When it comes to leaving home, whether that means going to college, catching a bus or leaving the country, there are inevitably things that you are going to forget. Sometimes those things are really important, like your passport or your toothbrush, but sometimes you won’t notice that you have forgotten something until you reach for a hair tie after yours has snapped or a granola bar on a long train ride. No matter what situations you may find yourself in, here are a few things that I have learned you should never leave the house without.

1. Headphones

Everyone has a knotted pair of ear buds hanging out somewhere in bottomless depths of their backpack or purse. Though these may sit there for months without being used, you will definitely want them when you get stuck next to the chatty divorcée on the bus who wants to talk to you about everything their partner did wrong. Nothing quite says, “Don’t talk to me” like a pair of headphones in.

2. Cash

Even though it can be a little intimidating to be walking around with cash, having a few dollars can really come in handy. There are so many cool little places that will only take cash or have a credit card minimum that you don’t want to meet. Keeping $5 or $10 in cash can really help to make sure that you don’t get stuck.

3. A Book

This might just be me, but I get really antsy if I find myself waiting somewhere with nothing to do. If you know that you are going to be on a long bus ride or waiting in an office for an appointment, you should make sure that you bring along a book. Or any way of distracting yourself, really; I am just partial to distractions with soft covers and lots of pages.

4. Pain Killers

Throwing a few Tylenol in your bag before you head out can really be a lifesaver. When you are leaving for more than a few hours, you want to make sure that you are comfortable. This is especially important if you are going someplace that is loud. Whether they get used by you or an ailing friend, these will always come in handy and you get to look like the one who is always prepared. Band-aids are also included in this category because you know how it is when you try to cut open an avocado on the train home from work. Just me? Fair enough.

5. Hand Sanitizer

If you have ever stepped into the subway in New York or Boston, you know that this is a must have. You never know what you are going to be faced with when you head out. Who knows what you could be touching? All I know is that whether you prefer to carry around some wet wipes or a gallon jug of the stuff, you should definitely never be caught without it. It only takes touching wet gum on the underside of the handrail in the subway station one too many times to know that.

6. Your Best Self

Yeah, yeah, I know that this is super cheesy, but it is completely true. Whether you are leaving the house for a few hours or a few months, you should stop and make sure that you are ready. If your day is going to be exponentially better, you just slow down for five minutes and finish the cup of coffee you have been dying for, then that is probably what you should do. Sometimes we are in so much of a rush to get things done that we don’t really take into account how we feel about those things.

The next time you step out of the house, look over everything that you have and make sure that you also have everything you want. Dying for a bagel? Grab one on the way to work. Do you absolutely need a minute to scroll through your Instagram before you meet your friends downtown? Do it. You will feel so much better and beyond that when you are faced with a situation where you really did forget something, you will be better able to tackle the situation and MacGyver your way out of it.