Come Fly With Me - My Travel Tech
Check out what’s inside my travel kit! These are the essentials I always take on my trips.
I’m writing this as I sit on board yet another flight. This time it’s a 10.5 hour flight to Hawaii and if it wasn’t for my travel tech, I don’t know if I would make it through these long haul flights! So here’s a look inside my travel bag to show you the things I can’t fly without.
This is my canvas travel kit! It fits everything that I need comfortably inside.
I’ve experimented for years on what is the best bag to bring as a carry-on. For a while I used an oversized handbag that zipped shut (always choose a bag with a zipper otherwise things could fall out when you shove it under the seat in front of you) but now I am back to using a backpack. The only issue with a backpack is that it’s incredibly difficult to get things out of them in the narrow airplane seats. If I’ve accidentally packed my headphones at the bottom of my backpack I practically need to do acrobatics to get my backpack out from under the seat, dump everything into my lap and retrieve what I’m looking for.
I finally came across the perfect solution: an airplane travel kit! I use a smaller pouch that holds all of the essential items I’ll need on the plane and be sure to pack it last so it’s right on top. I recently started using this awesome #womenintech canvas zip bag which is the perfect size to fit all of the items I’ll talk about in this post AND it supports a woman in tech!
Noise cancelling headphones
These are my #1 travel must have - I don’t get on a single bus, train, or flight without these. If it weren’t for these Bose headphones I probably wouldn’t sleep on a single flight. The great part about them is they cancel out all the noise of crying babies, that passenger who insists on playing candy crush at full volume, and snorers. I never stress anymore about loud passengers because of these headphones! I put on my most relaxing Spotify playlist or a podcast and I can sleep for hours. It completely changes the flying experience. Better yet - there’s a convenient toggle on the cord that allows you to turn off the noise cancelling feature so you can hear the snack and drink options when the flight attendant talks to you.
I also highly recommend picking up these headphone accessories. The Bose headphones come with a convenient zip pouch that has a small mesh pocket so I tuck these in there so they’re easily accessible.
Dual prong converter. Some flights with in-seat entertainment systems require a dual plug so I carry this dual prong converter in my headphone case to ensure I can use my headphones. No sense in carrying around crazy expensive headphones if you can’t use them!
Headphone splitter. If you ever travel with friends or family - they might not come as prepared as you. I keep this headphone splitter with me so that my friends or family can watch my Netflix shows or listen to music with me. Plus, this comes in handy if your phone dies and you want to watch off someone else’s device!
Battery pack
Depending on what kind of plane you are flying - your seat doesn’t always come equipped with USB charging or an outlet. In this case you don’t want to run the risk of having your phone with all of your Netflix and Spotify playlists dying on you mid-flight. I bring this battery pack with me on every flight so I know I can charge my phone. I personally love this one because I’ve had it for years and it still holds a charge great - bonus is that it’s small enough to slip in your purse for a mid-day charge once you’re at your destination! The hardest part is remembering to charge it up the night before!
Kindle
I know this item will result in a divided camp - but let me disclaim this recommendation by saying that I LOVE real physical paper books. The main issue for travel, is that books take up a lot of space and are quite heavy. This is not ideal for longer trips or even short haul trips when you want to keep your packing light. The Kindle holds a battery charge for weeks when you put it in airplane mode and keep the backlight low which brings me to my next point: the backlight. I really dislike turning on the overhead light on a flight - especially a nighttime one. With the Kindle you can comfortably read in your seat without straining your eyes by turning up the backlight. All you need to do is download your books in advance and voila - you have 5 or 10 books for the weight of less than one.
USB cable
There are some planes that have USB charging in seat. If that’s the case you don’t want to have to again shuffle around in your bags to find the charging cable for your phone that you packed who knows where. I also recommend keeping a few adapters on hand so I can convert it to charge whichever device is running low. My Kindle uses micro-USB but my phone uses USB-C so I keep this cable on hand since it comes with a string which keeps different converters attached to your cable so you don’t lose it! I love it because it’s extra long and it comes with a convenient velcro piece that allows you to tie up the extra cord so it doesn’t drag or get in the way. Disclaimer - I do have an Android so I can’t confidently recommend an iPhone equivalent, sorry!
Travel power adapter
This is less important if you don’t travel abroad but for those of you who do - keep one of these multi-way travel power adapters on hand! You will thank yourself when you realize you are landing in a foreign country… with 5% battery. It’s another one of those things that you will thank yourself for when you don’t want to have to unpack all of your bags just to find your adapter.
Now if you noticed in my photo there are also some non-tech items in my bag so I thought I’d talk a little bit about them. These items are still super important to have in your travel kit!
Sleep mask
A lot of my flights are red-eyes where I know that I need to sleep for at least a few hours. To help with this I finally bought a nice silky sleep mask. Now I don’t have to worry about the one person who decides to leave their window open or about having a seat mate who turns on the overhead light to read. This changed my flying experience because I get to choose when to sleep now and I’m never at the mercy of when the overhead lights get turned on/off.
Chapstick
Airplanes are notoriously dry so I always keep chapstick on hand to moisturize! My favorite is this Burt’s Bees - I love the eucalyptus mintyness!
Hand sanitizer
I’m a huge fan of sprayable hand sanitizers - they leave less residue than gel based ones and they serve a dual purpose as a surface cleaner when needed. I like to use those free drink napkins to really quickly wipe down the tray table, armrests, and (most importantly) the overhead airflow adjustor. Planes RARELY get wiped down and research studies have shown everything from e.coli (GROSS) to who knows what living on your tray table.
Pen
Make sure you ALWAYS have a pen in your travel kit. When you land in the UK and in the US you’ll be asked to fill out a customs declaration form. You’ll save a lot of time by filling it out on the plane and not needing to do it before the line for customs and the flight attendants rarely have a spare for you to borrow.
Midnite
I like to keep a few melatonin pills with me when I travel. They help when I’m adjusting to a new time zone and am suffering from jet lag and they’re also magic for helping you fall asleep on an airplane. I love this brand and swear by it - it’s melatonin with natural herbs like chamomile and best of all they dissolve in your mouth so you don’t have to worry about flagging down a flight attendant to swallow a pill.
Paromi Tea
If you’re not into melatonin or it just doesn’t work for you - try a chamomile tea. If you’re feeling fancy which, let’s be real when you’re crammed into Economy on any flight longer than 5 hours you’ll want something to look forward to, treat yourself to this amazing chamomile tea. It is all organic and it smells absolutely AMAZING.
