While travelling, every reason is a good one to introduce yourself to strangers and make new friends. Whether that’s at the bar while having a drink, in the water while sharing a wave or, my favourite, by playing games, meeting strangers is easy. I’m not sure why, but games have a unifying power – they truly bring people together. Below, I share a list of the games that I like to carry in my backpack while travelling.

1. A deck of cards

With a little bit of imagination, you can play an endless number of games with a deck of cards, leading to hours of entertainment. You can recreate a game of Uno or Skip-Bo, play President, and for the naughtiest of you, you can even include a few drinks to start your evening on the right foot.

2. Dice

While on a trip to El Salvador, I discovered a dice game called (well, it’s what we call it at least…) 10,000. The game is played by two or more players and only requires six dice. For you observant ones, you’ve probably already understood that the goal of the game is to accumulate 10,000 points. I’m linking the rules here. If you lose one of your precious dice, don’t worry! Instead, you can play Yahtzee or Yum by creating your own grid of points on a piece of paper.

3. Backgammon

There’s a mini travel size Backgammon sold in specialty stores that’s perfect to slip in your carry-on. The pieces are magnetized so you’re pretty much guaranteed not to lose them. All you have to do is find a few good players and you’re ready for a Backgammon tournament! May the best player win!

4. Monopoly Deal

My most recent discovery is Monopoly Deal, which is basically Monopoly without the board game, only the cards. What I love about this version is that in 15 minutes, you can have finished a game, unlike the original version that would take your entire trip to finish (and would also take up all the space in your suitcase).

There you go! Now that I’ve shared my favourite games, which ones you like to carry in your backpack?

Jade xxx