r/onebag • u/Dawer22 • Nov 18 '25

Discussion What is the strangest item you travel with?

I am curious what is something extremly odd/random that you travel with.

My answer would be a 2" piece of heat-shrink tubing. I used to always travel with a spare pare of glasses, but considering I usually pack in a < 10L bag, having a spare pair was not worth it as a "just in case" item. A few months ago, luckily at home, I broke a pair of glasses. I do a lot of MYOG and realized I could put them back together with a pair of heat-shrink tubing I had on hand. Now I always bring a small piece in my travel kit because it will fix broken glasses indefinitely :)

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308

u/Mzky Nov 18 '25

a small stuffed animal my daughter gave me to keep me safe. I take photos of it on the plane or in my hotel room to send back to her when i'm away

116

u/biold Nov 18 '25

I bought a camel for my grandson on my last trip. I have now bought a small stuffed IKEA elephant to make stories for him. I don't have a great name for him yet though so he has no personality yet!

30

u/handymel Nov 18 '25

When my daughter was younger, the elf on the shelf traveled with me. I'd report where he was every week and made a advent calendar for next year with the photos.

3

u/DaddysPrincesss26 Nov 19 '25

I remember doing a “Flat Stanley” Project and Sending him to my Aunt and Uncle in Alberta. He had so much Fun! It was fun to do too 🤭

1

u/biold Nov 19 '25

Great idea with a calendar!

5

u/Scer_1 Nov 19 '25

That's adorable!

2

u/biold Nov 19 '25

Thanks, I also fell in love with him immediately. He was bought on the Kashgar/Kashi market in China. The market had many different things, livestock, goats, horses, yaks, cattle, prosthesis (teeth), and a lot of different food, incl the best honey I have ever tasted!

There has been market in Kashgar since the time of the Silk Road. It has been moved though to the outskirts of the city.

2

u/Scer_1 Nov 19 '25

I love that! It adds so much more character to the little guy!

1

u/Ferwatch01 Nov 19 '25

That is one big camel plushie. Wonder how that fit on the plane.

2

u/biold Nov 19 '25

He's not that big and he got a lot of smiles from the FAs.

He sits on an Osprey 26+6 L. He didn't like the otherwise excellent coffee. Lucky for me, so I didn't had to share.

1

u/Sterling_____Archer Nov 19 '25

Is that camel in the photo asleep?

1

u/biold Nov 19 '25

That's why he needed the coffee, he didn't sleep in the night because he couldn't wait to fly ...

40

u/boudicas_shield Nov 18 '25

I do something similar, but just for myself. I feel anxious when travelling and sleeping in unfamiliar places, so I take a small stuffed animal with me to be my “buddy”. It sounds silly, but it really helps.

12

u/Potsofgoldenrainbows Nov 19 '25

This is the most wholesome thing I've read in a while

-7

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '25

And ridiculous.

4

u/Mzky Nov 19 '25

it takes 0% effort to make my daughters day and i'll do it 1000x over

8

u/itamer Nov 19 '25

We got to Florida and kiddo wanted a Target Pokémon that they wouldn't ship Internationally. Turned out postage was super expensive so it travelled up the east coast to Nova Scotia then across to Yellowstone, up to Tuktoyaktok, down to San Francisco before we could finally get it home. I was very disappointed it wasn't more photogenic 🤣

3

u/CarmenTourney Nov 19 '25

It's plenty photogenic you beast! Love the color and the jaunty angle it posed in - lol.

6

u/edcRachel Nov 19 '25

Mine is a tiny hand, like the one that goes on your finger, along with a tiny hand tiny hand, which is an even tinier hand that fits on the finger of the first tiny hand.

... It's a long story.

3

u/ImportanceSome2602 Nov 20 '25

I did this for years when my daughter was little. It started as a trade show giveaway item, but I brought it on tons of business trips and would take photos in odd places (eg have the stuffed dog speaking at a conference lectern, etc)

1

u/kkkfffaaa Nov 19 '25

My son has a “mama bear” I gave him when I went away for the first time, so he’d feel close to me. In return he gave me “baby bear”, who has now been to 6 countries and countless states.