10 surprisingly useful and affordable travel items for your holiday

What actually earns back its space in your case

The travel gear market is enormous and most of it is overkill for a normal holiday. The items that genuinely earn their space are surprisingly boring. A universal travel adaptor that covers multiple regions, a small first aid kit, a proper reusable water bottle and a couple of packing cubes for organisation.

Everything else is nice to have but not essential. Resist the pressure to over equip for what is likely to be a fairly standard holiday, and focus your gear spend on the items that reduce actual friction.

Money on the ground

The single most valuable financial preparation for overseas travel is a decent debit or credit card with no overseas transaction fees. Chase, Starling and Monzo all offer fee free spending abroad on debit cards, and multiple credit card options do the same.

This one change typically saves 2 to 3 percent on every overseas transaction, which adds up to meaningful sums across a week or two of holiday spending. The savings from this alone often exceed what you'd save from most other travel money hacks combined.

The insurance and admin foundation

Comprehensive travel insurance from a reputable provider is not optional for any trip involving medical costs above what your household can absorb. This particularly applies to trips to the United States, where medical bills without insurance run into life changing sums.

GHIC card if travelling in Europe, EHIC if you still have one valid, and check that any pre existing medical conditions are properly declared and covered.