My wallet, because getting someplace and realizing you have no money would completely suck. After that, my camera. I’d hate to go someplace and not be able to take decent photos. Those disposable cameras are horrible!
My last trip was from CT to IN to visit family and go to a wedding. I took my 4 year old son with me. One of our flights was canceled, so we were switched to another plane at the last minute. We arrived in Indiana, but our luggage did not. We had no clothes, no toiletries, nothing except our carry-on bags. My bag held my camera, my iPod, my wallet, my cell phone, and a book. My son’s carry-on had crayons, paper, stickers, Cheerios, crackers, finger puppets, and Matchbox cars. Not a lot of help there. I’d even stuffed my son’s booster seat into a suitcase, so didn’t have it to legally drive him around in our rental car. I was thrilled to learn that the airline keeps several booster seats to loan to people in our predicament. Also, we were staying with my grandma, who had extra toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, and stuff like that. My son was not thrilled about sleeping in his great-grandmother’s old t-shirt, but we lived. My mom went out to pick up some other toiletries for us, and my grandma insisted on washing the clothes we’d arrived in so they’d at least be clean the next day. We didn’t get our bags delivered until very late the next night. It was a pain, but at least we were with family.