My Favorite Travel Essentials
It’s no secret that travel is a huge inspiration for me as an artist, so I try to do it whenever I can! Since I just got back into it after a long break from the pandemic, I’ve updated my favorite travel essentials and thought I’d share them here. It took me a minute to figure out what I thought I needed – and what I really need in this post-COVID world. So I’ve updated my international travel checklist with these cute and functional travel essentials. Check them out and let me know what you’re adding to your next travel packing list!
It goes without saying that I will always travel with my phone, my wallet, and my passport – if all else fails, if you have those three things, you can get anything you need wherever you go.
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Headphones: essential for plane rides and train rides. I like overhead ones with cushioned ears bc it’s really easy to lose AirPods (or similar) on a plane. It’s also easier to wear for long hours, and if you’re really sensitive to noise, you can get noise-cancelling ones. These work perfectly for me.
Comfortable plane clothes: I invested in a pair of Vuori joggers and they’re my go-to for plane clothes!
AirTags & cute holders: pop these in my luggage pieces to avoid lost luggage fiascos.
Pillbox: this one was the perfect size (small, fits in your palm) and holds a lot! Perfect for your meds, pain meds, melatonin, and vitamins.
Water bottle with a filter: built-in filter makes it so that you can drink water late at night when everything’s closed and you forgot to stock up on water bottles or refill your bottle at the filtered water station. And you want to stay hydrated!
Antibacterial Hand Wipes: to wipe down your plane seat and area, to carry with you wherever because you’ll want to try so many snacks while you’re out and about and a bathroom to wash your hands is not always available! And you want to make sure to keep on top of this because getting sick on a trip is the WORST.
Face wipes: nothing worse than that greasy long-flight feeling, and these face wipes are calming and don’t irritate my sensitive skin.
Emergen-C: or equivalent vitamin C/immune boosting supplement. It’s easy to get sick when you’re exposed to new germs, and you don’t want to spend your whole vacation in the hotel room with a fever.
Fan / rechargable battery / flashlight in one: loved having this on hand since it was VERY hot in the places I visited this summer, and love that it serves multiple functions while also being the size of my palm! This one also has a great battery life, I forgot to bring the charging cord and it lasted a week in Tokyo!
Cable organizer: love this for keeping all my tech in order. I also like to put my phone and pens (for customs forms) in it and then pop it in the back of the plane seat so I have easy access to everything I need without anything being loose.
Kindle Paperwhite: I like to read on long plane rides when I can’t sleep (I finished two books on the way back from London), and I’ve had my Paperwhite for a lot of years now. It’s no frills but works great without wearing on the eyes, and I can bring a ton of books with me with not a lot of weight.
ART SUPPLIES
Travel watercolor kit & water brush: again with traveling light, I like to bring a small watercolor kit (right now I’m using my own Disney x Ann Shen Aristocats one, but I also have this Prima one) and water brush for drawing and painting on the go.
Ink brush: my favorite for sketching on location / in life.
Mechanical pencil: no sharpening needed, ever.
Sketchbook: a small hardcover one I can pop in a bag is my fave for travel.
LUGGAGE
Finally, I got my first set of adult luggage from Beis and I absolutely LOVE them. (Not sponsored but I sure wish Beis would!) I got the Mini Weekender, which fits under a plane seat if you lay it down, the Carry-On which fits overhead bins juuuust perfect for U.S. airline carriers, and the 26” Check-In Roller because I need to make sure I keep that weight under 50lbs and I feel like I’ll have too much power if I get the larger one – all in Atlas Pink. When I go to Japan, I always Russian-doll my suitcases by packing my clothes in the Carry-On and then packing that into an empty Check-In Roller, so I can check it as one bag there. Then I have free reign to go HAM in buying design inspiration and checking 2 bags on the way back.
The roller wheels are amazing and quiet, so easy to roll over carpet and hard floors, and the suitcases pack so much. They survived flights, trains, and even falling down a flight on the escalator (not my finest moment). I was worried about the light color being scuffed up in transit, which it did but it was easy to remove with a Magic Eraser when I got home – they look like new again.
Like I said, I don’t work with them but I do have a refer-a-friend code if you’d like to get $15 off your first purchase – just click here.
I hope this helps in making your travels easier & more fun!
