I think I took just enough stuff with me for the trip, and I can only think of a few items which never got used.
The Mosquito Net, which was recommended by the place I got my travel vaccinations from (though I bought one from somewhere else) never came into play. I’m not overly concerned about that, even though it took up some space (about the size of a tall beer can) because it’s not the sort of thing that’s easy to improvise, and when I set out I had no idea where I might be going, and whether I’d find myself needing one.
The Little Emergency Torch, which is probably 15 years old at this point & I really should check the battery life on. It’s tiny & weighs nothing, and I never found a circumstance where I needed it. I’ve got a USB Chargeable one that got used once or twice as a light, and a bunch of times as a clip to hold curtains closed.
Out of an abundance of caution over water quality issues, I ended up improvising a piece of toothbrushing equipment, in the form of a cap from a water bottle. Turns out a capful of water is plenty, and it’s a great deal easier to manage than attempting to wet a toothbrush or one of those dental bottlebrush things from a bottle of water.
The little sewing kit actually got some use, but not by me. It’s the remnants of 2 or 3 different kits from various hotel receptions over the years, plus a few other bits, all stuffed into a “Moo Mints” tin. (The mints weren’t great, but I wanted the tin)
One of the Chiang Mai hostel folk needed to repair a dress; Possibly a secondhand one, or maybe it just got some damage along the way, I’m not sure.
The Tiny Little Glasses only just survived the trip. Not sure when the corner broke off, but for £10.99 easy readers from Waterstones, they’ve lasted well through … Two years & nine countries?
The Packable Green Backpack got WAY more use than I ever expected it to, and carried more stuff than I’d anticipated, so it’s not surprising that the internal laptop pocket is detached at the bottom, and that it’s starting to pull apart around the zippers, though interestingly not at the seam, but in the fabric nearby. For a “bought it at a tourist shop in Christchurch” purchase, it did well.
