All this glorious sunshine I’m seeing these days has me thinking a lot lately about summer travel. Do you have any spring or summer trips planned? When I first started traveling, most of my trips were abroad. I’m not traveling now as much as I used to, but in the future, I would love to see more of the U.S.
In today’s post, I’m sharing those must-have pieces that I always take when I travel, including this handbag that saved me so many hours of work a few years back, hours that would have been spent canceling credit cards and talking with banks. This is my favorite Travelon bag. It was designed especially to keep the wearer safe during travel. The strap is resistant to being cut, so a bad guy can’t zoom up on a motor scooter, cut the strap, and zoom off with the bag. It has many other safety features like RFID-protected pockets and easy mechanisms for locking the bag so no one can reach in and take anything from the bag.
I love that it has pockets on either end of the bag—perfect for holding an umbrella or a bottle of water. This bag literally saved me from so much trouble when I was traveling through a market in Cairo. If you’re new to BNOTP or just never saw the post where I shared that somewhat harrowing story, you’ll find it here: How I Foiled a Pickpocket Thief in Cairo, Egypt. This bag is still available here: Best Anti-Theft Travel Bag with Side Pockets.
Travelon has a lot of different bag styles, and I think this one must be a fairly new style. It comes in 5 different colors, including black and gray. I really like this pink color! It would go great with a lot of my summer clothing and would be perfect to wear when I know I’ll be out in crowded areas, where it’s so easy to have someone scan your credit cards.
This bag also has many great safety and anti-theft features that Travelon bags are known for, like a slash-resistant body and straps, compartments that lock, and RFID-blocking zippered pockets for passports and credit cards. You can read more about this bag’s features and see all the colors it’s available in here: Best Anti-Theft Travel Bag.
If you don’t have a Travelon bag, consider purchasing an RFID blocking card. I have a few individual RFID-blocking card sleeves that I keep my cards in, but I’m buying this card today since it’s the only thing I’ll need to keep all my cards safe in my wallet. Apparently, the way it works, you tuck this single RFID-blocking card in your wallet, and it will protect all of your cards from being scanned by a bag guy. You can read more about this RFID card and how it works here: RFID Card That Protects Your Entire Wallet
I tend to always overpack when I travel. To avoid having to pay extra fees at the airport for having a suitcase that’s over the weight limit, I always weigh my suitcase before leaving home. There’s nothing worse than having to pay a big fee for being 2 lbs over or having to throw something in your bag away at the airport to avoid the fee. This is the luggage scale I use, and it gives me tremendous peace of mind. It’s always been dead-on accurate, so I know exactly what my suitcase is going to weigh before the airline baggage agent asks me to place it on the scale. You’ll find this affordable luggage scale available here: Luggage Scale.
I always take this awesome travel pillow with me when I’m traveling overnight. It folds down quite small, so it easily fits in my carry-on bag.
It only takes a few puffs to blow it up. Seriously, I can blow it up in like 20 seconds. Once it’s inflated, there are two ways that it can be used for sleeping on long flights. This is my favorite way.
It can also be used for sleeping like this. Once, when I awoke from a long nap, the guy sitting next to me immediately asked where I got my travel pillow. He commented on how soundly I had slept. If I ever leave this pillow on a plane or lose it, I will immediately purchase another one. I can’t bear the idea of traveling overnight without it! You’ll find it available here: Travel Pillow for Sleeping on Planes.
Whenever I travel abroad, I always take along the adapter plug that I’ll need for the countries I’ll be visiting. I have this set, and it has been perfect for all my international traffic. I take only the ones I’ll need, and the bag is perfect for holding those on my trip. You’ll find this set of adapters available here: Travel Adapter Plug Set for Worldwide International Travel.
The other item that I always take with me is this Voltage Converter. It comes with some 4 adapters as well. I feel safe plugging my phone charger and computer into this converter, knowing that it’s keeping my devices safe from an electrical surge or anything else that could cause damage. It has three outlets and 4 USB ports, so it’s great when traveling with friends or family who may have phones and other devices that they need to charge, too. This voltage converter comes in a few different styles, and this is the one that I have. After the first time I used it, I liked it so much that I purchased a backup in case I ever accidentally left it in a hotel. So far, that hasn’t happened, and my original one is still going strong. You’ll find this voltage converter available here: Universal Travel Adapter.
Hope you find this brief list of my must-haves for travel helpful as you head off on your next adventure!
Heading to Malawi, Africa next week and have many of those same items, especially the Travelon bag. I so agree with your evaluation of their practicality and safety. I’ll use it again when we go to Italy in September. I’ve been using them for several years. Worth the purchase price.
Great safety tips, especially features for RFID-protection.
No grand travel plans here; but several local adventures on the calendar so far,
Wondering between the 2 sizes of Travelon bags. Would you comment about that? The one you brought to Egypt is bigger, is it too big? I like that one the most from the description you give but worry about it being to heavy to walk around touring with? (Cause it carries so much?). But I would like something that my iPad fits into if I want to carry that also…..
I definitely never found it heavy. Of course, it will depend on what you put inside, but I never remember it feeling heavy, even with a water bottle in the side pocket. I wore it cross-body the whole time, so I’m sure that helped, as well. I literally never even thought about it the whole time I was wearing it since I was wearing it crossbody. You forget you even have it on.
You can see how it looks inside in this post: https://betweennapsontheporch.net/whats-inside-my-travel-handbag-luxury-travel-themed-toothpaste/