| image courtesy of away suitcases |

We're preparing for another shopping trip to gather inspiration and find beautiful new treasures for your homes. Keep reading for our tested and trusted travel tips that we always consider as we pack and prepare for our next adventure.

We don't mean to brag, but we're pros at traveling light, yet being prepared for just about anything.  Through many, many long trips around the world for business and pleasure we've perfected our arsenal of travel tricks and tools.  

All the shop girls agree, these are the MVPs.

Luggage & Packing Supplies

Hard Sided Carry On Suitcase

We never check our bag.  Ever.  This bag is small enough to work for both domestic and international travel, has swivel wheels, and the hard sided structure gives it extra crushing power.  

Packing Cubes

For a long trip, packing cubes allow you to pack more into your little bag.  And bonus, as the trip wears on, you can allocate one of the cubes for laundry and one for dry cleaning so your clothing is already sorted when you get home.  

Hanging Toiletry Kit

This bag holds all our essentials, and keeps everything organized while you're on the road.  And best of all, we never leave any of our toiletries behind when we're traveling. 

Longchamp Folding Tote

We always use this bag as our personal item on the plane.  It's got plenty of room for books, electronics and other essentials, and it has a zipper top, so it's perfect for transitioning from airport to subway, metro and train stations.  

Bucky Neck Pillow & Eye Mask

We know the travel pillow & eye mask are a cliche, but seriously.  If you want to arrive at your destination feeling refreshed, throw both in your bag.  

Go Bags

To keep our travel totes organized, we pack one of these clear vinyl zipper bags with our beauty essentials ( glasses, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, eye cream, essential oil towelettes, hand cream, face serum), one with our charging chords and headphones, and one with travel essentials (passport and foreign currency).  Then when you settle into your seat, grab your beauty bag, your charging chords and your book and you're set.  

Clothing

Blanket Scarf

This scarf is light enough to toss into your tote for summer travel, large enough to serve as a blanket on the plane, and chic enough to serve as a shawl for cool summer evenings.  

Packable Straw Hat

We don't wear hats in daily life, but it's surprising how often a hat comes in handy when traveling.  To keep your head cool, to keep your head warm, or to stand in for an umbrella so you have both your hands free, this packable straw hat is a nice thing to have in your bag.

Ultra Light Down Jacket

In the winter months, rather than traveling with a huge winter coat, we wear a trench on the plane, and pack one of these ultra light down jackets in our suitcase to layer under it when we're out and about.  

Bag

We find a cross body bag is best for travel.  It allows you to keep close track of your bag.  Our current favorite is this Hobo Fanny Pack worn across the chest.  It's easy to zip up under a trench, and is unattractive to pickpockets because it's high on the front of your body.  

Cladwell App

For years, we used an excel spreadsheet to organize our suitcase before packing:  colors across the top and categories down the side, then fill in the items we wanted to pack.  Now the Cladwell app serves that function to allow us to create little travel capsule wardrobes for each trip.  The best part is pulling up last year's summer Europe capsule and voila!  the work is already done.  It's $35/year, and 100% worth the money.  

Electronics

Wireless Headphones

AirPods are all the rage, but we prefer the Power Beats for comfort and travel use.  While there's no noise cancelling function for the plane, we think that's a plus for subway, train, or roaming the streets when you want to be alert to your surroundings, but would like to enjoy a self guided audio tour or some ambient music.  

Portable Charger

We can't stress enough how important it is to have a portable charger in your travel kit.  We like this one because it has an integrated charging chord, can be charged with an iphone chord and gives a super fast, long lasting charge.  

Charging Hub & Adapter

Rather than pack several power adapters, we've discovered that one really good adapter and this Native Union charging hub with multiple outlets and USB ports is the move. 

And a few other tips

Roll your garments in your suitcase rather than folding them. We don't know why, but it saves on space.

Wear your biggest shoes and sweater on the plane.

Do not pack white pants.  You'll get one wearing out of them, then they'll just be in your way for the rest of the trip. 

Bring your foreign currency with you.  Don't change your money at the airport.   

Read more travel tips and guides from the EG team > 

Laurie's Travel Packing Guide

Elsie's Edit | Boutique Hotels Around the World

Elsie's Edit | The Elsie Green Restaurant List

When We Go I South of France

Laurie Furber
Tagged: travel journal