Travel Accessories

Here are some travel accessories we have purchased and found useful. These all can be used in a variety of ways outside of traveling as you will find.

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As travel bloggers, there is nothing I enjoy more than being at a vacation place while spending a few minutes updating or responding to travel and vacation questions. Since we also own vacation rental property, there may be an important inquiry that needs a response. People sometime tease me about “working” while on a trip. It is not work when you enjoy what you do. And being able to do these things remotely are what allows us the freedom of taking trips.

Some places, cruise staterooms in particular, are short on available outlets. This multi plug wall outlet is cruise compliant. You are not allowed to have an extension or outlet that has a surge protector. Those can create a problem with the ship electrical system and can be confiscated.

I keep books for reading pleasure on my iPad. And of course we each have our smartphones. With the 3 plugs plus two USB connections, we find this keeps all devices fully charged. Even if you wish to free yourself of social media and internet use during a vacation, you will probably have your smartphone available for emergencies. We find this device useful at any travel destination and it doesn’t take up much space.

We purchased this Opolar Two Pack Battery Operated fans recently and enjoyed having them on short and more extensive trips. They are about 4 inches in diameter, about the size of a large grapefruit. There are multiple speed settings and we found them to have a soft and relaxing sound at all settings. The air movement they provide is impressive for a small device.

It has a setting for a soft blue background light that you can choose to have on or not. I like the light, Carol prefers to have it off. You can also turn on a white light that proves to be helpful when getting up in the dark without turning on brighter lights in your room.

The batteries lasted through the night with a mid range setting during a recent cruise. There is a USB cord for recharging. We used this with the above multi plug adaptor.

We found the two package offer a better buy than purchasing as a single fan. That allows us to each have one adjusted to our preferred setting. The small size and power of the Opolar Fan allows us to easily pack these for all future trips.

Packing is always an issue. While I consider myself to be a light packer, it’s not unusual to find I have more than needed. But I also usually travel with camera equipment, so I need to make every space count. I’ve used these for two extended trips with good results.

These storage bags allow us to carry a wide variety of clothing with minimum space occupied. They have a valve system that allows the air to be expelled as you roll it up, making a very compact bag. Depending on your style of clothing being packed, some items do have wrinkles when unpacked. I usually unpack as soon as I can and hang up the clothing. Most wrinkles fall out within a few hours. TIP: A hair dryer applied to remaining wrinkles can help.

These bags can also be used to store your seasonal clothing at home. This can free up closet space. A plastic storage container can hold many of these bags till the next season requires a change of clothing styles.

We also like these Eagle Creek Cube Sets. I’m amazed at how much you can pack into these compared with the space they occupy. The mesh cover is nice. You can see the type of clothing packed. I may keep socks or other like items in a cube and simply place it in a drawer rather than completely unpack. That way I know all similar items are within the cube and available as needed.

We have been using these for several years. The material has held up well and the zippers used to close and compress the clothing seem to be heavy duty. There are other color options available. There are many other brands and we tried another, but it did not hold up as well.

I’ve known people who always take an extra larger cube to use for dirty clothing. Packing that into one place to make it easy for laundry upon return.

These heavy duty plastic luggage tags are promoted for cruise travel but can be used for any travel. I like these for their size. The various cruise lines use different size forms for their luggage tags. I’ve found this fits all the cruise lines we’ve used. The stainless steel loops are heavy duty and close with a built in screw you tighten down. I can’t imagine any baggage handler ripping these off. I put these on my carry on luggage and bags as well.

For years I would print up my tags and staple them to our luggage. While I’ve never had tags lost before the bags arrived at our stateroom, this gives an added security. The heavy duty plastic covers seal well against moisture. So even in rain, I’m not worried about my stateroom information getting obscured.

These are good to use with any type of traveling. Simply place your contact information in the sleeve in case your luggage gets misdirected.

We’ve all encountered the dreaded 50 lb bag limit when flying. Carol has one suitcase that is probably the largest allowed on a plane. I tease her that the problem with it is that it weighs 48 lbs when empty.

Years ago we found ourselves taking things out at check in due to having overweight luggage. We got this luggage scale and always check before we leave home. Often changes are made, but at least we know before arriving at the airport. TIP: This prevents arguments with your spouse before traveling. No need to start a trip on the wrong foot.

I like to keep the weight around 48 lbs or less just incase the device is a little off. However, it has proven to be very accurate to the airport scales.

Do you have travel accessories that have made your travels easier? We’d love to hear about them and how they made your travels easier. Just post in our comments to share with our readers.