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12 travel essentials to reduce stress before, during, and after trips
12 travel essentials to reduce stress before, during, and after trips
Mara LeightonFeb 25, 2019, 19:30 IST
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Skyroam FacebookSkyroam FacebookGet portable Wi-Fi for up to five devices for $8 per day.
Below, you'll find 12 products and services - all relatively affordable - that can make a big difference in eliminating common travel stressors, from planning the trip itself to airport security lines to costly international data bills.
The wanderlust that has inspired millennials to become supposedly the most important consumer generation for the travel industry isn't going away any time soon. We aren't going to tire of delicious foods, new experiences, or wider, deeper world views in the next five years. If anything, it's becoming easier and more ubiquitous than ever. Gone are the days of the covered wagons, here are the honeymoons paid for by credit card rewards and sign-up bonuses.
But, it's not all easy. Serpentine airport lines, dead devices, and getting lost in foreign cities are a few of the recurring jet-setter nightmares.
While many of us are willing to put off owning homes in order to scrounge for the next big adventure, few of us have thought to budget in the new products and services that habitually spring up around such enduring pain points. If we did, we'd probably enjoy a greater percentage of the time we spend planning trips - as well as actually being on them. We may wind up expending far less energy, for far greater enjoyment.
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With that in mind, I've rounded up a handful of those exact travel-smoothing products and services. They're all relatively affordable and designed to alleviate stress you may otherwise experience before, during, and after a trip.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.
Skyroam's Solis is a totally portable Wi-Fi hotspot that offers unlimited 4G LTE service without having to worry about cell data overages or big fees. The device itself is $150 on Amazon and the Skyroam "day passes" for Wi-Fi are $40 for five days ($8 per day). For the $8 per day, you can hook up to five devices at a time to the Solis. If you're traveling with family or friends, that means that one day pass will likely cover everyone's data for the day.
It's especially helpful for navigating with Google Maps, finding good nearby restaurants at the drop of a hat, and looking up additional contextual information for any landmarks you may see while out and about.
Journy is a service that acts as your personal travel planner for as little as $25 per day. They'll book your hotel, make your reservations, and keep your preferences and any pre-booked plans in mind. You'll email and chat with your personal travel designer, check out a draft itinerary they mock up, and respond with what you do and don't like.
Once you like the plan, your designer will handle all the bookings. Then they'll deliver a final version to you via the app or in a PDF, so you can refer to it all in one spot. In other words, they think of everything you don't want to (booking reservations at international restaurants, navigating dietary restrictions, avoiding tourist traps, grouping desired locations into efficient days, etc).
CLEAR is a friction-free security process at airports, stadiums, and arenas that scans your eyes or fingerprints so you can skip the winding main line and get to the flight gate, concert, or game faster. In an airport, that means you can bypass the line that waits to show a TSA agent their boarding pass and ID. Instead, you can head to a kiosk to confirm your identity (fingerprints or retina), past the stop-point, and right to the X-ray machine. It's even better when used with PreCheck.
From there, you can add up to three adult family members for only $50 per year each, and kids under 18 are free and don't need to enroll.
Each service has its perks, but Scribd is preferred over Audible and Kindle Unlimited for its unlimited access to books, magazines and news, and audiobooks from all major publishers, plus the lowest monthly fee.
A wallet you can take to the airport that keeps your IDs, money, passport, and even your boarding pass in one convenient place is a great way to cut down on airport stress. Our personal favorites are the Cuyana Passport Case (left) and the Bellroy Travel Wallet (right) thanks to their superior designs.
One of the biggest perks of having Amazon Prime, aside from the fast, cheap shipping, is Prime Video. You can stream from a large library of movies and TV shows for no added cost. Prime members can also download certain titles for easy offline viewing, which is perfect for plane rides with or without in-flight entertainment.
If you want to be comfortable while traveling, you'll probably need to make peace with some seemingly odd contraptions. The Trtl Pillow is one of those products. It's a soft, lightweight fleece that uses a few stiff ribs to lend support on one end of the scarf. After careful consideration, it's our pick for the overall best travel pillow you can buy. Another major bonus is that it's not as bulky as other airport pillows, so you can keep a relatively low profile and save yourself some packing room.
The right credit cards can make a world of difference. For Insider Picks senior travel and finance reporter David Slotnick, that means the American Express Platinum Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, which he pays $1,000 in annual fees for between the two.
As David explains, "The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 3x points per dollar spent on all dining and travel — so the vast majority of your purchases during a trip — as well as an annual $300 travel credit that offsets a big part of the annual fee. It also includes numerous protections including trip and baggage delay insurance, trip interruption coverage, and primary rental car insurance, as long as you use the card to pay for your trip. The card also offers access to airport lounges through the Priority Pass program, which you can read more about here.
The AmEx Platinum offers 5x points on airfare purchased from the airline and pre-paid hotels reserved through AmExTravel.com, but doesn't have the same level of protections as the Sapphire Reserve. It does, however, offer a number of useful credits, and significantly more extensive lounge access within the US.
Both cards have no foreign transaction fees, and come with rich bonuses for new card members. The Sapphire Reserve offers 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months, while the AmEx Platinum offers 60,000 AmEx Membership Rewards points when you spend $5,000 in the first three months."
Smooth-handling, lightweight luggage that can charge your devices on the go
Away suitcases have earned their spot as a cult-favorite travel hack by solving most of the annoyances travelers encounter with luggage. Its suitcases, which are available in four sizes, come in a strong but lightweight shell, have 360° rotating wheels that can adapt with you, interior compartments designed to help you pack smarter, and its carry-on sizes also include an ejectable built-in charger. Starting at $225, they cost less than name brands of comparable quality, with the added plus of coming with a lifetime warranty.
Stowaway Cosmetics makes minimalist collections of nice makeup that are designed in portion sizes meant to be finished — so they're already travel-sized. An Every Day Kit ($79) comes with the essentials: BB cream, concealer, lipstick, cheek/lip rouge, eyeliner, and mascara in a little makeup bag. Even if it isn't your go-to makeup at home, it may be nice to have a set already ready and packed in your suitcase, especially if you travel frequently for work. Plus, since they're a system, you won't need to spend much time worrying about if your concealer matches your foundation.
They may seem like they're taking up vital suitcase space, but once you own them, you'll find yourself relying upon them frequently. You can organize your luggage by category or outfit for ease and efficiency, or use one to separate your dirty laundry from the clean clothes as you travel. Paravel's packing cubes come in three sizes, are made from smooth nylon, and have a small window to preview what's inside.
PackPoint is the packer that you wish you were. It will build a packing list for you based on length of travel, weather at your destination, and any activities planned during your trip. To get started, all you have to do is enter your destination, departure date, and the number of nights you'll be there. You can add your own items in that aren't pre-populated (medications, for instance) to make sure they're checked off an in your bag for sure. Minimal labor required on your part, and all the perks of having a patient, omnipotent packing concierge. There are in-app upgrades for better features, but it's free to download.
