The temperature and your ability to use PTO time are both dropping… Let’s face it: the holidays are here and you need to start packing for a trip. This list shows you the best and most useful items to pack for the trip you’ve always wanted to take.
Reader beware, this list is for real travelers, it’s full of useful, well-priced items that are in reach for those of us who can’t afford to splurge upwards of $400 on “smart” luggage.
The gear listed below will either save you time, space, money or just make a great Christmas gift for that special someone in your life.
Let’s stay organized!
1 – Packing Cubes
If you’re like me, you will find dozens of ways to turn your suitcase into an explosion of clothes, toiletries, miscellaneous cables and eventually, invasive inspection notices from the TSA. Tom Bihn’s well-priced line of packing cubes will transform your suitcase from a rat’s nest to an organized dream that will make the folks at The Container Store blush.
2 – Passport/Document Organizer
You’re in line to go through customs at the airport. You turn around and look behind you. There are dozens of angry, tired, impatient people waiting. You reach inside your luggage where you haphazardly tossed your passport in. You can’t find it. You hit the front of the line, you fumble around in your luggage, starting to sweat and notice the people behind you giving you “the look”. Meanwhile, the customs agent gives you a look of disdain. The clock is ticking. What would solve all of this? A handy Travel Wallet & Family Passport Holder! Save the embarrassment and possible detention in a foreign country by keeping all of your documents organized in one place and on your person.
3 – Duffel Bag
Know what’s more convenient and comfortable to carry than traditional hard-sided luggage? Everything! We have chosen a duffel bag as our luggage of choice due to their inherent comfort in carrying, ease-of-access for your stuff, and last but not least, the vast amount of color and style options on offer- even the pickiest of travelers will find a duffel they will love.
We love the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag for its amazing functionality and abrasion resistance that will survive even the most aggressive of baggage handlers.
First world problems dictate that the average person has at least two or more USB-chargeable items with them on their trip around the world. There is no greater first world problem for the modern traveler than when their phone is low and they just arrived at a hotel room that is scarce in outlets and has no room to charge all of their electronics at the same time.
A multi-USB charger is the solution and is here to save the day (sometimes literally)!
We like the RAVPower charger for its plethora of USB ports and gigantic 60-watt power supply: this baby will charge your stuff fast and efficiently with plenty of room to spare to charge all of your electronics (and even your traveling buddy’s).
5 – Power Bank
Since Elon Musk and the wonderful folks at Tesla haven’t decided to tackle the frankly horrible battery capacity of phones yet, we have to have a different solution for those long treks without an outlet or other charging stations.
Our solution: The Power Bank.
Picture this, you’re traveling in a beat-up Toyota Tacoma up a windy mountain pass to reach the most perfect, Instagrammable photo opportunity. You look over and your phone is low from watching the latest Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart buddy-buddy action movie. Your driver’s cigarette outlet is broken- he just shrugs. A normal traveler would panic and break out in cold sweats from losing an Instagram photo opportunity. You don’t fret as you reach into your Black Hole Duffel bag and pull out your handy Anker PowerCore power bank and charge your phone immediately. Go ahead. Breathe a sigh of relief.
We like Anker’s PowerCore power bank (whew, say that three times fast) for its immense 20,000 mAh Instagram photo fuel capacity and its great price.
We all know that sometimes off-the-grid hotels are the best, but we also know that sometimes they don’t have proper bathing towels, or the towels they do have tend to look like they helped clean up the green room after a Motley Crue concert in the 1980s.
Not to worry, Datsusara makes an amazing hemp bathing towel that is not only small and light, but it is also easy to pack and roll up in your Tom Binh packing cubes- keeping you traveling light and organized. Most importantly, it won’t smell if stowed slightly damp, due to hemp’s antimicrobial nature- a plus for you and the traveling public!
7 – Travel Pillow
The backs of airline seat headrests are so filthy and germ-ridden that they need to be examined with a UV light as they do on the MTV show “Room Raiders”. Not only are airline headrests nasty, but they are simply not comfortable for anyone except a human pretzel or those who enjoy pain from neck contortion.
You need to be rested and disease-free for your excursion to the beaches of Laos. Travel with the Travelrest Ultimate Memory Foam Travel Pillow and you won’t regret it!
8 – Ear Plugs or Why Won’t That Baby Stop Crying?
You’re lounging in your seat as you just hit the recline button after the grouchy flight attendant made her announcement that it is now safe to do so. Just as soon as you start to snooze, cradled by your soft and velvety travel pillow you hear an infernal screech. You wake up like a soldier attacked by enemy fire and you see the culprit: a teething baby across the aisle. You mumble angrily to yourself as you forgot to purchase some earplugs.
Not to worry, we picked a set of earplugs that will help launch you into la-la land as soon as possible.
EarPlanes disposable earplugs are designed to relieve annoying air pressure discomfort. While also, making it so peaceful that it feels like the baby across the aisle isn’t on the flight and is actually at home, watching reruns of The Golden Girls with their grandma.
9 – Noise-Cancelling Headphones
We get it, some airplane trips are so long that earplugs won’t do and you need a pair of noise-canceling headphones, so you can listen to the latest Grimes album without hearing the couple in the seats next to you discuss their slightly off-putting medical problems.
Plantronics’ BackBeat Pro 2 are our pair of choice: they have on-demand active noise canceling (cancel out those Boomers), the wonderful freedom of wireless and great audio that will highlight Grimes’ amazing vocals.
