13 Outdated Items I Do Not Fly With and What to Pack Instead

Hey there! I'm going to show you 13 travel items I do not fly with in 2025. I have retired these items that are usually used in the airport or in the airplane or while I'm touring an international city. But like always, I'm going to give you travel tips and what to pack instead. The number one travel gear I do not fly with anymore is the anti-chafing tube of lubrication. As a woman over 50 or just a woman in general, my thighs are going to rub together, especially if I'm wearing shorts or a cute little dress on vacation. Here's what to pack instead. I now pack the totally lightweight, easy to pack and carry-on luggage only, these slip shorts. Many of you called them culottes. I have, I recommend the shorter version if you choose those. And then these are like second skin. They do not cling to your leg, okay? They are like second skin laying on there, but size up. I'm size 10, 5, 8 and these are an extra large. Both of those are high quality for my midlife travel style. The number two travel gear that I am no longer flying with is a passport booklet. Many travelers think that they put their passport inside this little booklet and you can have a pin in there. They're totally cute. Many passengers think that you will not lose your passport as easily if you pack it in there. But one travel tip is the airport security officers require you to take it out when you are going through the TSA line. Do this instead. Number one, just put your passport in an easily accessible pocket for airport security. Stow it in that easily accessible pocket just for the security line. Number two, for a long flight you will then stow your passport in an inside zipped pocket of your personal item bag. Number three, in a hotel we have always used the hotel safe. And number four, here is the great easy tip. If you have an iPhone, you are going to take a picture of the inside cover of your passport as well as the inside back cover barcode. Now you can print those copies and have them in your suitcase. But here's what I want you to do. With those pictures you digitally took, you're going to lock those in your iPhone notes. And I have a freebie that tells you how. And I'll have the little video down there that explains how. But it might be good to just keep the freebie download so you're not having to find the video. The number three travel item I do not fly with, and you should not either, is your regular daily wallet that has all of your cards in it. Number one, they are bulky. And number two, credit cards have more personal information on them than your passport. So this is what I want you to do instead. Use a minimalist wallet with just a few card slots and have that wallet be RFID blocking. In case a criminal has that machinery or technology that can skim electronically your personal information from your credit card chips, your wallet will block it. And then also I want you to do this tip. Attach the clip that's inside your slash resistant purse for travel to the little hoop that is on that thin RFID wallet. And that's just going to make it so that you do not easily drop it when you do reach inside your purse while traveling. The number four item no one should be traveling with anymore is the old power banks. We all know that power banks are combustible. Those are the portable chargers that you charge your phone with when you're traveling or in the airport or in the airplane. Because they are combustible, they are not allowed in checked luggage. We all know that. The two newer models that I recommend, I have one with a phone prop. My husband travels with this in his travel suitcase. It does need a cord just so you know. These are newer models and they have heat monitoring things inside them so the battery, if it gets hot, it will only get to a certain temperature. Both of these newer models that we travel with have heat monitoring systems in them which feel safer to me. You can tap on the little view product sticker at any time and that will show you those two battery portable chargers that we recommend. And always use a reputable brand. I did not and it was fine. But just for ease of peace of mind, I would use the Anker brand. You will get notified if they do have a recall. And Anker did have a recall in June. I will attach that video information in the first pinned comment for you as well. The number five travel item that I do not fly with is a duffel bag. Number one for neck and shoulder and back pain because some of those terminals you have to walk through to get to your flight are so long. And even a cross the body type duffel bag is so uncomfortable. And I saw so many people on our trip to the Azores in Newark and in Houston traveling with those having to schlep them through the airport. Instead, use a rolling duffel bag or a rolling backpack and then that would be your carry-on suitcase for the airline that would go in the overhead bins. And then you can just wear your normal personal item bag. Okay, the sixth travel item that I do not fly with could be a trigger for some travelers. Let me know your opinion in the comments, okay? And read the other comments. We have such a good community here. I do not fly with my two-wheeled carry-on luggage anymore. I only fly with four-wheeled or a spinner hardshell suitcase. We can talk about soft-sided versus hardshell later. But it is so much easier and less stressful to have that spinner type suitcase when you go into the airport lavatory. You can just whip it around and whoop! You are in and so is your suitcase. And it's easier to navigate down the aisle of the airplane. We just need one brilliant person to invent a luggage rack that makes it easy to unpack and pack in a hotel. The number seven item I do not fly with ever since I only flew with it one time and that is the bulky one-and-done makeup travel cases. They take up almost half of your suitcase. They are so large and so bulky and it makes you want to pack more of your makeup and skincare items that you do not really need for a trip. Instead, use a practical but large filling toiletry kit. Mine comes in three pieces with the liquids bag as well. Or divide your toiletry items into pouches and they can fit in your personal item bag, in your carry-on suitcase if you need them to. And another tip to really focus on is, as a woman over 50, skincare is majorly important to me. But there are some items that I can leave at home for a two-week trip. My skin is not going to look like 95-year-old skin in two weeks of a vacation on a beach somewhere with beautiful breezes. So the travel tip is to figure out what you can not pack. The number eight travel item that I think most people have gotten so much better at by watching our videos here is bulky shoes for every situation that you need during a vacation. Here is what I want you to do instead. Wear your bulkiest shoes in the airplane. If you have checked the weather and you know what excursions you're going to be doing on your vacation and need to pack tennis shoes, then make it a waterproof pair of tennis shoes. These should pop up right here. Just tap the view products. They are completely waterproof. And my little travel tip is just pack a regular pair of sneakers if you do not need tennis shoes or waterproof tennis shoes. And then pack your arch insert insoles. They are fantastic. The plastic is so hard underneath that it does not flatten when you're wearing them over time. These are my newest ones. I have them in three different pairs of shoes now so that I don't have to keep transferring them for the trip. I usually only pack my waterproof tennis shoes for a vacation that has a high chance of rain. I normally do not wear these daily. I have my regular tennis shoes that I wear at home. But we're in Wisconsin for two weeks and it was supposed to have a high chance of rain and it only rained like one night. Remember this while you're listening to the number nine thing. You can totally pack this in your suitcase. I'm not saying do not pack it but do not wear ponchos or flowy outer capes inside the airplane for many reasons. Number one is they get tangled with your suitcase and they flow into number two other passengers seats over the arm rest. And it's just something you have to finagle and worry about in the flight which you don't need to. You can't be bothered by having to worry about that while you're on your vacation in the airplane seat. Okay and then another reason number three is they get caught trying to get out of those mammogram type seat rows. And remember sometimes if it's an all-night flight you're going to be climbing over someone. So just wear a more fitted like cashmere sweater that will keep you totally warm but is fitted to your body and not easily tangled. The number 10 item I do not fly with is the neck pillows that do not compress. I only recommend two different kinds. One is for long necks. It fits like a neck brace and has two really strong velcro straps that loop over the shoulder the headrest so that your head doesn't fall forward if you fall asleep. And the second one is this turtle one that is more like a neck brace but it's it's cradled. So if you like to lean your head to sleep it's it's actually comfortable. I could not believe it. But it does not attach to anything. And do not use an inflatable one because they will like soften and get less pressurized during the long flight. The number 11 item for travel I do not fly with anymore for international vacations is a converter. That thing is so bulky and it has to plug into an adapter to then fit into that country's wall outlet. And as a travel tip here's the only time you need to pack a converter and that's if you want to pack your curling iron or hairdryer that you bought in America. Okay they cannot handle that the voltage so do this instead. Which is what I did and took it to my river cruise trip. I bought a dual voltage curling iron. I have to have this certain size barrel. So I cannot buy a curling iron in a foreign country if I don't know that they're going to have that one and that the store is going to be right by my hotel. I can't be bothered to look for a curling iron when I'm on a vacation of a lifetime in another country. So buy that dual voltage curling iron and then you just plug that into an adapter that fits that country's wall outlet. Number 12 could be a tricky one depending on what you like to fly with. But I do not fly anymore with regular headphones. The main number one reason is I feel like they need to be protected in a hard shell case which to me takes up space inside my personal item bag. Instead use airpods which are on Amazon right now. But make sure you do not forget the little tangle-free cord in case you fall asleep during the flight or you drop your airpod in a really dark airplane. Which all of them I mean they get pitch black in those airplanes. Okay number 13 stay with me for this one. I do not fly with a hidden money belt. Travelers use a hidden money belt hidden under their pants and they will put their passport, their cash and maybe their credit cards in there. But here's the problem. If you are trying to retrieve the information from that hidden money belt in a touristy pickpocket unsafe area, you are taking your eyes off of the surroundings. A would-be criminal. By having to look for that one credit card that you're going to use, use it and then trying to find the little slot to put it back into. That takes way too long with your eyes being off of your surroundings. So I want you to do this tip instead. You can pack a lanyard type passport holder and you're only going to keep your passport in there and do not reach for it at all. And then you're going to divide your credit cards that you have taken. You can put one in that hidden lanyard necklace or if you really do want to use the hidden money belt, put one of your credit cards in there and then pack one credit card inside your wallet that's going to be in your slash resistant crossbody bag that you're traveling and touring with through that high pickpocket tourist area. My travel tip is to use a wallet tracker. It looks like a credit card, but if your wallet or purse does get stolen, you can track this with your phone. It does not look like a credit card and so therefore the criminal may not think you have a tracker in your purse. Do not forget about the free download and let me know your opinion about some of those things as well in the comment section. I'll have everything also linked. If you did not see it in the little sticker here, I will have it linked in the paragraph right below here or in the first pinned comment. Thanks so much for your time.