As someone who travels at least once a month for work and fun, you come to realize some travel gear is more helpful and durable than others. Here is a list of the travel essentials I love for a variety of types of trips. Please know I can make a commission from your purchase of some of these items which helps with paying to maintain this blog:
Luggage
- Travelpro Maxlite softsided suitcase: In this world there are soft sided suitcase fans, and there are hard sided suitcase fans. I am a huge fan of soft sided since I tend to try to cram as much as I can into my carry-on. I had my original Travelpro carry-on suitcase for over a decade, and now own two of this version. It’s durable and easy to get down a cramped airplane aisle.
- Osprey Fairview 55L Women’s Travel Backpack: I love this backpack for shorter trips, or destinations where rolling suitcases are undesirable. The detachable day pack works great for multiple tablets and snacks when traveling with kids too.
- Osprey Tempest 26L Women’s Lightweight Hiking Backpack: I have an older version of this pack that’s been to Iceland, Japan, Australia, and Switzerland for hiking trips. Now it works great for carrying three water bottles at once with the side pockets.
- Pacsafe Backpack: This backpack is perfect for airline travel, and keeps things safe with all of its security and anti-theft features when on the go.
Organization
- Compression Packing Cubes: Having these packing cubes in three different colors makes packing and organizing so much easier for our family.
- JARLINK pesh pouches:These pouches are awesome for keeping snacks, toys, electronic cables and other things organized.
- Travel Jewelry Box: This jewelry box is small enough to fit in a purse, and the bright color makes it visible in hotel safes.
- Travel Wallet: Packing only essential credit cards makes travel a lot more convenient and minimizes fraud risk if your wallet is stollen.
- Nishel toiletry bag: This hanging toiletry bag is perfect for cruise ships and small bathroom hotel rooms. The separate zip compartments let you see everything too.
- Laundry Bags: Keep dirty clothes contained, and easily transport to a laundry facility while traveling. Once home, make your life easier by having everyone’s dirty laundry contained in a bag or two.
- Mesh Beach Bag: This bag folds up small, and is the perfect size for family beach days
Safety and Security
- Luggage locks: These are a must-have when taking your bags on trains and leaving them in luggage storage at hotels.
- Birdie Alarm: This alarm is perfect for early morning Uber rides to the airport, solo runs or walking late at night. I got it for Antigua when there was the potential for me to have a solo trip.
- Lock Box: This lock paid for itself during our trips to Great Wolf Lodge, and gave me peace of mind when snorkeling in Aruba.
- Hidden Wallet: The perfect hiding place for back-up cash and credit cards.
- Air tags: Put them in checked luggage to make sure your bags make your flight, or put them on your kids before you go to parks or crowded areas.
- First Aid Kit: A must-have for cruises and trips to remote areas. It will pay for itself on a cruise if you need any basic medical supplies which are apparently crazy expensive.
- Small Bandage Kit: Perfect for a purse or backpack. The adhesive on these bandages are better than most.
- Handheld GPS: A must-have when leaving urban areas. Helps on hikes, driving in areas with poor reception, and when disaster strikes.
Comfort
- White noise machine: We have four of these and I take it everywhere for loud hotels and cruise ships.
- Ear plugs: Perfect for noisy hotel rooms, concerts and other loud activities.
- Eye mask: You never know how bright a hotel room is going to be. This mask allows you to sleep later.
- Mini umbrella: This lives in my travel bag since it’s light weight and still keeps you dry.
- Travel Towel: For bath houses and random stops at the beach.
Clothing and Accessories
- Rent the Runway: Ordering dresses and accessories from Rent the Runway before trips lets you have something new for your vacation, but you don’t have to commit to owning something long-term. This allows for style experimentation without the commitment.
- Foldable sun hat: Keep your face safe from the sun at the beach!
- Zip-up swim suit: This swimsuit offers more sun coverage than other options which is helpful for beach trips in the middle of winter, or when traveling solo because it’s easier to apply sun screen.
- Rain Jacket: A must-have for summer hiking trips and outdoor adventures.
- Rain Pants: Another must-have for outdoor adventures. You never know when the weather will turn when out for a hike.
Food and Beverage
- Collapsible water bottle:Collapsible water bottles are light enough to keep in purses during the day, and keep you from spending a small fortune on water while traveling.
- Collapsible coffee cup: This cup lives in my work and travel bags since coffee tastes better in it at work events, and I can then use it for coffee or tea when traveling.
- Instant coffee: My first cup of coffee on the road.
- Nighty Night Tea: These tea bags are individually wrapped which makes them easy to travel with to calm down after an exciting day on the go.
- Snacks from Imperfect Foods: I love the smaller snacks from Imperfect to oder before a trip.
- Travel utensils: The pouch for this set keeps everything organized. Be careful that the knife may get taken by TSA. I stopped keeping a knife in it after giving three or four to TSA over the years.
- Portable tea kettle: After seeing horrid videos of people using hotel coffee makers for washing their underwear, I am a travel water heater convert. I use this for coffee in the morning and to make tea at night.
- Silicone wine glasses: We have an older version of these that are light-weight and perfect for drinking wine on hikes.
- Reusable wine pouch: Carrying wine on hikes is a lot easier with these wine pouches.
- Wine Angel: These are perfect for bringing wine back in checked luggage.
- 2 Gallon Water Jug: A beach trip staple. Keep everyone hydrated.
- Bottle brush: Keep your cups clean on the go. Perfect for drink of the day cups on Disney Cruises.
- Travel Cutting Board: Cut up bread, fruits and veggies during hotel-only travel. Also great for charcuterie plates on the go.
Miscellaneous
- Waterproof phone case: Keeps your phone dry and sand free.
- Universal Travel Adapter: Charge multiple devices at once around the world.
- Portable charger: Great for phones, tablets and other devices.