I had some time off from work this afternoon, and one thing I did was go shopping. Mostly, I was looking for things to take for the soapmaking workshop, but I picked up a few other mission trip essentials en route.

One, and I think I’ve blogged about it before, was travel toilet paper. They used to sell this as “Charmin TO GO” in the sample-size product aisle at Wal-Mart; I haven’t seen it there lately, but they sell pretty much the exact same product, sans the familiar brand name, in the outdoors department with the camping supplies. It’s a roll of toilet paper about 1″ in diameter — wound all the way to the center, with no inner core or spindle — which comes with a little clamshell plastic dispenser. When you travel to the developing world, in places where indoor plumbing is not a given, TP is also not a given, and it’s a great idea to have one of these travel rolls handy. I carry a backpack on trips, and so it’s always in my backpack.

I also looked in the sample size aisle for Tide sink packets — which I know I’ve blogged about before. These are little packets, about 1 1/2″ square, containing just enough of a liquid detergent for hand-washing clothes in a sink or large bucket. On a mission trip, you have to pack light. Sometimes your hosts will offer to do laundry for you or there will be someone in the community to pay to wash your clothes. Often, however, you’re on your own, and if you want clean clothes after the first day or two, these packets are a godsend.

The shelf location which was supposed to have the Tide sink packets had a completely different product — larger packets containing enough liquid detergent for one load in the washing machine. (And that’s a completely different product — the tiny packets are specifically formulated for hand-washing, while the large packets are the same stuff you would find in a jug on the laundry aisle.) Buried underneath the large packets were two small three-packs, one of them damaged, of the sink product for which I was looking.

I didn’t bother buying the one intact three-pack. Instead, I came home and found the sink packets online, at the Walgreens web site. I ordered enough for myself and some extras to share with my teammates if necessary.

I highly recommend these. They’re probably a good idea even for an extended vacation here in the U.S.