4 things travel pros always pack

When you’re tossing stuff into your suitcase for your summer getaway, you’re looking for things to leave out, yes? But when FIRST caught up to super travelers, they said—surprise—the key is what you leave in

1 Duct tape

Claire Paniccia knows a thing or two about packing light: She once traveled through Europe for five weeks carrying only a backpack and a purse. “Duct tape has saved me in many travel situations,” she says. “I’ve used it to secure a DIY clothesline in a hostel bunk with a shoelace, to patch a piece of torn clothing, to create a makeshift luggage tag and to hang a scarf as a curtain,” says Paniccia, who teaches her secrets to travel newbies at Explorography.org. Bonus: When you pack duct tape, there’s no need for other travel tools like a sewing kit or lint roller.

2 A scarf

“I find scarves so useful when I travel,” says world traveler Lisa Perrine Brown of IntentionalTourist.com. “They’re a great substitute for a bulky sweater and they’re so much more versatile. I’ve used mine as extra bedding, a picnic blanket, even a skirt.” While traveling in India recently, Brown wadded up a large pashmina and used it as a pillow on flights and long car rides. On longer trips, she lays the scarf flat on the floor of her hotel room, piles dirty laundry in the center and gathers up the corners to create a laundry bag to haul her clothes to the hotel’s laundry room.

3 A do-it-all cream

The one thing Cathy Decker, president of a travel-related public relations company, absolutely won’t leave home without: a tube of Boroleum, the petroleum-based drugstore ointment that her grandmother swore by. “There’s nothing a small tube of this ointment can’t cure,” says Decker. Packing a single tube of the ointment means she doesn’t have to bring other toiletries like petroleum jelly, lotion and lip balm. She has relied on the cream to soothe pollen-aggravated dry nasal passages, heal chapped lips, moisturize ragged cuticles and relieve sunburn and razor burn on the road.

4 This soap

“Dr. Bronner’s Organic Pure-Castile Peppermint Liquid Soap is the perfect multitasker for traveling,” says Katie Leavitt, LetsWanderWell.com founder and a former cruise-ship dancer who has traveled to 55 countries. “It can be used as shampoo, facial soap, laundry soap and even mouthwash since it’s made from all-natural ingredients,” she says of the drugstore find. “The 2 oz. size is perfect for air travel because it fits with the security requirements for liquids in carry-ons.” And a little goes a long way. You only need 1⁄2 Tbs. to wash your hair, 2 to 3 drops for your face and a single drop to brush your teeth.