Every year around the summer I get recommendations for travel items. Instead of reviewing them all individually, I’ve put together a list of my favorites in one easy-to-sort-through post for you. I’ve tested each of these items out and give them the GeekMom seal of approval.
Bags
Everyday Max Backpack, Retail $70, Currently $52 on Amazon – This is my pick for a day bag. Part duffle, part laptop bag, all awesomeness. The main compartment opens up like a duffle bag for you to slip in your clothing, with a separate area to store your sneakers. The laptop compartment will hold your average size laptop and has padding to keep it safe. There are handles on the side and the top so no matter how you prefer to pick it up, you will do it comfortably. I used this at a convention recently to store my steampunk rabbit cosplay.
Beast28 Packable Technical Backpack, Retail $89.99 – Beast28 is one of my all-time favorite backpacks and in my review it almost received five stars in all the areas I judge a backpack on. My favorite aspect of this bag is that it’s compressible and packable so you can easily throw it in your suitcase as a spare bag but it’s tough enough to be used for your main bag. You can see my full review of this bag on GeekMom.
Camera Base Layer, $59.99 – I use the Matador Base Layer to protect my DSLR camera. My only kvetch with it is there is no clip or anything that lets me keep it on my belt in between uses. The part that makes this a must have is the hidden rain coat that stores at the bottom of the cover so if it rains, it doesn’t pour on your camera.
Dollar Shave Club Travelers Bag, Retail $25 – Dollar Shave Club’s Travelers bag is an organized way to carry your toiletries. My favorite part of this bag is the razor holder which keeps you and your blades safe from mishaps when scavenging through the bag.
Electronics
Picture Keeper 64GB, Retail $189.99, currently on Amazon for $129.99 – On my first Disney Cruise my Lifeproof case failed me and my iPhone got water damage ::internally screams:: Thankfully I was able to upload all my photos to Facebook before it died ::still screaming::. Picture Keeper is a backup system for your photos. Plug it into your phone and it backs up all your stuff just in case something happens to your phone. After that one instance on my cruise, I never leave home without something like this. Works with Android or iOS.
Griffin Reserve, Retail starts at $14.99 – The Reserve line of power banks lets you decide the size and max charging of your backup battery. If your lifestyle doesn’t call for a massive eight charges battery backup, there’s no reason to carry one. The Reserve line starts at 2,600 mAh and goes up to 18,200 mAh capability and each with its own size and weight to match.
Brino Time-Lapse Camera, Retail $179.95 – The Brino Timelapse camera is my go to for affordable time-lapse photography. This hits the travel post this year because you could leave it running overnight at your campsite or on your cruise and capture the wildlife and sun views that you would otherwise miss. You can even set it up as a dash cam and capture the trip from beginning to end.
Headphones
Headphone Wraps, Retail starting $19.99 – What I love about these headphones is you can wear them as a necklace or a bracelet when not in use. The sound quality is decent and as a bracelet, it doesn’t pull on the hair on my wrist. Wraps has a couple of colors and wrap styles to choose from. My favorite are the natural walnut ($45 on Amazon)
Phiaton BT 460, Retail $200 – These are my pick for over the ear headphones because they can be wired or wireless and when you have taken them off your head, the headphones automatically pause whatever you’re listening to. They were comfortable on my ears and didn’t hurt after using them for long periods of time. The right side also has touch controls so with a swipe of your fingers you can control the music.
Accessories
H20 Voyager 180 Full Face Snorkel, Retail $65.95- $79.98 – Part of the anxiety I have when snorkeling is focusing on having to keep that darn snorkel in my mouth. It’s odd for me to go from breathing normally to having to focus on breathing through a tube. The full face snorkel by H20 takes the tube out of the equation and lets you breath normal. A bonus feature of this snorkel is the ability to attach your GoPro. Can’t wait to take this with me on my Disney Cruise later this year. If you want to see this puppy in action you can check out my full review on GeekMom.
Nathan Chroma Water Bottle, Retail $19.95 and up – Nathan Chroma Water Bottle is BPA free, holds between 17 and 25 oz of water and comes in a nice range of stylish colors. It claims to keep your liquids cold for 24 hours and your hot beverages hot for 6 hours. The best part of this one is the lack of sweating because it’s double insulated. I like the weight of this one and the fact that it’s stainless steel instead of plastic.
Dollar Shave Club Skin Care, Starts at $4 and goes up – Dollar Shave Club is one of my favorite (okay my only favorite) subscription service. When I need to add something to my monthly razor shipping I just pick and go. For the summer my additional selections include the Daily Face Moisturizer, Hand Cream, and Lip Balm. I have really bad allergies and this line doesn’t have any harsh scents that set it off. The face moisturizer has a bonus 25 SPF to protect your face from the harsh sun at the beach.
Multi-Flask 6-in-1, Retail $39.99- The Multi-Flask lets you carry one bottle for many uses. The six functions include: hot, infused, cold, insulated cold, fruit infused, and powered Bonus. It comes with a mesh bag to keep it all together. Put your loose leaf tea in to seep and then pick your lid of choice to enjoy it. The power hydrator lets you mix your power drinks and shakes up in the bottle while the agitator breaks it down for you. If you decide to seep your tea, after it’s done, I suggest you remove the infusion holder so it doesn’t clog up on you while you enjoy its warm goodness.
Survival Straps: Apple Watch Strap, Retail $49.99 – Fits both the 42mm and 38mm Apple Watch, you can get this one personalized including inside color, edge color, and center line color, and closure type. They’re built with 12 feet of military paracord with stainless steel adapters. Custom made to order.
Grand Trunk Hoodie Pillow ($39.95) and Blanket ($57.50) – I’ve looked at a couple of Grand Trunk travel accessories and my favorite were the travel blanket and the hoodie travel pillow. The blanket is a bit high priced for my tastes, but if you travel a lot and want a comfy blanket that takes up very little space in your luggage, then this is the way to go. The hoodie pillow is also soft and comfortable to hide away from the other passengers as you travel to dreamland.
Snacks
DripDrop Electrolyte Sticks, Starts at $9.99 for four sticks- DripDrop is power drink solution that you can mix with any bottle of water for on the go hydration. It has 3x the electrolytes and 1/2 the sugar of its competitors and comes in berry and lemon flavors. I won’t pretend to understand the science of it, so I’ll just tell you it tastes good and my family keeps them in our backpacks to mix with water when we go out. I took this with me when my husband had to wear a pretty hot cosplay and he downed a bottle real quick when taking a much-needed break.
Justin’s Nut Butter, Starts at $1.39 for a packet – This makes the list because of the wide variety and ease of packing. I really like the individual packets that you can squeeze and go. They’re also easy to go grab at your local grocery stores. In my area, that means Publix and Trader Joes. There’s a variety of flavors including almond, peanut, honey almond, and more.
Disclaimer: GeekMom received review samples.
