When travelling on an aeroplane there are several different schools of thought when it comes to carry on (cabin) baggage. I used to be with the school of thought that I should pack as much as possible, to give me the possibility of taking more stuff with me. The reality is that I really did not use a lot of the things I thought I would.

One important thing that air travellers have to think about today that they did not have to 10 years ago is security and the fact that at nearly every international airport you are likely to be standing with your bags in a line for some time. This can add to the stress of travelling and can make the journey just seem a bit harder then it has to.

Here is a list of the things I recommend for people flying to take in their carry on.

• Laptop (as you are obviously not going to check that)

• MP3 player – to kill time

• Shirt - it is great to have something fresh to change into before landing

• Travel sized deoderant - remember that most airports will restrict you to 100ml containers

• Book / Magazine

• Travel documents – (passport, tickets and information about where you are staying for immigration)

This amount of weight should not be too much even if you have to wait 2 hours in security or immigration (which is likely if you are flying into North America or Europe), yet it gives you enough stuff to be entertained as well as a few essentials.

It seems like more and more people are being told to repack their bags at the check-in desks – don’t be one of these people, think seriously about what you take as it will save you a lot of time and pain.