Top 8 Personal Item Travel Essentials

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1. Diaper Bag Backpack
2. trtl Neck Pillow
3. Power Banks
4. Charging Cords
5. Phone and Tablet
6. Headphones
7. Water Bottle
8. Snacks

My number one travel item is a diaper bag backpack. These bags are so incredibly spacious, open up wide, have tons of pockets, and fit right underneath the seat in front of you. It makes grabbing the needed item so much easier than digging through a bag. You might be thinking, “but I don’t have a need for a diaper bag.” A traditional diaper bag I would agree, but these bags are not only for parents with littles because they make for fantastic personal item bags. I could also probably use one of these bags for a weekend getaway as long as my in fight items (everything else noted in this blog) were in a different bag.

Next up is the trtl travel pillow. I love the trtl brand because it provides support to the left, right, and front of my floppy head. I personally feel like normal neck pillows are incredibly uncomfortable because they push my neck forward and forces it to be at a strange angle resulting in me needing to make a chiropractor appointment once I get home.

Power banks. Nothing sucks more than being on vacation and your phone dying. We rely on our phones so much these days, especially when traveling somewhere new. We need them for maps, tickets, transportation, translation, photos/videos, etc. and if the device dies it can be very stressful. Plus, sometimes flights don’t have in seat charging for devices. Just bring the power banks, and if you are in the market for some these are my favorite so far – portable charger (2 pack).

This next one is a no brainer, but always pack your charging cables for all your different devices. They sell overpriced charging cords at the airport because it is such a commonly forgotten item and so critical. I personally keep a set of cords bundled up with all my other travel items so I can grab and go knowing I have all the cords I need for the trip.

I envy those people that can take only their phone as their source of entertainment on flights. I need variety, therefore I always also bring my iPad mini. My iPad mini is where I download all the movies and TV I want to watch, houses books to read, and games to play. Although a phone also can do this, having it on the iPad conserves the phones battery, is a bigger screen, and in a case that props up the device, like this one.

With all the in flight entertainment options – your personal devices or the screens in the seat in front of you – you will definitely need headphones. I personally prefer my over the ear Beats Studio3 headphones because it minimizes all the noises on the flight. PSA – Don’t forget your charging cords for any wireless headphones! Beats also now has noise cancelling earbuds, but I don’t own them and cannot attest to their quality. I like the idea of noise cancelling earbuds over the over the ear headphones because I am all about finding ways to travel and pack utilizing the least amount of space. But, my over the ear headphones are perfectly fine and there is no reason to spend money on earbuds at this time. As a back up, bring classic corded headphones. You never know, you might want to watch something that is on the in flight entertainment instead of what you downloaded and the headphones to buy on the planes suck.

The next two recommendations are just that, recommendations. Some people prefer to bring their own empty reusable water bottle and snacks from home to save money and some people prefer to just buy once through security. I almost always bring my reusable water bottle and snacks, but I also almost always cannot locate a water fountain that works and is clean and none of my snacks sound good when I am hungry, so I end up buying drinks and snacks before the flight (and sometimes on the flight).