Pack a lanyard with a plastic card holder. It's useful for any room keys or key cards you have to carry along the way. Those cards are easy to misplace.

basic first aid kid
one nice outfit
flipfloss
sharpie
small pad

buen viaje

I highly recommend getting a WYZE card. It’s amazing for travel and has really low currency conversion fees. You can easily move money onto it. You can set it up where you add money from your account and or your kid moves money from bank account. In the app you convert the portion you want into the currency you need. It has a physical card, app and Apple Pay.

I always send basic meds ..Tylenol, Imodium, decongestant, neosporin, blister pads, Dramamine, bandaids, etc. The blister pads have been the most popular over various trips.
Extra battery pack and cables, adapters,
Pack of laundry sheets if it’s a multi week trip
For hostels we sent locks and security cables
A bag that they are willing to wear that goes in front of them and is secure
Paper copies of addresses and itinerary, passport, birth certificate, insurance card

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all of this!! I'm super anxious about this trip. They do have hotels/hostels pre booked. I have been wondering about cash/money - at home he uses ApplePay with our credit card and reimburses us if necessary.

If he's staying in hostels, he likely won't have access to his own safe. There's no way I'd trust a hostel safe with a random worker handling things into and out of a common safe. He'll need a money belt and he should keep it on him at all times, including when sleeping and when he goes to the shower (hang it where he can see it).

Some hostels require guests to store their passports in the office safe. I don't like it, but it is common practice in some places - this was in Thailand I think?

Condoms

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all of this!! I'm super anxious about this trip. They do have hotels/hostels pre booked. I have been wondering about cash/money - at home he uses ApplePay with our credit card and reimburses us if necessary.

If he's staying in hostels, he likely won't have access to his own safe. There's no way I'd trust a hostel safe with a random worker handling things into and out of a common safe. He'll need a money belt and he should keep it on him at all times, including when sleeping and when he goes to the shower (hang it where he can see it).

If he's planning to swim at the beach, you might get him a waterproof phone bag so he can keep his phone and stuff with him. It can't be left unattended on the beach.

When I was backpacking in my 20s I always hid $100 somewhere deep in my pack's lining and then another $40 in my day pack or in my shoe, plus I had a travel wallet under my clothes. If something was snatched or I was actually robbed, I wanted to still have some money available. It doesn't even have to be euros--you just don't want to be without any money at all.

Does he have two credit cards? We did have our card compromised on our last trip and had to call to have it cancelled. It would have been a big pain not to have a second card.

esim card by Airalo- it's the best
Can download and figure out how it works before leaving

Cards or phone/tap are best but small businesses like bakeries and tshirt shops prefer cash to avoid the fees.