The Ultimate List of Travel Essentials

"Damn!" you scream, or maybe something far worse, because you have just lost the middle button on your shirt or you've realized that the book you just bought will not fit into your purse, pocket or bag and you have to carry it around in your hand all day. Or maybe you are cursing and screaming because you are in a country where you can not readily buy aspirin and the pharmacist does not understand your crazy hand gestures as you hit your head over and over again trying to mime that you have a headache. There are so many things we would like to take with us while we are out exploring a new place for the day, but we don't want to be tied down with pounds of luggage or fifty items hanging off of our bodies. Granted necessities vary from place to place, but here is my list for the most universally needed and forgotten things.

Chapstick (or which ever brand you prefer) If you are out in the sun or if you have just finished a nice salty basket of English fish and chips then there is nothing you are going to want more than chapstick. There is nothing worse than repeatedly licking your lips all day in hope of hydration.

A sewing kit: I know what you're thinking.."how can I carry around an entire sewing kit with me wherever I go", but believe me you can and you want to. You can buy sewing kits at the grocery store, drug store, craft store and they come the size of a business card. I bought a small plastic sewing kit when the strap on my backpack broke in Mallorca and I refuse to travel without it.

Safety pins: if your sewing kit does not include safety pins, then put some in. There is nothing worse than putting on a dress only to realize you are showing entirely too much cleavage or going to the bathroom and breaking the fly on your pants.

Aspirin: or Tylenol, Advil or whichever brand floats your boat. A headache can come from anywhere. You may have pondered a detailed Archimboldo for too long or studied a subway map too hard, or been up all night listening to barking dogs rummaging through the dumpsters, but nothing can derail a perfectly pleasant day quite like a headache.

Bandaids: I would like to hear of one person on this earth that has gone on vacation and not had some form of cut or blister. Usually they are on our feet and I have had many days in my life where I have let a blister get the better of me. Buy a good brand of bandages or even splurge and get the overly priced heel pads, mole skin or Doctor scholl's products.

A pen/pencil and paper: I'm sure you have been to a bookstore and been tempted to drop some change on a miniature travel journal by some monopolizing brand, but you really only need a 2 X 3 steno pad or even better Mead makes a little notebook with a plastic cover and a spiral binding, perfect for storing your pencil and the plastic cover protects against spills. You never know when you'll want to write something down, like the name of a painting or a place you cannot pronounce which you can politely show to a local with an inquisitive look and wait for them to point a finger in the right direction.

A cork screw: You've just spent 20 euros on a bottle of the best wine Italy has to offer and now you are stuck in your hotel room contemplating how big of a mess you might make if you decide to just push the cork in.

Hand sanitizer, Airborne, Vitamin C pills: You do not want to get sick on vacation.

A pocket sized dictionary: I know that most everyone reading this probably has a smart phone and can translate words in two seconds flat, but if you have no such phone or no reception then please bring a dictionary or at least write down words in phrase in your notebook before you leave. Try to speak the language. It doesn't matter what your accent sounds like or how bad you botch every word, the point is that you try.