’s travels. One of the
ziplock bags is to hold the now damp washcloth. The others, and the garbage bags, are for whatever might come up.
Don’t forget an extra pair / set of prescription eyewear and a copy of the prescription if either of you wear them. If you wear contacts, an extra bottle of solution wouldn’t hurt. An eyeglasses repair kit also comes in handy.
A small sewing kit could be a lifesaver and doesn’t take up much room.
If you have enough room in your check ons, a package of TP isn’t a bad idea for overseas travel as a Delicate Princess Flower TM. Some of the stuff I’ve come across would make a corn cob seem like a silk handkerchief.
And speaking of handkerchieves, IME, packing a half dozen bandanas can be right down handy wherever you travel. They do duty as washclothes, head covers, snot rags, mini aprons, small knapsacks, etc , are easily washed out in a lavatory and dry much more quickly than terry cloth.
Bon Voyage!
Alternately, a package of those pocket-sized packs of Kleenex. My biggest issue with TP was the lack thereof in some popular locations rather than icky TP, but the pocket sized pack of Kleenex took care of my needs and those of some companions more than once.
Liquor and porn.
(I’m disappointed none of y’all posted this yet; what has become of this place?) 
Packed!
Packed!
Packed!
One of each. That wedding might get called back on, after all.
Packed! Plus a little stretchy clothesline thingy. Plus, mr emilyforce says we should take plugs for the tub drain and the inevitable floor drain, as they often aren’t plumbed with traps, so sewer gases leak out. yech.
Packed!
Packed! My luggage cable is built into my Pacsafe purse.
Packed! I love that stuff.
Hmmn…
Yep!
Ah, good call. I know mr emilyforce has some but I should take one for my gizmos too.
Packed, packed, and good idea.
Fortunately, we don’t.
Packed - I always keep one of these in my purse anyway. You’re right, it’s saved my butt a few times.
Oh yes indeedy, packed. I was recently in a university bathroom in Colorado where they’d run out – it can happen ANYWHERE, you know.
Well, I have one packed; that might be my bandana tolerance limit.
oh hell yes. In fact, I’m probably going to have to pack a full-sized box, as wouldn’t you know it? I’ve just come down with an evil cold. So plenty of Kleenex and cold meds to boot.
Does Fine Homebuilding’s Kitchens and Baths issue count as porn?
Make sure your friend has photocopies of your passports and/or can access the scans of them for re-printing. It’s helpful to have someone able to fax those to you (or to your embassy) if ever needed.
Just have your passport (and other important info) scanned and emailed to you. When sending myself credit card numbers and stuff like that I hide it in a mass of birthdays, phone numbers, etc. so that only I know where the real meaningful number is.
I’m actually kind of pissed at this thread. I’m a packing-light fanatic- my last trip was a month in Mali with nothing more than a school book bag. I’m the girl who tears pages out from guidebooks to save weight, swear that Doc Bronner’s works fine as shampoo (actually, nowadays I use Lush Cosmetics solid shampoo- it actually is good, and never leaks) and figures she can buy a sweater locally if she gets cold. I think the folks at One Bag are over packing high maintenance pussies. So I came in ready to poo-poo everyone suggestions.
But really, pretty solid advice. I even approve of the little clothesline.
I’d skip the Purell. To actually kill anything you need to use like half of those little bottles at a time. It provides psychological protection, only, and that isn’t worth the risk of leaks. If you want clean hands, you gotta use soap and water. Don’t worry about too much tissue- small packets of tissue are one of the few things readily available worldwide. A needle tucked into your dental floss case is a fine sewing kit.
And remember, while it’s tempting to pack for every emergency, the chances that you might use that emergency scuba mask (or whatever) has to be weighed against the fact that you really *will *have to haul this stuff everywhere you go. These little things add up. Luggage is a burden that won’t go away for your entire trip. It makes you easier to rob, less able to do what you want, and a lot more uncomfortable. To some degree everything you really need will be available there- after all, tons of people live there every day. If it rains, I promise they have umbrellas. If you get sick, even the most podunk pharmacy in Africa has a decent selection of medicine. If you run out of socks, well socks are something that people appreciate worldwide. So don’t worry too much about what you pack, just make sure you don’t have more stuff than you are comfortable carrying for a few blocks or holding on your lap on a long distance bus trip.
Oops! Mea Culpa! 
Sounds like you’ve got an amazing amount of awesome suggestions here. Hope you have a wonderful trip
You don’t need to wear a headscarf to go into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
I recommend long skirts, though. They (ie, clerics of ANY religion in Jerusalem’s Old City) won’t let a woman in pants into a holy area. No short sleeves, either. Tuck the headscarf into your bag if you want to go to the Dome of the Rock, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll a. need it or b. be allowed in. (I wasn’t, and I was with an Israeli Arab friend, and dressed perfectly appropriately. No idea why.)
Aha! I may do that.
So do I understand that you’re pissed because you expected to get to pooh-pooh, but don’t want to anymore? That’s pretty cool.
I’m taking a little bar of solid unscented Dr. Bronner’s for laundry, body, shampoo, and general use. Strong scents are a migraine trigger for me, so the bar is win-win.
We actually have something nonalcohol-based called “Woodward’s Hand Clens” rather than an alcohol gel like Purell, mostly because the bottles have proved themselves to me to be leakproof. (Although I’m not sure I agree with you about the “have to use half the bottle of Purell for it to be effective” part.) The thing is, while soap and water is best, sometimes it’s not available when you need it. And sometimes the water itself is the problem.
Okay, you’re an Ultralighter, but in my world, NOT having a tissue when you need one – even if they’re on sale 100 yards away – sucks way more than carrying tissue. And did I mention about the Delicate Flower Princess part? I really wasn’t kidding. I’ve used premium 3-ply aloe-lotion Kleenex exclusively for years because I hate the nose chapping I get with the regular ones so much. I generate a lot of snot. I use a lot of Kleenex.
If I were backpacking, I’d do this. Since I’m not and since most of the clothing I’m taking is black or dark, instead, I’m taking a hank each of black and gray thread, a needle, and a few safety pins. Also, I use dental tape (extra-super wide floss) which is a PITA to sew with.
I think I understand and respect your philosophy. Mine is a hybrid of pack-light and anticipate-all.
It’s not that crap like tissue cannot be acquired on trips; it’s that shopping is low on my list of preferred travel activities. (See Post #10 for a related anecdote.) Keeping up with mr emilyforce means being ready to go NOW and being prepared to stay out all day. He is kind to his DFP and as accommodating as I could ask for, but I like to avoid slowing him up if I can.
Now here’s one that illustrates my point perfectly. A couple of years ago, mr emilyforce went to Sydney (from here in the USA) for a conference. they messed up his flights, so he had an unexpected layover in LA. He took the opportunity to go traipse around a bit – in LA, in July – and let them check all his baggage so he could traipse light (and yes, you *could *argue that he brought the following on himself by trusting the airline!). Of course, they lost his baggage, and he landed in Sydney wearing Tevas and shorts in the middle of winter. The airline gave him a whopping $100 to buy necessities. :rolleyes: Since he wasn’t familiar with the city and didn’t know anyone there, it took him a full day to get to a shopping area by bus to buy that local sweater. He never did find any shoes. The luggage arrived about 24 hours before his flight home.
So in all my packing for joint adventures, whether to cities or the backcountry, I try to pack thoroughly but lightly. I’m careful about not taking too *much *of my niceties, and I repack them from original containers into something lighter and more packable. And no scuba masks. 
Also, mr emilyforce found that a few unexpected things WERE very hard to find, at least in Irbid, such as lip balm. Who’d a thunk it? As a hard core lip balm addict, I have prepared for the worst, with two fresh tubes of Blistex – one entrusted to my husband just in case I’m the one who gets robbed.
Really? I wonder why mr emilyforce thinks I do. I’ll go interrogate him.
Thanks. Skirt is in the wash and will be included.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see women in the CotHS wearing headscarves, so if he’s been there before, he may have seen it and thought it was required, but anyone who does is following a cultural tradition, not a church requirement. The CotHS is an incredibly fascinating place - different bits of it are run by, IIRC, eleven different churches, including a bit of the roof that’s been staked out by an Ethiopian church. So you’ll see two, stylistically very different, altars right next to each other in some corner, and the different denominations take turns holding services.
I talked to some German girls who were very disappointed with it - they had expected something like the Cologne cathedral. A majestic building, it is not. But it has an amazing history - keep an eye out for the forest of tiny crosses carved into the walls; they were made by the Crusaders.
Anyway, I’ve been in the CotHS three (maybe four?) times, and I’ve never worn a headscarf, anywhere. (Like, never in my life.) My friend and I went on Easter Sunday and while wandering around, a Greek Orthodox monk asked us if we wanted to see something. We said yes, and followed him into what was apparently the Greek Orthodox monk coffee break room, where he showed us…a piece of the True Cross! :dubious: Anyway, it was cool. I bet they’d be happy to show it to you if you ask.
Do what you like. I’m just saying what I would do, and noting that “ready access to little packets of tissue” is one of the few things that unite us as humans.
Personally, I think no trip is complete without a trip to a local supermarket, but then I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been to a place where there was much to do besides bum around local markets. Anyway, as long as I don’t have to carry your stuff or watch your bags all the time, how anyone else packs is no skin off my back.
Yeah, and this is my main reason being so obsessive about packing light. I’m convinced the moment I let my bags out of my sight, they will end up stolen or lost or blown up by the bomb squad or something. I am nearly never outside of touching-distance of my bags. So I only pack what I can take with me into the bathroom stall, lug around all day, etc.
Rather than money, I always bring at least 3 sources of money. Two ATM’s (which also function as a credit card) and a credit card. I also carry around some rather archaic traveler’s checks because I’m paranoid.
As far as the scans of your passport go, I also email myself the scan of my passport using web based email, so I have easy access. I also store a cryptically coded email that contains my credit card numbers in case of loss.
You should always have enough cash to survive at least a few days including hotel bills. Last year when I was checking out of a hotel in Kuwait and headed to the airport, the entire country’s ATM/Credit Card network went down and I could not use an ATM or credit card anywhere. I had to pay for my 3 night stay in cash.
The Middle East is very safe and this past trip to Jordan we carried roughly 1000 EUR and 500 CHF (Swiss Francs) between my wife and I. This is about $1800 and although we didn’t use much of it (only 200 EUR I think), I never go anywhere without a good amount of cash. Of course Jordan has more ATM options than most places I tend to go, but cash doesn’t need electricity.
We keep some hidden in a deep pocket in our main bags, some in a daypack and some in a wallet.
Really? The jury duty folks wouldn’t settle for copies of your tickets and passport stamps when you get back?
I always travel with a flashlight, I prefer the head lamp kind, and keep it by the bed at night. I’ve been glad I had it several times.
Also, a Swiss Army knife and 4 or 5 extra last resort C-notes stuck in a book or something. I’ll admit that the closest the Swiss Army Knife has ever came to saving the day is opening some wine on a train in Slovakia.
Jury duty was just an example.
If your cellphone is Verizon, it generally won’t work overseas. Tell the company that you are traveling, and I think they will set you up temporarily with a compatible phone.
The phone number of your creditcard company, your embassy?
Did you get your shots yet?
Did you warn your bank that they might see charges from your credit card half a world away?
I was advised to bring about $150 in singles for tips (it was a 19 day trip through Egypt), and I actually ran out. The locals didn’t like Egyptian Pounds; some even refused to accept them. But that may be peculiar to Egypt.
Toilet seat covers?
Water bottle carrier? E.g., the kind that you can sling over your shoulder or that hooks into your belt. Better than that: two water bottle carriers.