Welcome to a weekly feature on the Renés Points blog. Each week this series covers in a “rookie” way either a Delta or travel related theme and attempts to break down to a basic level each topic. You can read up on all the previous posts HERE. Now on to this week’s feature.

If you fly a little or a lot you need to have “stuff”. What stuff? Are you saying you cannot fly if you don’t have stuff? Yes! OK, I am kidding but stuff can make things so much better.

I mean travel for most people is stressful. For me it is not. That is not entirely true but when flying I take the “Taco Bell” approach. What is that you ask? Say you get the wrong order at “The Bell”. As a comedian once said, “What does it matter; it’s all good. It may not be assembled in the way you wanted it to be but it’s all the same stuff“!

Travel, to me, is just like that. You may not get there the way you had in your mind but it is still all “fun” and good if you are willing to do a few things and one of them is today’s focus of having the right “stuff” with you.

I have a long list of stuff I make sure I have well stocked before each and every trip starting from the top working down from left to right.

1 – DeltaPoints phone holder to watch movies or while I type
2 – An old NWA BE kit bag to hold:
3 – Advil, cold meds, tums, band-aids, earplugs & cough drops
4 – my 3 ring clip with travel cards
5 – my iGo head phones
6 – a USB memory stick
7 – a set of Delta headphones (just in case)
8 – my own “Job Well Done Certs” w/$10 Starbucks card
9 – Certs like JWD, HOOU & SPG JWD etc.
10 – a good pen and highlighter
11 – business cards
12 – a tiny battery brick just in case
13 – my LARGE battery brick
14 – Delta BE kit for all my power cords adapters
15 – an HDMI cable for watching TV from laptop in hotel rooms
16 – an LED snake light USB powered for laptop work
17 – usb wireless mouse
18 – bluetooth keyboard w/ built in mouse pointer

…and my HP 14″ laptop not in the photo! Plus, that does not include all my backpack stuff I have that holds other bits like toiletries etc. This list is just what I have in my laptop carry-on bag to make my travels better.

Since I fly 100+ segments a year I feel I have this system “down” pretty good and there are few times I find myself stressed and “looking” for something. With the above stuff I am efficient, ready for things that can pop up (only now and then) like a cold or cough. I constantly use almost all of the above on every trip so they are in and out all the time and I know where each one “lives” in my bag for both quick access and to check before I leave a hotel, club or airport!

My power brick gets a workout quite often when I am on a jet with no power. I give out my personal version of a HOOU on almost every flight (yes that can cost me $50+ on a run but I like the service I get from the outstanding Delta FA’s and want to thank them from my own pocket – plus I buy them at OfficeMax with my Ink card to get 5x points)! My snake light is perfect when I get up early and don’t want to disturb my wife sleeping but need to see my keyboard or on a flight where the overhead light is too much light. A mouse, to me, is a must to get real work done. I could go on and on.

So what do you think? Does your travel bag have the same “stuff”? Have you found other things that are a MUST HAVE to include that you really USE almost each trip. Let’s make this a rookie post that we all can apply and do what we can to take as much stress out of travel we can! – René
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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

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