This month’s guest post with “5 things I always pack” is from Beth Whitman. She is the author and publisher of the Wanderlust and Lipstick guides for women travelers, the editor of WanderlustAndLipstick.com, and leads tours to Bhutan, India, Vietnam and Cambodia. Here’s what she carries with her when she hits the road.

1. SteriPEN

In an effort to reduce my garbage footprint when I travel, I always carry a SteriPen Traveler water purifier. I’ve used this on numerous trips to India, drinking the tap water (hint: it still tastes yucky) and have never gotten Delhi Belly as a result.

2. eReader

I still buy the print versions of guidebooks because nothing beats lying in bed at night and highlighting all the places I want to visit. But for leisure reading, I upload books to an eReader, like Amazon’s Kindle, so that I’m not wasting space in my bag on a heavy tome.

3. Eyeshade

I’m never without an eyeshade that I wear on the plane or in my hotel room when there’s too much light coming through the window. It’s cheap and takes up little space, but is such a lifesaver when I really want/need to sleep.

4. Cable Lock

Nothing beats the added protection of a retractable cable lock. I can lock my backpack to my bed on an overnight train or to a stationary object in my hotel room if I’m staying someplace where I’m a little concerned about leaving my valuables behind.

5. Digital Photo Storage

Of course I always have a camera with me. But, I learned a hard lesson (I lost – but later recovered – about 300 images taken in India) about backing up my images nightly. These are generally small units that have the capacity to hold far more images or video than I’ll ever take on one trip. I use one from Digital Foci.

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