One of the greatest pleasures I’ve experienced over the past year since Cal left for school was the amount of travel I’ve managed to do. Hopping on planes, trains and cars from Santa Fe to Wales certainly wasn’t something I set out to do, but as I looked out into my first year of empty nesting (what a phrase!), I knew that saying, “yes", was something I wanted to make an effort to do. More often than not, saying, “yes,” meant saying yes to travel too.
Travel can be so richly rewarding, but it can be uncomfortable and frustrating and downright nightmarish too. I often get asked about bits and pieces here and there that I use for packing and managing my trips, so I thought I’d share my top five favorite things that have helped get me from here to there over the last year.
I have to start with my Red House Book Bag tote. I bought this in Burlington last year and it hasn’t let me down let. All their bags are amazing, hand stitched, waxed canvas with leather handles, but the Book Bag suits my purposes perfectly. It’s cross body, so it’s easy to wear and I feel like my things are safe. No matter how full it gets, it lays flat against me, and I can stuff everything from a camera to my kindle in it. I joke that it’s like Hermione’s bag from Harry Potter, you never know what all will come out of it. Plus it comes in a ton of gorgeous colors that go with everything.
As long as we’re on bags, I have to recommend my Fjallraven backpack. I’ll be honest, I’d poo-poohed backpacks for a long time. Cumbersome and hard to get to; I just didn’t think they were for me. But months of carrying totes and years of shoulder injuries, not to mention one nightmarish shoulder surgery, had me changing my tune. This summer I treated myself to the Greenland, and it was a complete lifesaver on my recent trip to Cornwall. I hate carrying a camera bag, and this holds my Hasselblad, a laptop, film and my Kindle. It’s perfectly sized for overhead bins, and the color choices are the bomb here too. Total bonus.
3. No list would be complete without my Blundstones! The epic day that Annabel from Bleak House and I trekked across Hampstead Heath in search of my Blundstones will forever remain one of my favorite travel memories, and there’s a little bit of that trip in me each time I put them on. Blundstones are the perfect all weather footwear. Heavy treads make them great for walking in all conditions. They’re waterproof and they slip off and on easily with one hand. If anything, mine have gotten more comfortable in my second year of use with them, and I look forward to blustery winter days knowing I can pull them out of the closet.
4. It seems like a little thing, but I really love my wireless earbuds. I grabbed these at the airport one trip because my headphones accidentally got packed in my checked bag, and I found I liked them much more than my AirPods. AirPods hurt my ears and the JBuds sit much more comfortably. They have a long battery life, long enough to make it thorough a flight across the ocean and the line at customs. I’m not sure I’d be able to navigate all these journeys nearly as well without music. I have travel playlists and sleep playlists and playlists of music suggested by friends. It’s a thread of connection in my life when journeys to new places can feel so disconnecting.
5. I was going to end with something pretty, like my Pyrrha necklace or my Atelier bracelet because I think it’s important to keep pretty things around you. And especially when you travel and are feeling off kilter, I think it’s to have things that feel quintessentially you, but this is a list more of practicality than romance and because of that I can’t leave off my packing cubes! So boring, I know, but so, so essential. Sadly, I am not by nature a neat person, and travel only serves to illuminate that fact. But packing cubes keeps my stuff organized and safely tucked away. This is essential when you’re sleeping in guest rooms or on sofas. They come in various sizes and I generally pack “big clothes” in one, jammies and undies in another, and so on. They’ve been key to my survival on the road. Run and grab a set. Your suitcase will thank you and your hosts will too.
Perhaps I should end on something philosophical, but the truth is, travel is such an individual experience that what works for me, what ignites my spirit might not work for you. If I could say anything, it would be this though, if you have a chance to do it, do it. If you have a chance to go, just go. Yes things will help you, just like the things I’ve listed here have helped me, but the truth is, the best travel gear you could have with you is your own open heart.