What are the must-have items for travel? Western travelers prioritize credit cards, while Asian travelers value their phones.

▲Essential items for travel: Westerners place the most importance on carrying a credit card. (Illustration / Daguan Images)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

If you could only choose one, what’s the one essential item you can’t travel without? The well-known accommodation booking website Agoda once asked this question this year, conducting a survey among 50,000 travelers from around the world. The results revealed that Asian travelers value their phones the most, while Western travelers believe credit cards are the most indispensable item.

Using a phone to check in in real time, share experiences, and post photos of the scenery along the way has become a habit for many modern people during travel. Therefore, traveling without a phone can feel like something is missing. However, not all Asian travelers consider the phone a must-have for travel. According to the survey, 38% of Japanese respondents said credit cards were more important, with only 28% choosing the phone. But for Indian travelers, staying connected is the most important aspect of travel—72% of Indians said they would rather bring a traditional phone so they can stay in touch with family and friends at all times to talk about the stories that happen during the trip.

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But for Western travelers, credit cards are far more important than phones. 47% of Europeans and 45% of Americans said that the thing they care about most before leaving home is whether they remembered to bring their credit cards, especially the French, who value credit cards more than any other group of Western travelers.

As for other essential items for travel, the opinions of Western and Asian travelers are largely similar, with both groups choosing a laptop, a good book, and cosmetics.

[Ranking of Must-Have Items for Travel]

Western Travelers:

1. Credit card
2. Phone
3. Laptop
4. A good book
5. Cosmetics

Asian Travelers

1. Phone
2. Credit card
3. Laptop
4. A good book
5. Cosmetics

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