Travel has a reputation for being expensive, but the most important items in my backpack are from  the dollar store! Unfortunately, many inexperienced travelers are encouraged to load up on costly, travel-specific items for their first big trip when what they should be buying are cheap travel essentials.

While it’s true that some fancy travel items are worth the splurge (a luxe travel pillow will change your life), others are entirely unnecessary… RFID-blocking wallets protect you against a crime that doesn’t exist in real life, and unless you are adventuring in extreme conditions, you don’t need ‘tactical’ pants.

What you actually need are practical items that serve a legitimate, specific purpose. Many of these my most essential travel items are cheap, easily available, and under $5. Some of them might surprise you. Here are the six dollar store basics you’ll always find in my backpack:

1 A doorstop. You know those grey plastic wedges? I never leave home without one. The most basic doorstop serves a crucial safety purpose for solo travelers: they make it much harder for someone to break into your room. This cheap travel essential can be wedged behind your door from the inside keeps the door securely in its frame, which slows down criminals who can pick locks or planned to use their body weight agains the door to break a flimsy deadlock.

My doorstop has served a variety of other purposes too: They’re great for preventing doors from slamming in breezy locations, but I’ve also used them to wedge open windows and shim up a wobbly desk so I can do some work.

2 Fake wedding ring. I love exploring the world as a solo female traveler, but packing a fake wedding ring has saved me so much hassle.  I’ve used it to ward off would-be suitors, reassure inquisitive Asian grandmas, and gain status in the parts of the world where married women are respected more than single ones. I dislike that marital status changes the way people treat you when you travel, but it’s a reality.

If you go the fake wedding ring route, pick a name for your absent partner, because people will ask. Choose a simple style to avoid attracting the attention of thieves. I wear a plain wedding band with a small cubic zirconium like this one. Don’t forget to seal the ring with a few clear coats of polymer (nail polish works!) so it doesn’t turn your finger green.

3 A Roll of TP  This seems like a weird thing to carry around when you’re trying to travel light… at least, it does until you’ve been stuck without it! Toilet paper isn’t free in bathrooms in a lot of parts of the world, and locals are more than happy to sell you a few squares at a steep premium (or worse, a nearly-useless packet of flimsy Kleenex). Skip this unnecessary expense (and the unpleasant experience of dripping dry in a squat toilet) by stashing a roll in your bag.

4 Duct tape. The cheapest and most essential teavel purchase. Use it to repair holes in bags, clothing, or the inflatable dinghy you just rowed into a mango grove (ahem.) Outdoor supply stores sell tiny travel-sized duct tape rolls, but the regular stuff will do you just fine. Medical supply stores often offer flat sheets of duck tape for first aid kits… duct tape makes a pretty good waterproof bandage in a pinch (just make sure the wound is clean before you seal it up!)

And that RFID-blocking wallet I mentioned above? If you’re still worried about having your info stolen, you can fashion your own out of duct tape and a few sheets of aluminum foil.

5 A Tiny Spray Bottle of Vodka. This is actually a showgirl trick that has become one of my most tried and true travel essentials. Burlesque dancers can’t wash some parts of our costumes, since they are encrusted in rhinestones, lace and fringe, so we do what ballet companies have done for decades: pour the cheapest vodka we can find into a small spray bottle, and mist our clothing to de-odorize it. Alcohol kills bacteria and odor clings to its molecules, so when the alcohol evaporates, so does most of the smell.

Alcohol is also great at lifting grass stains and grease stains (just don’t use on acetate or acrylic fabrics, as it can damage them). Alcohol can also de-funkify your hiking boots or smelly trainers. You’ll need to saturate them for this to work, so get your boots drunk when you can let them dry out overnight.

Oh yeah, and that wound I told you to bandage with duct tape? Rinse it out with vodka to sterilize it before you do.

6 Ziploc bags. They hold almonds, waterproof your phone and compress your clothes during packing. What more could you ask for from a sandwich bag?

Listen, I realize they are not glamorous, but they’re see-through, inexpensive, endlessly reusable and easily replaceable. The bigger sizes are also strong and sturdy, and you can compress air out of them easily without worrying that you might rip the bag. 

I usually keep several sizes of this cheap travel essential on hand… I like the small “snack size” ones for packing jewelry and double-wrapping small toiletry bottles, and I use 2.5 gallon Ziploc bags for clothes.

And that’s it. Did anything on the list surprise you? Do you have any dollar store musts that you didn’t see here? Let me know below!

PS: This post contains afflilate links. This means that I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from your Amazon purchases. I do not receive items for free and am not paid for recommending them… everything I suggest is something I use, love, and think you might love too!