Favorite Travel Products – Gear

My favorite travel products are ones that I have bought for myself and bring with me again and again. I am an Amazon Associate, and I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure: last month, I made 42¢, lol. You don’t have to click on my links, though. You can find the product directly on the Amazon page as well. And many of the items I list you may already have at home!

This post contains my top picks for gear when I travel. I can share my detailed packing list as well as my “pre-trip to-do checklist” closer to takeoff, if you’re interested. Let’s dive in, shall we?

I’ll split up my recommendations into categories, so feel free to skip ahead to what interests you.

Technology

Packing

Sleep & Airplane Comfort

Looking more travel-related tips? You might enjoy:

Tiny (and Brilliant!) Travel Products - Airplane Edition
Favorite Travel Products - Skincare, Health & Makeup
Favorite Travel Products - Accessories & Shoes
Useful Apps for Travel
Using Your Cell Phone Abroad
Using Your Apple Watch For Travel Can Save You Time, Energy, and Worry

Technology

Headphones

I highly recommend getting a nice set of noise-cancellation headphones. Here are my two favorites (I own both):

1. Apple AirPods Pro: These take up next to no room in your bag, the noise cancellation is great, and they charge super quickly. A nice bonus is that if you have an iPhone, you can use it to locate your AirPods if you’ve misplaced them. The downside? The battery life is fairly short. I’ve never made it through a long flight without needing to charge them.
2. Sony XM4 Over-Ear Headphones: They’re a lot bulkier than the AirPods, but the noise cancellation is better. Additionally, they come with a connector so that you can plug these headphones directly into the in-flight entertainment system. The battery on these is FANTASTIC. After using them an entire transatlantic flight (Milan to Atlanta), the battery power was still at 80%! If you’re traveling with others, it’s really nice to have full headphones. It makes it easy for them to know when you won’t be able to hear them. (Note: There are newer models of this headset, but in my opinion, they’re just more expensive without offering any major benefits over this model.)

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Magnetic Phone Ring

If you use your phone more than watching the inflight entertainment, it comes in handy to have a little phone holder you can clip to the tray table in front of you or use as a tripod to stand up on your tray table. There are tons of them. Bonus: these little rings are super fun to play with!!! (And silent.)

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Six-port USB Wall Charger and/or Adapter

If you have a lot of electronic devices (and you do!)

A surge protector/power strip with USB ports makes it easy to keep everything plugged in right where you need it, by the side of the bed! If traveling within the US, I recommend something like this. I have one next to my bed at home and bring it with me for US travel.

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Europe

European countries use a different strength voltage (220v) versus what we use in the US (120v). Additionally, their plug shape is different. To use your devices from home, you’ll need an adapter so that the plug can fit in the outlet and possibly a converter to switch the device to the right voltage. I’ll be writing a post soon with how to determine which devices you need a converter for and which you just need an adapter, and I’ll link it to this paragraph. Please know that most hair dryers and electric razors cannot be plugged directly into European outlets! If you always bring a hair dryer when you travel, I recommend purchasing a dual voltage hair dryer! It will make your life easier, and they aren’t even expensive. My pick is this one by Conair.

A European multi-outlet wall charger/adapter is one of the best travel purchases I’ve ever made. It has a long cord that can stretch behind beds and lets me have all my devices charging on the nightstand. This wall charger works from 100-240 volts, and can be used anywhere in the world with the right adapter plug. It also has USB ports, so you don’t have to bring your charging bricks with you.

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Thankfully, most devices these days are already formatted to work between 100 and 240 volts. I know that the chargers from all my Apple devices, as well as my laptop, can all work on either voltage.

If you have an Apple Watch

I love this little, portable Apple Watch charger because it takes up no space at all, and you can just use one of the cables you’re already bringing with you. Amazingly, this tiny charger is set up so that you can use either a USB-C or a lightning cable with it. Brilliant!!!! It also includes a little keychain you can attach to it. I use it for more than travel; I keep it in the console of our sofa for if my watch needs charging during the day.

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Portable Power Bank

If you have a new phone, maybe you don’t need this, but my phone is older (iPhone 12 Pro Max), and there’s no way it can do 12-hours of photos and video without dying in the middle of the day. I like portable wireless charging banks that have USB-A/USB-C outlets for cable charging. Phones charge up much faster and don’t overheat when you use the cables. But it’s nice to have the option to not have a cable hanging from your phone, especially when taking a lot of photos.

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AirTags

My top travel recommendation provides peace of mind. An AirTag is a small, circular disk that you can put with anything you need to keep track of. At home, I have one in my youngest’s backpack, one in my purse, and one in my husband’s wallet. Some people put them on their animals’ collars, which is smart. When I travel, I put one in each of my suitcases/carry-ons.

If you’re checking luggage, imagine the relief of knowing with certainty that your suitcase made it on the flight! Even if you don’t check luggage, if you keep an AirTag with something important, and you accidentally leave it behind, you’ll get a notification that the item is no longer with you. And if you are on the road and worry you forgot a bag, you can open the “Find My” app on your iPhone, and know immediately that your bag is in the car with you.

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You save a lot of money by buying AirTags in a pack, but you can also buy them individually.

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Packing

Packing Cubes/Pods

Are packing cubes “all that”? Or just another commercialized fad? That’s a philosophical question above my pay grade. For me, they are absolutely worth it for multi-leg journeys!

Here are the advantages:

1. With packing cubes, you know exactly where everything is in your suitcase. You can get out what you need without rummaging and creating disorganization. It’s fast to find whatever you’re looking for.
2. If you’re the kind of person who likes to relax into your vacation, like I do, you can set your individual cubes in the dressers of your fabulous hotel and pretend you live there. This process can be done in less than five minutes! And if you continue to put your things away within your cubes, the process of re-packing takes minutes as well. You just zip up the cubes and place them in your suitcase.
3. When you’re keeping all your items within the containers, you’re less likely to leave something behind at the hotel. You never have items scattered all over your room.

Last year, I treated myself to a new, “luxe” packing solution, trtl Packing Pods. They’re pricy but absolutely amazing. The hardware is super durable, you can hang them(!), they can stand upright if you need them to, and and AND, they come with a detachable strap so that you can use one of them as an impromptu day bag.

I still love my Eagle Creek set that I’ve had for years! I like that I can see what’s in the cube without opening it. I have the starter pack and a compression pack, and that’s enough for me (plus a cord organizer). Amazon has an overwhelming amount of packing cube options. Another good place to look is the happiest place on earth. No, not Disney. The other happiest place: The Container Store.

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Cincha Travel Belt for Luggage

I have two Cincha belts that I like and use. This one is for those bags that keep sliding off and rolling to the backside of your suitcase when you’re hauling butt through the airport.

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This second one I have is to ensure your checked luggage stays closed. Fun fact about me: I once had my large, hard-shell suitcase open up and spill everywhere on the luggage carousel. I don’t think everyone needs this strap; it’s just for if you have unresolved trauma from picking your scattered undies up in front of strangers. Or if you regularly pack your suitcase full to bursting and have reason to worry.

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Luggage Scale

Have you ever gone to the airport hoping that your luggage isn’t overweight and then sat on the airport floor unpacking and re-arranging everything? Does your blood pressure shoot up just thinking about it? Luggage scales are tiny, and if I’m checking bags, or if there’s any chance I might check luggage on my return flight, I bring one with me. I’d rather do my rearranging at the hotel, thankyouverymuch. If you’re joining me in Brittany, Fairytales & the Black Forest, or Cozy European Christmas Markets, you can just borrow mine! I have the same one linked below, and I bought it over six years ago. Worth it.

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Cord Organizer

An absolute necessity is a cord organizer. I always organize my cables/power bank/adapter plugs into one dedicated place so I can find them quickly and easily, and it’s nice if it also has pockets to keep everything from jumbling together into a tangled mess.

That said, you can definitely use a quart- or gallon-size freezer bag for the same purpose, or maybe use one of those cute fabric bags that you received with cosmetic or jewelry purchases. You know, the ones that are just too cute to throw out, so you end up with a ton of cute little bags sitting in your closet? Just me? If you buy a cord organizer, get one that doesn’t match the interior of your suitcase. Jet lag and sleeping in an unfamiliar bed can make you less sharp than your normal, genius-level self. Yes, you’re a genius. And if anyone asks you, I’m a genius, too. K? K!

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Amazon has hundreds of cord organizers, and the image links to one that’s a small-to-medium size, it’s inexpensive, and it comes in fourteen colors. If you’re traveling with a lot of gear (like an SLR camera or you’re taking a laptop and need to bring an external drive), you’ll want to search Amazon for a larger cable organizer.

Compact, reusable grocery bag

A number of countries and locations have banned single-use plastic bags along with a number of other plastic types of packaging, including plastic packaging for most fruits and vegetables. Whether you’re grabbing a quick snack or picking up La Roche-Posay skincare on the cheap (recommend!), you’ll appreciate having an extra bag folded up into a small pouch in your purse. I always bring one, and I’ve never not used it. Er, I mean, I always use it.

Off the top of my head, I’ve used them for: spontaneous picnics, trips to the beach, souvenir shopping, grocery runs, embarrassing baby messes when my kids were little (don’t ask), and especially for overflow luggage. Sometimes I overbuy souvenirs and can’t fit everything in my luggage, so I check my carry-on and carry my grocery bag on the flight.

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The image above is for a large tote that folds down to about the size of an iPhone. You can get these bags anywhere. There’s nothing special about the bags I’m linking here!

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Sleep & Airplane Comfort

Travel Pillow

I’ve used many different travel pillows, including a monstrosity that you have to blow up when you get on the plane. It’s that big one that you sit in your lap and lay your head on top of, except that there’s no room for it if the person in front of you is going to recline their seat. (PSSST! That person is going to recline the seat!)

After too much research and the purchase of more than ten travel pillows, I’ve learned that the best travel pillows work like a neck brace, keeping the cervical spine in neutral. You should not need to lean your head one way or another!

I have two current favorites, each with its advantages and disadvantages:

1. A slimline inflatable neck pillow like this one. It takes up NO ROOM in your bag and weighs virtually nothing. The disadvantage is that I find it works better on land than in the air. Sometimes when flying, I struggle to get it just the way I want it.
2. The trtl pillow. Since it isn’t inflatable, its performance is exactly the same whether in the air or on the ground. Just make sure you set it up so that your head is secured in such a way that it doesn’t lean to one side or another (critical for avoiding a kink in your neck!). The biggest disadvantage to this pillow is its size. Although it isn’t huge, it’s certainly not tiny. Especially if you take multi-leg trips like I do, you may get tired of hauling it from city to city. Also, it’s pricy!

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Using Your Own Headphones for In-Flight Entertainment

The headphones they hand out on the plane are super crappy. We’ve got two options.

1. Wireless pairing. Do you own AirPods or other wireless headphones you’d like to use? Would you like to be able to watch a movie with your travel companion or that strange rando hogging your arm rest? The AirFly Pro is your solution. It can also be used for rental car audio, stereos, gaming devices, iPads, laptops, TVs, gym equipment… basically any device that has a 3.5 audio jack can be used to connect to up to two pairs of wireless headphones or to a wireless speaker. Note: I don’t recommend this option for people who get frustrated easily with Bluetooth connection issues.

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2. Corded earbuds or headphones: yes the kind we used back before the iPhone murdered the headphone jack. Don’t laugh; they’re a great option on the plane. In fact, you might already have some laying around the house somewhere. I once sat next to a guy who commuted to work from Ohio to Oman(!), and he said he much prefers using the old school headphones because you don’t have to mess around with pairing them. After having used the AirFly Pro, which I do like, I can definitely see his point! It was a bit of a hassle getting my AirPods to pair. There’s something to be said for plug and play. If you have a nice set of Bluetooth headphones, check and see if they came with a cable! My Sony XM4s came with an audio cable.

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Sleep Headphones

Do you occasionally suffer from insomnia? Are you really sensitive to hotel noise (elevator, construction, people walking the halls) or have a travel companion who snores and keeps you from falling asleep? Enter sleep headphones. Sometimes, I have trouble falling asleep, or falling back asleep in the middle of the night. When that happens, I like to get on Spotify and play a white or brown noise track, a boring podcast, or a guided sleep meditation.

Spotify has a sleep timer, so you can set it to turn off after a determined amount of time. How to set a sleep timer in Spotify: when you’re in the app, looking at the individual track that’s playing, there is an icon near the bottom that looks like a little stopwatch. Press on it, and you’ll see the sleep options.

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I have both of these headphones. They both work well. I prefer the ones with the eye shades because they don’t mess my hair up as much and they do double-duty. But if it bothers you to have something covering your eyes, go for the headband.

Ear plugs are a great (and smaller) alternative. My favorites are by Loop. But I definitely recommend sleep headphones if it would help you to not just muffle but counter any noise you’re experiencing. I once stayed at a hotel with ongoing construction, and I used my Loops AND my sleep headphones (with brown noise playing).

Conclusion

If you’ve read all of my favorite travel products, bless you. This was a lot longer than I expected! Hopefully, it’s been helpful. I know it’s been a helpful exercise for me to write out the things that I need to start gathering together and a few things I need to buy.

If you have some items on your “must bring” list that I didn’t mention, I’d love it if you told me about it in the comments!