© 2018 YaninaTravels
TRAVEL GEAR & LUGGAGE TIPS
1. Invest in Travel Gear Invest only in good brands and lightweight travel gear. You want to be comfortable on the road in all kinds of weather conditions you might face. It’s more important to have less travel gear but high-quality pieces. The good travel brands stand for their products. If something doesn’t feel right, they will be happy to return & exchange their product for you. You can call them even after years, addressing any issue about their product, they will still meet your needs. That’s what you pay for when buying expensive travel gear brands – quality, comfort and excellent service. Some of my favorite brands are Lululemon, Lole, Ahnu, North Face, Marmot, Mammut, ExOfficio, Osprey, HydroFlask, CamelBak, Timberland, Salomon, etc.
2. Pack Less and Compact Pack light, following the old rule, “Less is more”. You will not need most of the stuff you pack. Bringing less stuff on your trip, gives you more flexibility and freedom. Organize your travel gear in clothes packing cubes and shoe bags. Roll up your clothes and arrange them in the packing cubes. Put your shoes in the shoe bag and to save space, you can also hang the shoe bag on a clip, attached to your backpack.
3. Avoid Checking Your Luggage The ideal situation would be if you can avoid bringing a wheeled bag, but fit all your stuff in 40L Osprey backpack and in hydration CamelBak daily backpack and travel only with 2 carry-on pieces. The Osprey fits great in the airplane overhead bins. Traveling only with carry-on, will save you lots of time, additional fees and stress! If you still decide to check in luggage, then pack your most valuable clothes and items in your carry-on. This is a smart thing to do in case your luggage gets delayed or lost in the worst case. If you are traveling to a beach destination, definitely put your swimsuit in your carry-on.
4. Luggage Locks and Labels Use luggage locks on each one of your travel bags, even on your carry-on. It protects to some extent from theft. Use a colorful luggage tag to mark your travel bags. Put your name, email and phone number, to prevent someone picking your bag by mistake. Don’t write your home address on any luggage tag. Anyone seeing it, will know it’s safe to break into your empty home, while you are away.
WHAT TO BRING
- Bags: wheeled bag, 40L backpack, hydration daily backpack, luggage travel locks, lightweight foldable bag, clothes packing cubes
- Jackets: lightweight jacket, lightweight vest, rain jacket, BugsAway jacket, poncho, backpack rain cover
- Shoes: waterproof hiking boots, lightweight water shoes, lightweight flip flops, shoe packing bags
- Tops: mid layer tee, hiking t-shirts (Marmot), sport dresses (Lole)
- Pants: lightweight long pants, short pants (Lululemon)
- Small Items: sun hat, winter hat, socks, underwear, swimsuit (Sloggy or Triumph)
- Misc: sunscreen, insect repellent, aloe vera gel, anti-itch cream, inflatable neck pillow, lightweight travel/swim/sports towel, external battery pack, universal travel adapter, small packing cube for cables/battery pack/adapter, water bottle, coffee/juice bottle, food flask, toiletries
- Snacks on the go: trek mix individual packs, instant oatmeal packets, instant coffee packets
* AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: I’m a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, which is an affiliate advertising program, built for web owners to earn referral fees. On my blog you will find referrals only for travel products which I personally use and find outstanding. By clicking on my referral links and using them to purchase products from Amazon, besides getting an awesome travel gadget for yourself, you also support future production of more inspiring and helpful travel content on my blog. By using my Amazon referral links, you don’t pay more for any of the products but exactly the same amount as you would pay if you don’t use them. Click here for my General Amazon Affiliate Link