Idk, if this is the original placement of the chair, usually there’s a small ash tray near by. A long term smoker doesn’t use plants because it’s piles up. Looking at the bright lights above the chair, my money is on reading chair. Probably heat or light damage.
Either 1, a bunch of textbooks and encyclopedias. Or 2, a tablet/computer with said texts downloaded, a battery pack for said tablet/computer, and a few fold out solar panels or maybe one of those hand crank things. If I still have space I’d bring a soldering iron, a bunch of tips for it, flux and a bunch of different solders. Maybe a few spare parts for the laptop.