One of the most underappreciated items when heading on your travels is the simple travel towel.

The travel towel is often something of an afterthought when it comes to packing your travel suitcase, and it's easy to see why. It tends to be bulky, for one, and often the probability that your final destination will have ample towels anyway is something that can persuade you to leave the travel towel at home.

However, this is a shame, particularly when taking into account the kind of nifty, comfortable and downright convenient kind of travel towel out there.

My travel towel top five:

1) The McNett Microfibre Towel is comfortably one of the best on the market. This uses a iunique micro-terry fabric which makes it incredibly fast-drying.

It also packs down easily and absorbs water superbly - two crucial factors when travelling over any distance.

2) The Aquis Travel Towel benefits from being incredibly absorbent and is also a very lightweight items, which is vital when space in your travel suitcase is at a premium.

3) Sea to Summit Dry Lite Travel Towel. This passes all the big tests when it comes to travel towel satisfaction, being that it's absorbent,soft and lightweight.

4) The Lifeventure Soft-Fibre Advance Trek Towel is a big favourite being that it's six times lighter than a standard beach towel, dries eight times faster than a standard beach towel and takes up and eighth of the packing space of a standard beach towel.

As with all the others on the list, it is absorbent, lightweight and soft. You really can't go far wrong with this product.

5) The Care Plus Microfibre Towel is another excellent item. This absorbs seven times its own weight, is absorbent and lightweight, but its unique selling point is the extra soft side it has for optimum comfort. It also packs away in a convenient, ventilating cover, making it one of the best of its type around.

Whichever one you choose to take on whatever jaunt you're embarking on, do make sure you take at least one.

Yes, the hotel you're bound for may have the softest, most comfortable towels imaginable, but you never know when your flight's going to be delayed, your car's going to break down or the hotel you're booked into is going to plain let you down.

The travel towel may not appear the most important item you'll ever need for a trip, but it's one of those little items that you'll miss like crazy if you suddenly need one and find there isn't one around.

Furthermore it is an inexpensive item, and one that, if you choose correctly, won't take up a disproportionate space in your travel suitcase.

Invest in at least one, and you'll be a lot happier than if you'd chosen to leave it at home.

First-hand experience has taught me how overwhelming it can be to plan for a trip and often it's the little things that can contribute to a stressful situation.

If finding the best backpack is only one of your concerns, and you need advice on other things, such as a good toiletry bag for a man, you can read my free report to help you take the stress out of that here: <a target="_new" rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:ga('send', 'pageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link/5889980');" href="/links/?u=http://www.travelsuitcase.org/mens-toiletry-bag/">Men's Toiletry Bag</a>

Plan ahead and it'll be easy. You can find more <a target="_new" rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:ga('send', 'pageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link/5889980');" href="/links/?u=http://www.travelsuitcase.org/home/">travel suitcase</a> related things by clicking the link.