Welcome to our list of travel resources!
We hope this list of travel resources saves you time when planning your gear for your vacation!
Whether you are planning a short vacation or a longer trip, this list should give you some helpful links so you can easily find our favorite travel gear.
Top 3 Must-Have Travel Products for Every Type of Trip:
- The Bug Thing: Our favorite bug control tool is this simple suction tool called The Bug Thing that helps negate the itchy effect when you do get a bug bite! This has been a lifesaver for us in every type of climate – including ones where we would think there wouldn’t be any bugs or mosquitos to contend with!
- Money belt: There are lots of money belt variants out there, but this money belt is by far our favorite and the most discrete!
- Packing Cubes: We’ve purchased so many different types of packing cubes over the years, but we go back to these compression packing cubes every time!
Packing / Luggage
✔️Packing Cubes: We’ve purchased so many different types of packing cubes over the years, but we go back to these compression packing cubes every time!
✔️Luggage: We have tried so many different types of luggage. We keep returning to Eagle Creek brand. We love this Eagle Creek International Carry On Luggage 30L Duffle with backpack straps.
✔️Backpack or daypack: A comfortable backpack or daypack is useful for carrying water, snacks, and other essentials while exploring. We like this easy waterproof backpack for day outings (get a waterproof one because you will otherwise sweat through it!) and this Osprey Daypack for travel days to have the option of carrying it on our shoulder, as luggage or backpack-style
Electronics
✔️ Camera & Lens: This Sony Alpha A6600 Mirrorless Camera & Lens because it isn’t too bulky and takes incredible photos.
✔️ Computers
✔️ Cords and Plugs
Clothing
✔️ Patagonia thin sweater layer
✔️ Merino Wool Layer Kids (This layer is lightweight and provides warmth but also has been a helpful layer for sun protection when it isn’t super hot.)
✔️ Allbirds: I just love all their shoes and they are comfortable enough to walk for miles and miles.
Kids & Baby
✔️Carseat + Stroller: Doona Stroller + Carseat in one: A game changer!! Pricey but worth every cent.
✔️High Chair: Portable Baby Chair: One of our best purchases – easiest and most compact + it’s inexpensive! Plus when you aren’t traveling it’s helpful to have it for restaurants.
✔️Sleep Sack: Merino Wool 4 Season Ultimate Sleepsack: A friend recommended this to me and it’s by far our favorite sleepsack. Works for any climate and lasts for years, so worth the price.
✔️Books: Kindle Kids: Carrying books while traveling is too hard, so this is the perfect device where all the kids can access is their books. We borrow from our library and they automatically load on their Kindle, which makes it super easy.
✔️Baby Carrier: If you are traveling with a baby, a baby carrier is a must. I used this Ergo Baby almost everyday (even when hiking for hours), but we also carried this Boba Air Ultra Lightweight Carrier at times when we weren’t sure if we really needed a carrier or we didn’t want to pack the Ergo Baby.
Safety Gear
✔️Money belt: There are lots of money belt variants out there, but this money belt is by far our favorite and the most discrete!
Sunscreen / Insect Repellant
✔️ Suncreen: SPF: We try to get our share of vitamin D by spending lots of time outdoors. In many places, sunscreen is necessary so we don’t get burnt. We are quite particular about using nontoxic, reef friendly sunscreens that provide UVB & UVA protection without making us white as ghosts.
A shameless plug, I am a consultant with Beautycounter (an income stream that helps support our travels!), so reach out with any questions.
✔️Bug Repellent: Insect-repellent wipes for travel.
MUST ➡️ Our favorite bug control tool is this simple suction tool called The Bug Thing that helps negate the itchy effect when you do get a bug bite! This has been a lifesaver for us!
✔️Hats with large brims and neck coverings like these kids or these for baby are very helpful.
Other
✔️Water Bottles: Clearly Filtered Water Bottles: Because bottled water comes in all different qualities, we prefer to use these Clearly Filtered water bottles to filter our water. We have them in both the small and large sizes and prefer the larger one because it holds more water.
✔️Massager: This isn’t exactly a travel product. Quite the opposite. In fact, it’s a little bulky and heavy. Buuut, it has saved us time and time again, so I thought I’d share! We use this MASSAGE STICK. If we have a long day of walking, this is amazingly rejuvenating. If we hurt our back or our foot or just feel tired, this is the fix. We don’t bring all the attachments – we just pick one (usually the round knob)!
Travel Insurance
We have used both World Nomads and Safety Wing and have needed to make claims with both. We like World Nomads clear comprehensive plans, but Safety Wing is a much better value, so for our past few trips, we’ve opted to go with Safety Wing!
Favorite Credit Cards for Travel:
✔️How we don’t pay for flights in the United States: Best Domestic Credit Card! If you are located in the United States, we think the Chase Southwest Credit Card is by far the best deal. We have rarely paid for a flight within the United States in the past 7 years!
Chase has the easiest rewards program and Companion Pass (choose a person that flies free with you every time). Essentially, we book a ticket using points and the companion flies free. We also book our kids with points too. Total game-changer!
✔️Best Credit Card for International Perks: We have recently started using the Capital One Credit Card as well. The signup bonus points are great and the access to priority pass lounges around the world is really really really nice! (The value is that the lounges usually have decent meals and drinks, meaning we don’t have to buy expensive crappy airport food!)
We have actually found (much to our surprise) that their travel portal has saved us money on flights which we couldn’t find cheaper anywhere else!