Packing for your vacation seems pretty simple at first glance – toss in your clothes, toiletries, and a few pairs of shoes into your set of leather suitcases, zip them closed and you’re ready to go, right? Not exactly, but it’s a good start. Still, there are essentials you should always have in your suitcase, regardless of your destination or how long you will be gone. Carrying these essentials will help make your experience more comfortable. Here are some things not to forget:

• A good book or two.

  You’ll be busy on vacation, but there will always be one or two evenings of relaxing and unwinding. Whether you’re going to be lounging on a beach or relaxing by a roaring fire, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch up on your reading. Take a few interesting titles but remember - you want to be engaged, not overwhelmed. Vacation isn’t the time to tackle War and Peace or Ulysses. Likewise, paperback books are best because they weigh less and you won’t mind leaving them behind if you happen to forget them. When you’re finished reading one, you can swap books with other travelers, too, and many hotels have lending libraries where you can leave one book and choose another to read.
  




• A folding tote bag

  
  Don’t get to your destination and pay for an over-priced, poorly-made-for-tourists tote bag. Your leather suitcases have more than enough room for a sturdy tote bag folded flat. You’ll use your tote to carry essentials to the beach, while sightseeing, and when shopping for souvenirs. When you are ready to head home, you can use your tote as an extra carry-on, too.
  




• Pain Killers

  
  No one wants to think about being injured or getting a headache on vacation, but things happen. What’s more, even the expected – like a rousing night at a local pub – can lead to predictable pain in the form of a hangover the next morning. Always have some aspirin, a known hangover helper, and any other pain relievers you rely on tucked into your suitcase. Muscle relaxants or general muscle relief creams you can rub into overworked muscles are also a good idea - a long day of sightseeing can lead to sore, stiff limbs and it’s much easier to take care of yourself when you have remedies on hand.
  




• Spare Glasses or Contacts

  
  Whether you wear reading glasses, sunglasses, or contacts, don’t leave home without a spare set of glasses. If you lose a contact or your eye is injured, you’ll want your glasses so you can navigate without your lenses. Spare contacts are also nice if you tear or damage a lens so take more than you think you’ll need. In addition, if you need reading glasses for menus and the like, be sure to tuck an extra pair into your suitcase. You don’t want to spend time looking around for an eye doctor or having to wait hours or even days for a replacement pair of glasses. People leave behind glasses in restaurants, drop them over the sides of tour boats, and sit and step on them every day, but it’s a lot more difficult to replace them in a foreign country. If you’ve had the foresight to stick an extra pair into one of your leather suitcases, you only have to make a quick stop in your hotel room and you’re back in business.
  




• Travel Guide

  
  You want to get the most out of your vacation, so bring along a travel guide giving you detailed information on lodgings, restaurants, activities, parks, and other attractions in the areas you’ll be visiting. In the evenings before you turn in, you can give these a quick review and highlight a few things you’d like to scope out the next day. Fodor’s, Frommer’s, and Lonely Planet each publish guides with their own unique personalities, so check out different versions to find one you enjoy.