Nahrep Collierlee

Sunscreen, Sunglasses, Lip Balm
One big bottle of factor fifteen sunscreen or better should be enough unless you plan on spending a lot of time at the beach. As with any other liquids, keep them in sealed plastic bags with the caps taped on until needed. Trust me on this one. Sunglasses should be sturdy and inexpensive, but not cheap. Bring a pair with real lenses, not just frames with colored glass, which can be worse than nothing. Sunglasses and sunscreen cost a bundle in touristy areas. A lip balm that includes sunscreen is best.

A Watch with Alarm or Travel Clock
Modern travel alarm clocks can be tiny — no bigger than a cassette tape. A moderately priced digital watch with an alarm and dual time (for timing those phone calls home) will also work if the alarm will wake you reliably — the sound is often not loud enough to stir a deep sleeper. You will have some early trains to catch, and buying a loud, reliable alarm clock is probably going to be money well spent.

A Sleep Sack
Sleep sacks are usually required in hostels, and they serve as bed linen, which hostels do not provide. A sleep sack is essentially a sleeping bag made from sheets, with a pillowcase attached. They are available direct from Hosteling International and discount travel agencies for about fifteen dollars, but you should skip those and make your own. Perfectly good ones can be made in less than an hour. Just fold a sheet over, sew up the long side and one of the short sides, flip inside out, and sew on a pillowcase — much cheaper than buying one, and a neat reminder of home. Sleep sacks with pictures of Barney or the Smurfs are considered very cool in Europe and will greatly impress the locals.

A Towel
This is a pet peeve of mine. You are much better off with a small, new, regular-weight bath towel than with one of those miserable little travel towels that soak up about as much water as a tissue and shed like a sheep dog. Sew a couple of solid cloth loops (old belt loops work well) to your towel so you can hang it from your backpack and let it dry while you’re on the move.

Laundry Bags
Three or four plastic bags for separating dirty clothes, wrapping wet things, and so on, can be a godsend. They’re also good for separating out things you won’t need until a later part of your trip, and keeping them out of the way.

Toilet Paper
Don’t laugh. In my scrapbook, I have several sheets of a gray substance. When asked to identify it, my friends guess that it is a type of mild abrasive, or perhaps tire-patching material. It is neither of these. It is, in fact, toilet paper from a Polish train station, and even today looking at it makes me cringe. But even this hellish stuff is superior to no paper at all, which is not uncommon in some bathrooms, particularly in public places. A good-sized wad of tissue at the bottom of a pocket or a daypack may some day save you from an unpleasant and undignified predicament. Remember, when others, less prepared than you, are in desperation, bargain mercilessly, especially if you’ve got the downy-soft product from home.