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What's in your 'first 48 hours' survival kit?

Tomasz Nowak ⭐ Helpful member
18 Jun 2026, 04:33

Thinking about the very first two days on the ground — before the SIM, before the bank, before you know where anything is. What did you have on you that saved you, and what did you wish you'd packed in your hand luggage instead of the shipping container? Trying to build a proper list for someone arriving next month.

5 replies

Sofia Mendes ⭐ Helpful member
20 Jun 2026, 15:42

An unlocked phone and cash in the local currency, both sorted before I even landed. Saved me from a genuinely stressful first evening.

Oliver Brandt ⭐ Helpful member
21 Jun 2026, 16:25

Printed copies of every booking confirmation, in case anything with my phone or wifi went sideways in the first hours. Felt paranoid, was actually useful.

Mei Chen ⭐ Helpful member
24 Jun 2026, 17:47

following, moving next month, taking notes

Grace Kim 🏆 Community expert
30 Jun 2026, 20:35

A downloaded offline map of the area around where I was staying, since the first walk to find food happened before I’d sorted a SIM card at all.

Tomasz Nowak ⭐ Helpful member
12 Jul 2026, 22:08

OP here — good additions all round, adding the offline map one to my list, hadn’t thought of that specific gap.