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As a frequent traveler, I’m often flying solely with a carry-on and nothing else. Sometimes even just a personal item. Despite this, I consider myself a bit of a high-maintenance traveler. I swear I wasn’t always like this!
Over my 10+ years as a frequent flyer, I’ve perfected my list of essentials that keep my travel days running smoothly. My list has definitely grown over the years, but it’s still small enough to comfortably fit in a travel backpack.
In this blog you’ll find all of my travel favorites and essentials that are TSA-compliant and fit in a carry-on. Most of these products have affiliate links. Affiliate links add no additional cost to the consumer but do pay us a little bit if you do use them, which in turn helps us keep our site up and running! We really appreciate your support.
My goal with this is to recommend products I use and love in hopes that you find something to make your travel day just a little bit easier.
Also Read: A Complete Greece Packing List: Essentials for Your Trip
About ShopMy Links
Below is a list of my favorite carry-on travel essentials powered by ShopMy! ShopMy is a curated commerce website which allows users to compile lists of various products. If you click on the “ⓘ” symbol located in the top left corner of each product, you’ll see a little blurb about the product that I wrote about why I love it!
Clicking on a product will take you to the website where you can purchase the product. Once a purchase is made, we will make a small percentage of that sale as a commission. It’s that easy!
More about my favorite products
Organizational Items
Travel accessories that make your life easier really set the tone how your travel day will go. I really love the Taygeer travel backpack for its organization capabilities and size. It fits even the strictest airline rules for a personal item (I’m looking at you, Frontier).
Organizing the inside of your bag is just as important. I always keep my toileties in a clear bag just in case they need to be examined. Electronics and chargers are kept in a separate pouch so they don’t get tangled or misplaced within my bag.
Skincare Essentials
If I’m on a short flight (less than three hours) I usually don’t bring a ton of hair and skin essentials unless I’m traveling with a personal item only. If it’s a longer flight, I’ll definitely need some things that’ll make me feel refreshed and ready to explore my destination.
An absolute must for me is hand sanitizer. There are so many germs on planes, and you definitely don’t want those germs on your hands while you’re snacking, applying skincare, or removing your contacts.
The air that circulates on planes is soooo dry. This affects my eyes and my skin. For a short flight, lip balm is all I need. If I’m in need of more moisture, I bring along some of my Summer Fridays faves, their moisturizing undereye patches and the iconic Summer Fridays Jet Lag mask (travel size, of course).
Comfort Items
When I say comfort items I’m talking both physically and mentally. As an anxious flyer, and one who flies often, I’ve come up with a few things that make my flights a bit more pleasant. The biggest game changer for me has been my noise-cancelling headphones. It drowns out plane noises, crying babies, and anything else that you won’t want to hear. I also love that this particular one is wireless but also comes with a cord so it can plug in to the in-flight entertainment system.
Other comfort items for me include my Amazon Kindle, a good eyemask to block out the light, an oversized hoodie, and a pair of fuzzy socks.
Also Read: Winter Travel Packing List: European Christmas Markets
Final Thoughts
I hope this post gave you some good ideas of items to incorporate into your carry-on travel essentials! What are some of your absolute must-haves when it comes to plane travel? Let us know in the comments!
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