Great thread. One thing I can not live without when traveling is a pop up laundry hamper/storage/toy container. It lays flat in the luggage and pops open on it's own. I have spent many years living out of a suitcase for extended periods of time. I use it for my dirty laundry and clutter control.
When traveling with my family, I use it for dirty laundry. I carry it down to the coin laundry. I wash and dry our clothes. I then use it to carry our clean laundry back to our room. When they get dirty or smelly, I just wash them also. At home, my kids use them for temporary storage.
As for packing, I have long favored one gallon zip storage bags. I fold all of our clothes and place a garment into each bag. I roll them up tightly to squeeze out all of the air and then seal them (with DH's help) before packing. I can pack twice to three times as much into a suitcase this way. It does leave me with a lot of ironing to do on our first day, but it is well worth it as our clothes never smell like airplane fuel or something even worse. I also store all wet items inside them also. It saves from finding a bottle of something has leaked all over your clothes.
Upon our return, I use them for smelly items, especially dirty socks and underwear which I did not launder as they were last minute wears. I also use them to cushion and pack our souvenirs in.
The surge strip is a must. We have a lot of electronic gadgets in our family so I always bring two. Our cell phones take up nearly one. My camera battery pack, the laptop, a rechargable flashlight, and standard battery recharger unit take up another. This is not to mention our children's portable game systems which we recharge into whatever spare outlet we can find. We are an electronic family, spoiled by our endulgences.
As for first aid, we bring our own personally designed kit in a small shoe box tub (in addition to our roadside kit which we keep in our trunk). I bring Advil (I am badly reactive to Tylenol and Aleve, causes severe liver problems and kidney bleeding respectively). I bring Neosporin To Go (spray container), bandages, moleskin for raw spots which could turn into blisters, aloe gel, sugar packs (both DH and I suffer low sugar problems), Iodine wash sticks, stitch strips (which double as stitches in times of need), an Epi pen (I am deathly allergic to bee stings), a tongue depressor (I have history of infrequent and rare seizures on the severe side), a small pack of dried herbs (comes from my dad's Cherokee side), and breathing bit (just in case we have to do CPR on a stranger). I strongly suggest each and every family design and create their own first aid kit according to the needs of their individual families. Saving a life is worth the burden of carrying the extra supplies that you hopefully will never need.
As for traveling and making a place my own, I have never had a problem this. The higher you go, the more accepting and accomodating the staff seem to be to help you feel more comfortable and at home regardless of what your style. Regardless of where you are, being gracious helps. The folks who personally serve you in your room can make or break your stay even if you never meet them.
My best advice is to treat your housekeeper or Mousekeeper as if they were your own daughter or son cleaning up your mess.
I may just get away with 2 bags!!
