3 things that made my Coorg trip much easier: Good shoes, a tiny umbrella and one hair serum

Three simple Coorg travel essentials made my monsoon holiday easier, from comfortable walking shoes and umbrellas to managing humidity-induced hair frizz.

After three days in Coorg, I came back with a slightly different view of what makes a short holiday comfortable. It was not another app, a carefully planned itinerary or a suitcase full of things I might need. It was three very simple additions to my travel kit. Good walking shoes, a foldable umbrella and a hair serum. None of these sounds particularly exciting. But during a monsoon trip to Coorg, all three truly changed my perspective on what to focus on carrying when I travel.

My three Coorg essentials included supportive New Balance shoes, a compact umbrella for sudden rain, and serum for smoother monsoon hair. (Hindustan Times)

1. Good shoes: My New Balance ABZORB 2000

I have flat feet with overpronation, so footwear is not something I can casually pick for a trip. If I am going to spend hours walking, I need proper support, cushioning and a sole that can handle wet surfaces.

For my Coorg trip, I wore the New Balance ABZORB 2000. I had already planned to test them properly during the trip, and Coorg gave me plenty of opportunity to do exactly that. The property itself involved a fair amount of walking. There were coffee plantation paths, open spaces and plenty of reasons to keep moving around instead of simply staying in the room. Add the travel days and walking around Coorg, and my feet had a fairly busy three days.

I did not spend the evenings thinking about my feet. That is my actual test for travel shoes. I do not need to come back and announce that my shoes changed my life. I just want to reach my room after a long day and not feel like my feet are asking for a formal complaint. The ABZORB 2000 managed that for me. I wore them through my Bhopal to Bengaluru to Mangaluru route and then on to Virajpet, including the monsoon weather and walking around the property. I also wrote a full Tried and Tested review after the trip, because three days of travel gave me enough real use to judge them properly.

For anyone planning a Coorg trip during the rainy months, my advice is; think about your footwear before you think about your outfits. Pretty shoes are lovely until you have to walk through wet paths in them.

1. New Balance Abzorb Unisex 2000 Casual Shoes1. New Balance Abzorb Unisex 2000 Casual Shoes

2. A foldable umbrella because Coorg rain has its own plans

I usually carry an umbrella only when I think I will need one. Coorg has convinced me that this is the wrong approach. Hilly areas have weather that can change quickly, and during my stay, having a small foldable umbrella with me made getting around much easier. It was useful outside the property, but also surprisingly handy within it. At a large resort, you may have a room at one end, the restaurant somewhere else and an activity or coffee plantation walk in another direction. You do not always want to wait for the rain to stop before going for breakfast or heading to an activity.

And I really do not want to carry a huge umbrella around on holiday. A compact foldable one takes up very little room in the day bag and can stay there all day. If the rain arrives, I have it. If it does not, I have lost almost nothing by carrying it. This is one of those boring travel purchases that suddenly becomes very useful when you actually need it. My Coorg packing list now has a simple directive; if I am visiting the hills during the rainy season, the umbrella goes into the bag before I leave the room.

2. TEKCOOL Umbrella, UV Big Size Umbrella for Sun Protection Rain Windproof Strong Large 3 Fold for Men Women Kids Boys Girls Perfect & Stylish Windproof & Compact?.2. TEKCOOL Umbrella, UV Big Size Umbrella for Sun Protection Rain Windproof Strong Large 3 Fold for Men Women Kids Boys Girls Perfect & Stylish Windproof & Compact?.

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3. Hair serum because Coorg gave me enough frizz for one lifetime

The third one is purely for personal sanity. Rain, humidity and my hair are not a particularly good combination. Give me a damp climate, and I can go from reasonably put together to Monica Geller in a humid kitchen rather quickly. So I packed the Bare Anatomy Ultra Smoothing Serum.

My routine was extremely simple. I washed my hair, applied the serum while it was still damp and then let it set. That was pretty much it. The difference was noticeable. My hair looked smoother, there was less frizz, and I did not spend the rest of the day trying to fix it every time I caught my reflection. I also liked that it did not turn my hair care routine into another task on the holiday. I am all for carrying products that actually earn their place in the toiletry bag. I am less interested in taking five different bottles because I might suddenly decide to recreate a salon routine in a hotel bathroom. For a monsoon holiday, a good serum is one of those small things that can make getting ready much less annoying.

3. Bare Anatomy Ultra Smoothing Hair Serum For Dry & Frizzy Hair | Restores Smoothness & Texture | Powered By Carbohydrate Complex & Niacinamide | For Women & Men | SLS & Paraben Free | Vegan | 100ml3. Bare Anatomy Ultra Smoothing Hair Serum For Dry & Frizzy Hair | Restores Smoothness & Texture | Powered By Carbohydrate Complex & Niacinamide | For Women & Men | SLS & Paraben Free | Vegan | 100ml

Three things I would pack again

Looking back at my three days in Coorg, these were probably the least glamorous things I packed and some of the most useful. The New Balance ABZORB 2000 kept my feet comfortable through long walks. The foldable umbrella meant I could get around without checking the sky every five minutes. And the Bare Anatomy Ultra Smoothing Serum kept my hair reasonably civilised in the humidity. None of them made the holiday more complicated. They did the opposite.

And perhaps that is my biggest takeaway from this trip. The things that make a holiday easier are often not the big purchases. Sometimes it is the small stuff you throw into your bag almost as an afterthought that ends up saving you from wet feet, frizzy hair or standing under a roof waiting for the rain to pass.

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