Last month, on the long holiday, my friends and I decided to spend one of holiday in Bantam, Indonesia. Batam is  66 km away from Singapore, just 2hours and 42 minutes away. I just feel like I am in Iloilo travelling to Bacolod. My friends and I were excited to travel to Batam for day of seafood feast and relaxing massage. But on the ferry terminal, I realized I committed the moral sin in travelling: I forgot my passport!  Epic Fail! Yes, I felt like I was just travelling to Bacolod that doesn’t need passport but we were travelling to another country! So I have to hurry back to my place (that is so far from the ferry terminal) in a speedy taxi to get my passport and return to the ferry terminal to catch a trip to Batam.

Learning from this travelling disaster, I came up with at least 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER FORGET TO BRING WHEN YOU’RE TRAVELLING  (I believe there are more than 5 though):

1. PASSPORT AND AIRLINE TICKET

Never commit this mistake (again). Of course this only implies to travelling abroad. This can be a big disaster if all your bags are pack but if you leave your passport and airline tickets at home, you will never go anywhere.

2. BALLPEN

Travelling would require you to fill in embarkation  cards or jot down numbers/addresses/contact persons , a pen would be very handy. At times, if I forget to bring my pen, I would have to disturb other people to let allow me to borrow their pen. You’ll be lucky if the person you asked is kind enough to lend you their pen Believe me, not everyone can be that gracious.

3. CAMERA

The best thing about travelling is creating memories. And what is the best way of creating memories by documenting with photos. So it will be really frustrating to travel and realize you forgot to bring your camera. It is also important to bring your battery charger or a least bring extra batteries for your camera.

4. EXTRA CASH

Its essential to have a budget when travelling but don’t forget to keep an extra cash in some hidden pocket. Unexpected things can happen during travel. It is good to have an extra cash that is just for emergency purposes like  you gotten mugged  (God forbid!) or you found a out-of-budget-bag-of-your-dreams.

5. FIRST AID KIT

As a doctor, I believe it is important to bring a small first aid just in case it is needed in the trip. Your kit should contain:

a.) anti-diarrhea medication

b.) antihistamine for runny nose or itchiness

c.) motion sickness tablets

d.) paracetamol for fever or pain medication

e.) antiseptic solution like Betadine

f.) Band-aid or plaster

g.) alcohol

I hope this help you guys so you wont make the same silly mistake that I did… Happy Travelling!