A page from Joan Didion reveals her packing list

One of my favorite writers is Joan Didion. She wrote a book about loss, The Year of Magical Thinking, which really resonated with me. The book relates Didion's experience losing her husband while her daughter lay comatose from pneumonia, which is life-alteringly tragic. If you've recently lost a loved one or gone through a shock, I recommend it. It's very personal. I cried as I read it. I just lost my grandfather in February; we were very close. The book helped. 

Anyway, Didion is also a pioneer of literary journalism (Wikipedia calls it New Journalism). She wrote for outlets like Life, Esquire, the Saturday Evening Post, and my favorite, the New York Times. As you can imagine, Didion did a lot of traveling. You can find one of her packing lists in The White Album, a collection of essays published in 1979. I loved reading it. I think you can learn a lot about a person from what they take on the road. Here's a copy of the page:

Photo credit: Google Images. Google Images (and Joan Didion) do not endorse, and are not affiliated with, Caroline the Adventuer. Please don't sue me. I think you're really cool. 

I like the way she includes items that make a hotel room more personal. I think part of the problem with frequent travel is a feeling of homelessness. Bringing something you with you when you go can go a long way to helping you claim that (temporary) space. 

What do you take with you when you travel? Do you ever try to make your hotel room more personal? Why or why not?