Have you ever lost a piece of luggage? It happened to me and I got it back days later. From that (tragic!) experience I learned that there are things it is always better to keep in your hand luggage. Below I’ll tell you what they are!
Have you ever had something go wrong on a trip?
Travelling brings mishaps and the need to adapt.
Suitcases can be lost, stolen or damaged. Your train or plane can be delayed and you can find yourself separated from your luggage from one moment to the next for hours and hours, or worse for entire days.
To cope with hours of waiting, painful forced separations, lost bags and long delays, here are the 8 things I think you absolutely must keep in your hand luggage: not in the big suitcase, but in the bag, backpack or satchel you always carry with you.
Ready?
Let’s go!
1 – Money, documents and anything valuable
Money and documents are the only two things you genuinely need when you travel. They are the absolute priority and must always be within reach: without documents you don’t leave, and without money you won’t get far. Always keep them in your hand luggage.
If you are carrying valuables (computer, cameras, tablet, jewellery and so on), I recommend putting them in your hand luggage. Three reasons:
- you can keep an eye on them more easily;
- checked bags are often “thrown” and piled on top of one another, which could damage your devices;
- if the checked suitcase doesn’t turn up, at least you will have what you need to work or to photograph your holiday.
One clarification that matters more now than it did then: most airlines explicitly exclude from their liability valuables, electronics, jewellery and cash placed in the hold. Translated: if you check them in and they vanish, you are unlikely to be reimbursed.
2 – Underwear
If you are sniggering, go ahead, but I promise you that if they lose your bag and you are left without underwear you won’t find it so funny…
It sounds silly, but it is worth carrying at least one spare pair of pants, even if your hand luggage is an elegant little handbag. Whatever mishap befalls you, they are one of the most indispensable things, believe me!
3 – A toothbrush
Two more objects I consider indispensable to life are a toothbrush and toothpaste. I bought mine in travel size: they take up hardly any space and I take them with me without fail. If you keep them in your hand luggage you won’t regret it!
Just remember that toothpaste counts as a liquid for airport rules, so it has to be in the 100 ml maximum format inside the transparent bag (more on that below).
4 – The charger and the power bank
We use our phones for everything, but rarely for calling. And then when we need to make a call, it is invariably flat. Your journey might be delayed, things might go wrong and that famous suitcase might get lost who knows where: carrying a charger and, better still, a power bank can be enormously useful.
On this there is a rule that isn’t advice but an obligation: the power bank must travel in your hand luggage and cannot go in the hold, because lithium batteries are classed as dangerous goods. Several airlines have in recent years also banned charging or using them in flight, and ask you to keep them in sight rather than in the overhead locker. If they find one in your checked bag at security, at best they will make you take it out on the spot.
5 – A book
I say book but it can also be a newspaper, an e-reader or a magazine. Something to read, in my view, is indispensable when travelling. It helps pass the time, escape the chaos of airports and stations, and relax.
And it is also the only thing on this list that keeps working when your phone is dead and the airport wifi isn’t cooperating.
6 – A scarf
A nice big warm scarf can be enormously useful! It will quickly cover you from the air conditioning if worn as a shawl, or from rain if used as a hood. It can be used as a pillow or as an emergency blanket if you end up sleeping on the floor, in a station, on a plane or anywhere that isn’t a real bed. It can serve as a sarong, as a wrap for covering your shoulders when entering a church and even, incredibly, as a scarf.
A scarf, unlike other garments, takes up little space and is genuinely versatile. Always keep one in your hand luggage!
7 – An emergency wash-and-make-up kit
This point mainly concerns women, but also men who use hair gel or the like. What do you do if the bag with all your make-up goes missing? Buy it all again? I don’t wear much make-up but I have adopted an emergency solution that works well and has become my wash bag for short trips: I always carry a small case with the essentials in miniature.
A travel mascara, samples of moisturiser, cleanser and shower gel, a very worn-down eye pencil and a small plastic comb are for me the only things needed. The results aren’t spectacular but they beat nothing!
If you are interested, I have written a dedicated guide on how to pack a suitcase and save space.
8 – A comfy sweatshirt
The important thing, to be all right, is not to be thirsty, not to be hungry and not to be cold. Since I completely agree with that, I recommend carrying at least a comfortable sweatshirt or light jacket. Yes, even if you are heading to the tropics it can be a great help. If your luggage goes missing you will have something to cover up with, and if the air conditioning tries to kill you, you will have a worthy ally (along with the scarf, of course) to stand up to it.
The rules to know before security
Two things that today make the difference between clearing security in two minutes and losing half the contents of your bag.
Liquids. The rule of containers of 100 ml maximum, all inside a single resealable transparent one-litre bag, came fully back into force across the European Union in September 2024. Since 2025 many airports have started installing new-generation scanners that let you leave liquids in your bag and in some cases carry more, but the situation varies from airport to airport and even from lane to lane. The practical advice remains the same: pack your bag as if the 100 ml limit applied everywhere. Medicines and baby food are the exception and are allowed in larger quantities: if you are on medication, carry it in your hand luggage with the prescription, ideally in English as well as your own language.
Batteries. Besides the power bank I mentioned, all devices with lithium batteries (laptops, cameras, e-cigarettes) go in the cabin.
If the airline loses your suitcase: what to actually do
Since this article was born from a lost bag, it is worth spelling out what you do, because in the moment it happens nobody remembers.
Don’t leave the arrivals area without filling in the PIR (Property Irregularity Report), the lost-baggage form, at the airport’s lost and found desk. It is the document everything else rests on: without it, claiming becomes much harder. Keep your boarding pass and the sticky baggage receipt too.
Then bear in mind the deadlines, set by the Montreal Convention, which applies to international flights:
- damaged baggage: written claim within 7 days of it being returned;
- delayed baggage: written claim within 21 days of it being returned;
- after 21 days with no news, the baggage is considered lost to all intents and purposes.
On compensation: the maximum set by the Convention was raised at the end of 2024 to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), roughly €1,700-1,900 per passenger depending on the exchange rate. It isn’t a sum you automatically receive: it is the ceiling up to which you can be reimbursed for damage you can document. So if you are left without your suitcase and have to buy the essentials, keep every receipt and buy sensible things, because disproportionate spending won’t be recognised.
One last thing, the one that saved me: photograph the contents of your suitcase before you leave. It takes ten seconds and, if you end up having to list what you lost, it saves you half a day of racking your brain.
And you, what would you never leave in the hold? Is there something I have missed off the list?
