What to Pack (Everything Else)

No matter what you're planning to bring, its too much. After almost a year of travelling, our packs still have things that we could do without. But there are other items -- some unexpected -- that I'd never travel without.
This more or less what we've been carrying with us for a year. It all fits into our two 75 litre packs. With each item, I explain how often it was used and its value during our travels.
I've already posted information about clothing and first aid from the rest of the contents listed below.
Beside each item I've noted whether I feel it is (R)ecommended strongly, (N)ice to have, or should be (L)eft at home. I've also indicated whether it was used Often, Sometimes, Rarely, or Never

In my pack:
Shoe bag (R; Often)
Made by Eagle Creek, these are well designed and very useful. When travelling for my work, I would pack my shoes in plastic bags to keep the smell and dirt away from my clothes. These plastic zippered pouches work much much better. I'll never travel without them again. They fit perfectly around your shoes so they take up less space as well.
Nalgene water bottle (1 litre) (R; Sometimes)
Immediately identifies you as either Canadian or American. Essential if you plan to purify your own water and reduce the plastic you contribute to landfills while travelling. Just remember not to completely seal them before they're dry: they can get smelly fast. You can also buy a piece that inserts into the top to make it easier to drink from.
Mesh bags (one for underwear and one for the rest of my clothes) (N; Often)
I think mesh bags are great for clothing. They keep everything tightly packed but you can easily see what's inside. They also breathe (unlike plastic) so if your clothes are a little damp from humidity or the wash, they're less likely to smell. Unfortunately, mesh bags are not easy to find on their own; usually they are included with outdoor equipment such as quick dry towels or fleece pullovers.

Electronics such as:
IPOD (N; Sometimes)
Don't forget the charger. If you have one that needs to be plugged into a USB port to charge, I wouldn't bother. Its too expensive to pay for time in an internet café just to charge your IPOD!
Digital camera (R; Often)
We met one traveller who decided not to bring a camera on his travels, believing that having one dilutes the experience. Everyone else carries a digital camera (does anyone use film anymore?). Taking photos was one of the joys of our trip. Many people may decide to buy a new camera for their trip. Fine, but I strongly suggest taking lots of pictures with it before you leave. Every camera has its quirks; best to discover them taking photos of your car than of a precious moment you'll never see again.
Rechargeable batteries for your camera and flashlight (two sets) (R; Often)
If you're bringing a PDA, remember to bring spare backup battery.
Memory cards for your camera
Bring enough memory cards to last you. Two 2GB memory cards are plenty; I used two 1GB cards for most of our trip. Regardless, buy two cards rather than one so if one breaks, you'll always have one works. For trips longer than a couple of weeks, you'll want to have your photos transferred to CD or DVD so you can purge your memory cards and start again. More on this in a separate entry.
Battery chargers for your various electronics (IPOD, PDA, camera, etc) (R; Sometimes)
Plug adapter set (R; Often)
These allow your electronics to plug in the various electrical sockets around the world. They DO NOT change the voltage, however. Make sure electronics will work with the power supply of your destination (are "auto-switching"). That's a whole separate blog entry though.
Card reader and USB cable (R; Often)
Essential if posting photos to the internet and transferring photos to CD/DVD. We also used it to write our blog. More on this in another entry.
Bags for all the electronic gear (R; Often)
I liked to keep batteries and plug adapters in one small mesh bag and chargers in a separate, larger one. They keep all the separate parts together, reducing the likelihood of a part getting lost.
Spare DVDs (N; Sometimes)
I bought these so I know I'm getting good quality media when I burn my photos to DVD. Not necessary, but nice to have.
Plastic tupperware container with lid (doubles as a bowl) (L; Rarely)
containing:
Safety pins (R; Rarely) - use to pin your money belt to your pants in places like railway stations and other high risk areas where someone might get the idea of cutting the waist elastic, pulling the belt from your waist, and running. The safety pin will hold it in place.
Travel sewing kit (L; Rarely). Tailors are everywhere in most countries and very inexpensive. Likely they'll do a better job than you will too.
2 caribiners (N; Rarely)
Used during treks to fasten sleeping bags and water bottles to our day packs. Not necessary but were handy, but only during treks.
Plastic wrap and/or ziplock bags (R; Often)
Wrap your passport and other valuable documents in this to keep them dry while inside your money belt. Otherwise they'll get sweaty and very smelly. I've also used small freezer ziplock bags (thicker with a double seal) which are even better.
Duct tape (R; Sometimes)
Has a ton of uses and highly recommended. Wrapped it around my water bottle. You can also buy it in travel packs so you don't need to carry a roll. We used it to: repair innersoles, holes in compression sacks, hold on mole skin while trekking, seal holes in mosquito nets and wrap Christmas presents.
Tea light candle (N; Sometimes)
Electricity often goes out. Have some candles and a lighter ready. Of course, you can always buy candles and nowadays you'll need to buy a lighter too (since you won't be allowed to take it on the plane)
Flashlight (R; Often)
Carry a small one where ever you go in Asia. Power outages are common, as are big holes in sidewalks, exposed rusty rebar, and other dangers. Good for reading in bed and finding your way down dark hallways to the shared toilet in the middle of the night. Use rechargeable batteries, ideally of a type you can share with another device like your camera. I recommend the LED type with a minimum of 5 LED lights (I would opt for 10 or more if you can find it). LED flashlights are a lot easier on batteries. Some travellers use LED headlamps which would be handy, but more bulky to carry.
Canada flag pins (L; never) Totally useless. People don't want trinkets, and giving them to children encourages begging.
Canadian coins (L; never) Same as the flag pins. Teaches children to beg tourists for money. Not the sort of impact I want to have on the country I'm visiting.
Combination lock (R; often) many guesthouses use a padlock and key for security. The padlocks are often cheap and can be opened by almost any key. The combo lock was fantastic peace of mind. Also handy if you have an in-room safe (which were very rare in our travels).
Locking chains (R; sometimes) Bought these in India. Used with our combo lock, they were essential for securing our bags on sleeper trains and locking our bags in our room while we were out.
Clothesline (R; often) Get a good length of thin nylon rope. Most outdoor stores can help. In tropical places, you sweat lots so there's lots of laundry to do. That means hanging it to dry in your room or always sending it out to be cleaned. A long clothesline was often necessary to help us hang our mosquito net..
Air freshener spray (N; rarely) - A small "sample size" of air freshener can be very useful for musty rooms and smelly bathrooms, not to mention when you get sick. Certainly not necessary, but nice to have if you can find a small one. Of course, aerosols aren't allowed on planes any longer ...
Mosquito net (R; sometimes) - Many places supply them, some don't. Not used a lot, but invaluable when we did. If you're a budget - midrange traveller in an area prone to malaria or dengue, I'd bring one.
Playing cards (N; sometimes)
Nalgene sealing container for important drugs (such as anti-malarials) (R; often) - Really useful to keep pills dry and safe. Nalgene makes really good ones, but as long as the container seals well it will be fine.
Plastic travel soap holder (R; often) I stored this in a ziplock bag. My simple rule: anything that can or does get wet goes in a ziplock. Bottles of liquids go in two ziplocks. I don't want to open my bag to a sticky wet mess.
Insense (N; sometimes) Helps repel mosquitos and hide the musty nasty smells that linger in some rooms. Buy some in the country you're travelling in; in Asia its everywhere.
Water treatment (chlorine) (R; often)
In most developing countries, empty plastic bottles fill parks, lakes, fields, rivers, and just about everywhere else. Do you contribute to the problem or not? Admittedly, in some countries the tap water -- when treated and therefore safe to drink -- tastes terrible. In that case, at least use treated water for brushing your teeth. Chlorine treatment works well, tastes fine, and is safe for long term use (unlike iodine tablets).
Bag of elastics (N; Rarely) - I like the thick elastics for keeping cables organized (USB, power cords etc), keeping my soapdish closed, and other handy uses. A small bag takes up almost no room and can be handy.
2 compression sacks (packet compressor by Eagle Creek) (R; often) - Great if you have clothing you don't use a lot but still need. We took some cool weather clothing with us for when we went trekking in Nepal. In warm places, it stayed tightly packed in the compression sack. I used the thick Eagle Creek compression sack for clothes and another, thinner one as my laundry bag. I loved being able to compress my dirty clothes into a small space yet also keep them sealed up in my bag.
Yoga mat (thin for travel) (N; sometimes) While we didn't do yoga as much as we hoped (it was just too hot), they did get used, especially when relaxing on the beach in places like Southern Thailand. They also were handy to put on very hard mattresses or to put an extra layer between us and a very nasty mattress. Ewww.
PDA and keyboard (R; often)
This, in conjuction with a card reader, was used to maintain our travel blog. I will dedicate an entry to this process in the future.
Bathroom kit (R; often)
Get the smallest one you can that will hold your stuff. Most include a detachable mirror, which is useful. Get one with a hook that will hang up in the bathroom.
Contents of the bathroom kit (mens): rasor and spare blades (in some Asian countries shaving products aren't easy to find so bring some extra blades), shaving cream (though I used regular soap for almost the whole year of travelling), deodorant, body powder, toothbrush in travel holder, toothpaste, dental floss, earbuds, facecloth
Thin rayon bedsheet (R; often)
In tropical places, you often will not be given a sheet. Sometimes you'll just get a rough wool bedcover. A thin rayon sheet (or sarong) gives you just a little more warmth and comfort in the night.
Travel towel (R; sometimes)
Despite there being lots of manufacturers out there, it is difficult to find one that dries quickly and is absorbant. Whichever you buy, try it before you go. Not used a lot, but in budget accommodations there are often no towels provided. You could use a sarong instead, but the towel was useful and I'd bring one next time I travel.
Shampoo (solid type from Lush) (R; often)
Lush shampoo bars last a long time, travel well (they sell a metal container for them) and are easy to pack. They are also good for washing clothes. Best of all, using them means one less potentially messy liquid in your pack and no plastic bottles to throw away.
Swiss army knife (R; often) - Essential for travel, and every one of the tools were used on our trip. Ours had scissors, can opener, corkscrew, pen, toothpick, tweezers, and eyeglass screwdriver.
Hand sanitizer (R; often) - Every restaurant and toilet has a sink but few have soap. Hand sanitizer will keep you from getting sick if you use it regularly. Hard to find in many Asian countries so we brought a container with refillable pocket-sized bottles.
Travel alarm clock (R; often) - We liked our clock with a thermometer built in, but it was badly designed. Perhaps simple is better. Imagine the clock you are considering being compressed in your pack for a long time: are there buttons that will be pressed that will run down the batteries? Ours did, forcing us to remove the batteries every time we packed.
In Laura's bag:
1 compression sack (see my description above)
1 yoga mat
Daily journal (R; often)
Maybe you blog, maybe you write out your experiences on paper. Keeping a record of your experiences is really important, in my opinion. We also used this journal to record how much we spent each day and tracking whether we were sticking to our daily budget.
1 travel towel (see above)
Mosquito coils (R; often)
In tropical places, mosquitoes are everywhere. Mosquito repellant will often not be enough. We would burn a coil in our room when we were out at dinner, thus ensuring we wouldn't be bitten too badly at night. We would also burn them to keep the bugs away if we were enjoying the evening on a deck. Occassionally, we would even bring one to a restaurant at dinnertime.
Water treatment (see above)
We brought too much water treatment with us, not realizing how much we would use. In one year, we used about 100 - 150 ml of each liquid.
Spare set of perscription sunglasses (R; sometimes)
If you wear glasses, either bring an extra pair or a copy of your prescription so you can get new ones made. Glasses get lost and broken; having a backup is common sense. Similarly, if you wear contact lenses, bring glasses as a backup.
Bathroom kit (see above) containing:
Nail clippers, makeup, earrings, exfoliation stick (essential if you are wearing sandals a lot to avoid your feet becoming badly calloused, cracked, and sore), sunblock (don't believe the travel books ... you can buy sunblock almost everywhere), aftersun crème, conditioner, hairbrush, hair clips, moisturizer, feminine hygene products
Insect repellant (R; often) - DEET-based insect repellant is terrible, toxic stuff, but the diseases you can get from mosquitoes are worse. We used Watson's cream-based repellant which was less greasy than most and lasted a long time (the two of us used three containers over the course of a year) despite being applied almost every day.