This post contains a referral link. The author receives a discount on a month’s subscription to Nuuly when you click the referral link and set up your Nuuly subscription.
Carry On-Sized Hardcover Spinner
Everyone who’s tripped over thin air (and thereby a stuck luggage wheel) knows a spinner is the obvious choice, but most of us tend to opt for a more professional color when picking luggage. However, neutral luggage is more readily mistaken for another traveler’s, more easily stolen, and harder to spot on a busy luggage carousel. By using a bold or brightly-patterned spinner, you discourage any possible theft and also make it easy to spot from a distance – and bold patterns also don’t show wear and tear as much as solid colors do. I also recommend always carrying on luggage if at all possible, simply because I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had issues with lost or damaged luggage when checking a bag. And on a pandemic-related note: hardcover luggage is super easy to wipe down every day with Lysol wipes!
Clothing Rental Subscription
A clothing rental subscription is the ultimate answer to “I have nothing to wear,” and it is quite handy if your destination completely contradicts your personal style. Whether it’s bold patterns or bright colors or the fact that you just don’t usually wear caftans on a regular basis, a clothing rental subscription allows you to plan ahead and rent items that match your destination, be it Bali or Barcelona, Caribbean cruise or Nordic ski slope. From walking coats to swim cover-ups, you can rent thousands of dollars’ worth of items for (usually) less than $100 a month, and if you spill a glass of chardonnay on it in Paris, well – you just send it back at no cost to you. Damage and laundry are included in your rental fee! I’m partial to Nuuly myself, but there are dozens out there to fit every style and body shape. Try it for yourself with my referral link here if you like – you’ll get $10 off your first month’s subscription! http://fbuy.me/qJSeK
Home Pet Cameras
I get anxious leaving my cats (one of them 17 years old, a grumpy little grandma) alone for long periods of time, even though I pay a pet sitter, and it’s been a big relief to install a couple of cheap pet cameras in high-traffic areas in the house so that I can watch them on occasion throughout the day, making sure they haven’t mysteriously vanished, etc. You can purchase a variety of cheap cameras – even pet-specific cameras with voice capabilities, if you want – on places like Amazon (they’re usually a Black Friday/Cyber Monday special, although you can find them at a decent price throughout the year), and peek in on your fur babies occasionally to reassure yourself that they’re happy and well. I prefer the Wyze cameras myself because they’re cheap, easy to mount and re-mount (no screws, just adhesive), and so far have no issues connecting to my somewhat sporadic wi-fi in southern Columbus, OH.
Pocket Digital Camera with Wi-Fi
Having a good digital camera is a must for traveling, that’s a given – but I would recommend getting one that has wi-fi capabilities enabled. You can purchase one for only a couple hundred dollars, not much more of an upgrade than the basic point-and-shoot, and in my opinion it’s totally worth the expense in the long run. It’s super handy to be able to upload photos to the cloud or your personal storage app at the end of a day or a trip, without having to connect via USB to a computer and fight with it to recognize the photos. It’s also great if you haven’t yet invested in large memory cards; you can upload photos and clear the memory card at the end of each day of travel, ensuring you never run out of space. Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras are a godsend if you love taking far too many photos of your travels.
Travel-Size Skin & Hair Care
There’s nothing worse than trying to wash your hair with hotel-grade tiny shampoos and conditioners, is there? Or even travel-sized Pantene when it isn’t your Pantene, if you’re as picky as I am with your beauty routine. If you do carry on instead of checking luggage, it’s definitely worth investing in travel-sized skincare and hair care products if you can find them. Target, for one, has a luxury travel-size section with more expensive products in smaller form, and Ulta sells smaller sizes of many products as well. If you’re more eco-conscious, take the time to purchase reusable 3-oz plastic bottles and actually fill them with your favorite products. It is a bit of a pain, but your hair and skin will thank you – both in photos and in person, after your trip.
Kaylin has several years of freelance and professional copywriting experience, and is currently a product manager for an e-commerce business operating out of Charlotte, North Carolina. She currently lives with her three rescue cats in Columbus, Ohio, but is planning to move to sunny Florida in early summer. Pre-pandemic, she loved to travel and had visited several different countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Ireland and Great Britain. Her favorite city to visit so far was Barcelona, and first up on her post-pandemic bucket list is a trip back to Rome.
