Pack up your travel troubles early this year with Get Your Kit Out's 'most wanted' items. Our favourite five will transform the quality of life on the road for even the most ardent of travellers.

The compact Hitachi DVD-Cam (from £799) movie camera records direct on to a DVD. The picture quality is superb, but it is the versatility of storing on a disc that makes it so convenient- whether you want to play back on the TV set or transfer recordings to a PC.

Logitech has produced a nifty Pocket Digital Camera (£120). Not much bigger than a credit card, it transfers its reasonable quality shots to a PC via the USB port. And while connected to the PC, the camera battery is recharged.

You can make safer hands-free mobile calls in your car cheaply with the FM Radio Handsfree gizmo (iwantoneofthose.com, 0870 2411064, £12.99). This is a fob that clips over your mobile's earpiece, which you then tune your car radio into. You can listen to callers through your car's speakers and be be audible to them in a normal speaking voice.

The best motto when travelling, particularly in remote countries, is 'be prepared'. Toss an e-med medipac (e-med.co.uk, £79.99) into your suitcase and you will be able to cope with most minor first aid eventualities. The kit, in its own plastic wraparound case, includes general antibiotics, analgesics and dressings.

Finally, a digital radio that will even bring you listening pleasure in some of the most far-flung destinations. Hitachi WorldSpace radio (Nauticalia, 0870 905 5090, £149) comes complete with a small receiving dish to pick up radio signals broadcast through space by satellites.