Portable kettle — For a cup of familiar hot tea at night, or coffee packets in the morning

USB lighted mirror — We've been to so many poorly-lit hotels where putting on makeup is nearly impossible without additional light.

Foldable leather trays — These pack flat and always end up helpful for holding keys, wallets, etc., or corralling skincare or makeup.

Collapsible USB lamp — as a nightlight, or extra light in a dark corner.

Portable bidet — Once you bidet, you can't not bidet. 😬

Snacks + drinks pack — A small zippered bag holding:

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir - If you have a Mexican-American background, this is entertaining and relatable! Apa headed out with the only plan being “We drive until we can’t go any farther, or until we find something cheap or free, and then we stop. May Jesus guide us. Amen.

Victorian Psycho - This was so… deliciously awful? Deliciously as in “wouldst thou wish to live deliciously?” It’s satirical and funny, macabre, morbid, probably severely offensive to most non-horror readers, but I found it so odd and funny and gruesome. When faced with the inexplicable, humans will find ways of explaining most horrors away.

Take Me To Your Leader - Such a fun look at how we think about, portray, and understand the possibility of life outside our planet. Just because you don’t know what you’re looking at does not mean you know what you’re looking at.

Half His Age - I listened to this in one day... this is that type of dry affectless writing about the rough parts of life that I just really enjoy at the moment. It’s hard and it’s painful and it’s honest. Maybe wanting things is what makes me a lot. If I could just want less, I'd be the right amount of person. The amount I'm supposed to be. The not-a-lot amount. The easy-to-love amount.

How to Be Eaten - This was silly and heavy-handed, almost horror-grotesque but not always, just inconsistent and weird, but I finished it, so I guess it wasn’t too bad? Morals create a labyrinth of rules geared toward blaming the victim.

Inside the Box - Lots of great nuggets; the last section veered off and didn’t seem to connect with the rest of the book, and it didn’t have a nice “here’s what to do next” section, but still interesting. Chance favors the prepared mind.

We Burned So Bright - I love apocalyptic books, and this one was good, though a little… precious? Everyone was very eloquent and overly thoughtful. Plants were, in his estimation, as finicky as people could be, and just as dramatic. Prune a plant the wrong way, and it’d die just to prove a point.

How to Live Korean - Super quick, fun read about Korean culture. It’s already dated (published in 2020), but still helpful in learning about Korean weddings and holidays and families and education.

Educated - This was painful, but really, really good. I was angry, agitated, on edge until I finished it, but I just had to know that this woman finally accepted herself as a whole and valuable being. It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you.

The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI - I thought this was going to be about how to not be a reverse centaur, but it turned out to be about the AI bubble, and bubbles in general, and investing and hype and media. Still fascinating! The fact that there’s a low probability that an AI will be able to do your job doesn’t change the fact that there’s a high probability that an AI salesman will convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can’t do your job.