What to carry in the bag during your day trip?

Hi Sonia,, as a rule I don't carry a daybag,, but I do carry my purse, which is a roomy messenger bag style bag . I bring some money. My brush, lipstick, map, sometimes a guide book or pieces of it( yes I rip them up)an umbrella if it looks like it may rain, and my ereader( since I like to read at cafes etc) . I do not always bring a credit or ATMm card,, often leave that in hotel safe. I am not a shopper so estimating my days need for money is not that hard. I don't bring a water bottle, I stop for a drink when thirsty, or pop into a grocers and pick one up. Exception was Rome in July,, would buy a frozen water bottle each morning from street kiosks, and carry it against my neck to cool me down ,, Rome is like Dantes inferno in summer.. LOL I make sure to pack any prepurchased tickets for exhbits that I may need. I try to pack so that if for any reason I lose my purse my trip is not over.. so hence on one days cash. If I feel the need to bring my Passport I will wear it in moneybelt... I usually don't bring it. Oh, I always bring my Drivers License,, I use it as general id, seems to work fine for most basic things( like leaving it on deposit at Louvre when you rent an audioguide). I try and keep things simple. Carrying stuff is not fun. I have carried my camera,, but not always.

Guidebook, map, water bottle, travel size sun block, pen, plastic fork knife & spoon, travel sized kleenex pack, camera bag. Often, I'll stick a sweatshirt in there if I think it might get chilly later, or sometimes a nice light sweater to dress up a bit for dinner. Credit card & ATM card, etc. in money belt. I rarely return to the hotel during the day, unless I've been shopping, or if I want to dress up for the theater.

I took the Pacsafe 200 with me. I usually packed my passport, but kept it in one of the compartments close to my body. In the main portion, I kept the usual, sunblock, guidebook, tissue, and even more important travel wet naps. A small vile of imodium and advil is a good thing to have as well. The Pacsafe has 2 place for water bottles, so I usually packed one water bottle and stuffed my umbrella in the other. I would usually head back to the hotel at least once, to put away things I bought, maybe take a little nap, and freshen up before heading out for the evening.

I always keep passport in my money belt when in a country other than USA with my stash of cash and any prepurchased tickets or rail pass. I usually take my Civita daypack out for the day, depending where I am. If I am in the countryside or hiking through the Alps, I can carry water bottle, light jacket or umbrella – or have a place to put jacket once it warms up. In cities, I usually take a medium size shoulder bag, which is large enough to hold tour book/maps, small change purse, my camera, one of the Pocket Tote bags from this site (extra room if I shop, take off layers or bring back bottle of wine/picnic items and can also serve as beach bag. It's a nifty item). I would recommend carrying only other things you may use for that day, lipstick or chapstick, comb, etc. I feel I can enjoy things more if I don't feel like a pack horse. My husband and I always leave the hotel in the morning, planning to return around 4-5PM or so to rest up, shower, do laundry, perhaps make plans for the next day, then go out for dinner and evening touring. Occasionally we break this routine for a day trip, but it's great to go out for a meal and an evening stroll feeling refreshed, and leaving behind perhaps the tour book or anything else that isn't needed for a few hours.

I always have a small bottle of hand sanitizer, chapstick, asprin, umbrellas if necessary, water bottle, camera, pen, small notepad, kleenex, map and parts of tour guides or papers I've printed for what I want to see. If it's the cold months, generally the hat, gloves and/or scarves go in there at some point too. I also carry one of the plastic, reusable grocery bags I've bought at Tescos/Aldi's. I love to shop at the outdoor markets for snacks or food if we've rented a flat so I'll need something to carry everything back in.

Guidebook (or parts of it), city map, camera, journal, money, lip balm, hand cream, tissues/wipes, credit card or ATM card (depending on what I am doing that day - one thing I learned early on is NEVER carry all your cards in one basket). :) If my hotel is not far away, I may go back during the day but only if it's convenient - I plan as if I will be out for the whole day. I usually do go back before dinner to write/blog and make plans for dinner, but again, it depends on how far away from my hotel or pension/B&B I am.

No backpacks for me, just a purse. Typically a large nylon Le Pliage bag, hold a lot, looks great and wipes clean. I'm used to carrying my world around since I don;t have a car at home, so I have to bring with my for the day what I need in my purse, so everyday is bascially the same for me, I find I actually bring less when I travel I bring: Ipod, tickets etc. for the day, pieces of the guide book, a map, metro map if needed, camera, lipgloss, a book (probably soon to be e-reader) slimmed down wallet with non passport id, days cash, atm and low limit credit card. Plastic ziplock bag to keep my receipts, tickets etc organized, wipes, umbrella if it gives rain. Small roll up grocery bag and that's about it. Pen and a small notebook. Advil and ginger candys if I'm on a train or boat for an extended period of time.

I carry my guide book, sunglasses, mini first aid kit, small notebook & pen, camera, kleenex, sweater(?), and my must have: a small compass - I rarely know my directions when I exit an underground/metro and reach street level.

In addition to all of the things that people mention here, I was going to haul my netbook, Kindle, and iPod with me all day long, just so I know they're safe. Is this really unnecessary? Would it be okay to leave them in my hotel room safe?

In my daybag (a small messenger bag) I carry a camera, pen(s), small notebook, hand sanitizer, lotion, napkins/Kleenex, map, daily cash, water bottle (I tend to get dehydrated easily, esp. if it's hot like it was in Europe in July), metro system map, and any items I need for the day like tickets. I don't shop either, except for souvenirs, but like another poster said it's a good idea to carry a bag you can fold up small. I always mean to do that but usually forget. Everything really vital (this is hard to say because I consider things like my camera and journal vital!) goes in my moneybelt: the rest of my cash, passport, credit cards, ATM card, health insurance card, student ID, driver's license. For those who are younger, or at least look younger, use your student ID for discounts at museums. I'm no longer a student but my ID expires in 2013 so I use it shamelessly.

I avoid a backpack (many museums/sites make you check them); instead I carry a shoulder bag from AmeriBag that holds as much but is fine wtih museums, etc. Since guide books can be so heavy, I have Kinkos cut the spine off and spiral bind only those sections that cover where I'll be traveling[INVALID]often in smaller segments (so for a recent trip that covered 3 regions of France, I had about 50% of the France Blue Guide bound into 3 separate booklets, with relevant parts of the RS guide added to the Blue Guide. That way I had the practical info from RS and the art and history info of the Blude guide, but only needed to carry sections relevant to where I was.

I really like the Civita day bag (tossed over one shoulder) as it starts out very light. In addition to some of the things mentioned above, here a few not mentioned: most important - duct tape, wrapped around an old credit card; a mini plastic multi-compartment box such as for crafts or fishing. This carries all the medications - aspirin, motrin, imodium, pepto-bismol, Tylenol PM etc, etc, Label the lid above each compartment so you know what it is; safety pins pinned to the bag for repairs; small hotel sewing kit; lighter or matches; a mini compass attached to a zipper; a whistle attached to a zipper; a mini flashlight attached to a zipper; hard candies; small knife or multi-tool; small corkscrew. If this seems like a lot, get in the middle of nowhere and suddenly you are everybody's best friend when they have a problem.

Gosh,, forgot one of my must haves,, the disenfecting wet wipes that come in a flat package,, I love them and carry them everywhere.. First thing I do on plane is wipe down the table tray, then the touch screen , then after that they are so usueful for all the times I stop for street food.. Love them.

It depends also on when and where you are traveling. We mostly travel in winter and I quit carrying a water bottle after day 1. It just didn't get used enough in the cool weather to justify the weight. Same thing ended up happening to my italian phrase book, although I could see instances where you might want to have it with you. I always got by with limited italian and pointing. Who wants to wait around while you look up words? In winter, no need to carry sunblock but chapstick is a must. Along with your camera, extra batteries are important! Nothing worse than having your camera die at Trevi Fountain and not being able to get back to your hotel. In smaller cities, we might return to the hotel in the afternoon and go out again at night, but in Rome, pretty much never. Go as light as possible. You'd be amazed how heavy the smallest bag gets after walking around for several hours.

I am not going to repeat the numerous items others carry, and have listed in prior posts, but there is one item I did not see, a small first-aid kit. By small, I am referring to one of the little ones that you can buy in the travel aisle at stores like Target. This comes in handy when studpid little things like a paper cut, splinter, or skined knee occur. I have never actually had to use it for myself, but it has come in handy when our kids are with us, and even better, it is a great ice breaker with the locals. A young lady playing in the park near where my family was picnicing tripped and gashed her leg. When I went over to offer the first-aid kit to help, they thought I must be some kind of doctor, I said not just a parent with four kids, and the conversation began..... Oh, bring a good old fashioned bandana as well. I use this constantly for all sorts of things...towel, to wet and cool off with, as a biker type head covering, napkin, etc...It is easily washed each night in the sink, and dry in an hour.

I carry the Civita daypack. For daily touring I pack, my rainshell (unless I'm absolutely certain I won't need it), basic picnic supplies (swiss army knife and plastic fork), other small items (chap stick, travel sun screen, travel hand sanitizer, a couple of bandaids, a couple of safety pins) plus a local map and local chapter from my guidebook. I usually carry some cash in my front pants pocket but keep other valuables (debit/credit cards/passport) in a moneybelt or neck pouch. I used a leg wallet for the last trip with mixed results. My small digital camera gets a neck strap from a flash drive (to replace the wrist strap they come with) and stays around my neck and normally is tucked into my shirt, jacket or a pocket.

Wallet, camera, brush, aspirin, migraine meds, small pack of tissues, pen, map, hair tie, umbrella if it looks like rain, maybe a print-out of things I want to see, often a small cloth bag for shopping....If it looks like it will cold, then gloves, hat, jacket.... All carried in my messenger bag and it is pretty much the same stuff I carry every day, traveling or not.

Brad reminded me that I really like to carry sporks (the spoon/fork utensil). They are made of hard, flexible plastic. You can buy them online but Walmart carries them now in the camping section as a multi color four pack, and they are much cheaper.

The following items stay in my day backpack: Pen, tiny black marker, hi-liter, small note book, small & medium Post it note pad. Travel compass with with temp gauge C/F. Travel umbrella and poncho. Travel bifocals. Travel stuff sacks that fold to approximately 2" x 3". Dell Notebook. Water. Travel scissors, mending kit, liquid skin, band aids, plastic toothpicks, pill box and fingernail file. Three Carabiners - assorted sizes. Baby wipes and antibacterial solution. Small knife with holder, coffee can lid and large cloth napkin for picnics. Starbucks insulated coffee cup for hot or cold liquids. Small, medium and large zip lock bags and facial tissues (also used as bathroom tissue). Two LED flashlights. With the exception of the Starbucks cup and Dell Notebook, all items stay in my day back pack year round. Actually, all the items take up very little space in my day back pack and weigh very little.

Good post Sonia, I've noticed some handy items from the others that will be added to my day pack!