The best travel tips you'll hear in 2025

Hey there! Today I'm going to share 33 of my favorite travel hacks for the airplane, for your carry-on suitcase. These travel hacks are going to help you pack the essentials in a carry-on bag. Some of these hacks are going to replace bulky items for lightweight travel, so you can pack light. One travel hack is to use a carabiner hook. This is like a regular D-ring size, and you're going to attach it to your carry-on bag, either the luggage handle or the zipper hole. If your carry-on suitcase gets checked last minute, it's going to help you in two ways. In baggage claim, you're going to know it's yours. And then number two, another passenger may not mistakenly grab that suitcase, because when they reach for the handle, they're going to see your brightly colored carabiner hook. Here's an anti-theft travel hack. You can use one of these tiny carabiner hooks that have hooks on both ends, and that way it is going to connect like the purse zipper to the handle where the handle of your crossbody bag attaches to the bag. Or you can, if you have two zippers that touch to close your bag or your backpack, you would connect both zippers with these tiny ends, one end with one zipper and one end with another zipper. One of our viewers named Linda uses the travel toiletry set to pack snacks for her kids. The one great thing about this one is it can hang from the tray table or the airplane seat back pocket, and then they can divide their snacks for the first hour, the second hour, or just organize them like that. Mrs. B rolls down her winter jacket that she's going to take inside the airplane and then secures it on both ends with large rubber bands. That might help you, that might not. One thing that I love about this waterproof jacket is that it has these straps that you can toss over your shoulder when you get hot inside a stagnant train of a metro station, perhaps, or a museum. Or it can be worn as a backpack to cover the backpack that you're wearing as well. So it's, you have plenty of room and you can be hands-free. But I have heard from several viewers that you can buy these backpack straps on Etsy. Another travel hack is for a little raincoat. Mine is really old, so I do not have a link to share. But you're going to start with the hood being upside down. So that's at the bottom. And you're going to just roll it as tightly as you can. I'm not rolling it that tightly right now. But then you're going to fit your jacket inside the hood. And then if it has a sensible hood, you can tighten it just a little bit. It's just an idea for you. If you're new here, say hello in the comment section below. I'm a pilot wife, so I've learned lots of travel tips and travel hacks, as well as packing tips that I can share with you in so many of my videos. A viewer named Sarah has a travel tip to help with airplane turbulence. I get so nervous in the airplane, even though I have flown a lot of times for over 20 years. This will help your mind stay, get distracted, okay? You're going to write on a piece of paper with your non-dominant hand. My husband had a video that explains some tips from a pilot's perspective of how you would not be scared by knowing the things that he talks about. So I'll link that one for you. You can tap on it up there, but it's also going to be in the first comment with every other link that you would need. I have these little bitty pockets and they are thin for travel and for small items that are travel size that you may want to stick in a backpack. My travel hack is to pack your own sugar packets. I used to only use the Equal brand, so you can pack sugar packets in there or even like the dehydration packets of B12 and all that kind of thing in there as well. But you can also pack your headphone cord that connects your AirPods like it loops over the handles of your AirPods in case you are sleeping during a long haul flight. That way those AirPods would not get lost if they fall out of your ear. I have also found that the magnet that keeps them together when you store them is super strong and it also does not tangle when it's in any kind of a package. I have kept mine also in my tech organizer bag as well. Our viewer named Jesse has seen passengers use the neck pillow in the like the C shape as a foam prop in the airplane. My favorite one is this one. It folds easily, but you can pack it completely flat and it's sturdy enough for an iPad. One travel hack is to help you if you run out of space in your carry-on suitcase. You're going to wear a couple of cardigans, maybe an additional sweatshirt as well. And then when you go into an airport like newsstand or Starbucks, you're going to buy something and ask for the bag that goes with it. And then you can take off those extra pieces of clothing and pack them in the Starbucks bag or the Houston airport bag. And that way the airline is going to think that it is something you bought inside the airport and therefore allow it inside the airplane. One travel tip. It's an update. I have now had all four major airlines tell me to put my crossbody bag inside my backpack in order to get inside the airplane. So they've all been pretty strict. Here's a travel hack. If you are going to be walking all day and you're not sure about the toilet paper situation or if that business has found enough staff to restock the toilet paper, you're going to pack a almost at the end of the roll toilet paper tube from your home and smush it down. And then you can, it would almost be flat and that way you'll have some extra toilet paper when you're touring. This is a travel hack, but it's really just a smart way to pack face cleansing wipes or antibacterial wipes or just wet wipes if you're going to a Christmas market like I'm going to. They always come in this thicker package and wet wipes, antibacterial wipes, face cleansing wipes, they do not count as liquid. They are dry for the TSA, okay, in airport security. But to save space and to help you while you're touring or just for packing, you're going to put like three to five wipes in a Ziploc baggie and have one in your personal item bag. Have one in your carry-on suitcase or several in your carry-on suitcase and that way you're not having to pack the bulky item. Another travel hack is to cut off your crossbody bag strap or buy an anti-theft slash resistant strap. I'm not sure who sells them, but one of my viewers said that you could buy those if you're going into a pickpocketing area. It just gives me peace of mind because that slash resistant strap, like my bag, it is going to take them time to cut through it if that's how they're going to steal my crossbody bag. And if it takes them extra time, that means they may have to go to somebody else. One travel hack is if you're staying in a hotel room to look at where they store their cups, their plastic cups, or their glasses if they're using real glass cups and you're going to use the paper that is underneath there to pack your or to store your jewelry on so that when you are leaving you're going to see that jewelry and you will not forget it or a key card for example. And I love my travel hack to pack a 100% silk pillowcase in a different color than white or a light color. I have a bright teal one that's easy to travel with as well. Here's another travel hack for packing your winter coat just in the airplane with them all being full these days especially around holiday travel. Pack a really thin trash bag inside your pocket. Then you're going to roll it up when you get to your seat and put away your luggage and your personal item bag. Roll that coat up, stuff it inside the trash bag, and then stuff it on the floor below the seat in front of you beside your bag or toss the bag in the overhead bins after everybody's put their luggage in. You can probably stuff it on top of that suitcase especially if you're traveling to two different climates hot to cold or cold to hot. It's a great way to just keep it in that trash bag until you do need the coat again. Here's a travel hack for your electronic cables and cords. I use decorative tape and you can get it from Michael's and I will match a piece of the tape with the block to the cord that it matches with so you're not having to think too much on your vacation. Or you can use like a dot of colored fingernail polish to match them together. One travel hack is to buy a travel size shampoo at the grocery store and then just refill that bottle. I also have used just a smaller amount of shampoo and then I will mix like there are two things you can do with that. You can use your shampoo one day and the hotel shampoo another day. Then you can use some of yours and then there's the other day. Or you can pack your shampoo in a small container that is leak proof. I only like this brand that I will have in the first comment. But you can use yours mixed with the hotel's amount together so that you're using less of yours which means you have to pack less of yours. I also love using a shampoo bar. A shampoo bar means I do not have to pack liquid at all to wash my hair. Now this bag is the best invention ever. It is a hack that will let you pack a completely wet bar of soap or shampoo bar and it does not let the water out but it magically dries that bar of soap or shampoo bar and you can just put roll it down and then attach it and then hang it on the little drawer pull or something in your hotel. Here's a travel hack if your vacation will be at a beach location. You can pack a baby diaper and then roll it up and tape it together after you've put your credit card or your important key cards. Any kind of a valuable that you do not want to walk on the beach or swim in the beach with and a burglar would probably not go for opening a diaper. Here's a theft prevention travel hack. You're going to wear your crossbody bag if it's not in the winter and it's under your jacket and then you're going to tie a cardigan around your crossbody bag. It just adds another level of time that the criminal would have to take to get to your crossbody bag. That was from a viewer named Joy and Louise has another smart travel hack and that is to remember that coats do not count as baggage so she sews several pockets inside her jacket and then packs little things in there just to get on the airplane especially. Another travel hack is to save those little rubber bands in the store produce section if they still have those and use those to attach your cords to help them be more organized. I have a whole video on how to organize every single part of packing before you put it into your carry-on bag and personal item bag that I think will be very helpful for some of you. One travel hack that almost went viral on Instagram that I have shown is to use an old Pringles can for packing some snacks. You can pack pretzels at the very bottom in a little baggie that you've smushed the air out of a carrot sticks in a little baggie then drop like M&Ms down in there. You can do chips as well anything that you can fit in there it just helps contain it and then you can toss that in and nothing's like shaking around. Another travel hack for finding your luggage in baggage claim or not losing your luggage that might be checked and come through baggage claim is to tie a brightly colored scarf to it or to put a fragile sticker. You can buy them on Amazon and just put that on several sides of your suitcase. This is a travel hack if you are really scared or worried about going through airport security and you do not have TSA pre-check. One thing that you can do is when you get there loosen your shoelaces and then clip your liquids bag to the handle of your personal item bag so that you're not digging around for it but if you do not have a clip on your liquids bag you can also use a carabiner hook. If you do have TSA pre-check remember that you can put your liquids bag in your carry-on bag because they don't need to see it at all it doesn't have to be in that personal item bag. Another packing tip that is a travel hack is to remember that you do not have to pack your shoes together in one bag or side by side or upside down. A lot of travel hacks will save you time. A lot of travel hacks will save you space or mental stress and sometimes after many years you'll realize, oh I don't have to do it like that. I've just done it like that because I've always done it like that. For me, after about 10 years of traveling in a carry-on bag only, I realized that I would be able to fit more containers in if I pack them horizontally instead of standing up like the cute picture show. This travel hack made me go viral last Christmas when one airline lost so many passengers carry-on suitcases. If you get in the airplane and they're like, oh we don't have any more overhead bin space, they might check it to the belly of the airplane which could mean your bag would get lost maybe. I mean the chances are very rare but here's a way that will help you have peace of mind at the start of your vacation so that you can start immediately. You're going to pack one shirt, two pairs of undies, and maybe one or two pairs of socks in a compression cube. Mine come in a set of six and you zip the top one and then you will zip the bottom zipper. Okay, there's no vacuum needed. I tried several brands and these are the best quality and you get too large in the set of six but it's going to be like as tight as a book and you're going to put that in the bottom of your backpack or tote bag that will not be checked to the belly of the airplane ever. And then if your luggage gets lost, you've got some clothing for a couple of days. You can also use one of these really high quality plastic gum containers to pack the sugar packets but a little travel hack for a car trip is you can just keep your car insurance card in here all the time. Here's a travel hack for a lot of you viewers who have been flying for a long time. When you pack your personal item bag, I want you to switch the shape or the direction that you've been always packing them in. Like a lot of times I will pack things vertically standing up. I have more space sometimes if I lay them down but you may want to lay them like that. Just try different packing methods and see if it helps. One travel hack for your outfits is to pack at least one pair of waterproof shoes or water resistant shoes. My favorite ones have a sneaker sole so they are so very comfortable. And a travel hack I learned from Love and London is that if you wear a black boot or a black tennis shoe, mine's a waterproof boot, with black denim you will fit more into a nicer restaurant at night and no one will know you're wearing just a really comfortable walking shoe. One travel hack for being prepared for unpredictable weather on your vacation is to pack a poncho from the camping section of Walmart, not the pretty section where ponchos are because they're bulkier to pack. And then the really cheap ponchos are thin and they will cover your jacket or your winter coat if it's not waterproof. One important travel hack if you are flying with family members over holidays for example is to know that TSA has TSA Cares. It is a free program for any disability or hidden, visible, invisible disability that a traveler may have and you would benefit from extra time or going through your own lane. A lane with just two TSA officers. Okay and I will link that video in the first comment. I interview the officers so you'll get to hear them and know that they are trained professionally for the ones who work for the TSA Cares. One great classic travel hack besides packing your foundation or moisturizer in a contact case is to pack your cotton balls that you have squirted your makeup remover on. And so you've got soaked cotton balls but they do not count as liquid and you're going to put those in little a little baggie like a ziplock baggie. And I have found I had an eight-day trip and they lasted they stayed wet for five days. So just so you know. Here's a travel hack that I discovered after 20 years. I tell you I learned these from my own experience is one of them is when you get through airport security or when you get to the boarding area of your plane you're going to take out your hand lotion and your eye drops especially if that's a long flight. Because even going two hours to Wichita Kansas to see my son at college again my hands after one hand washing in the airplane lavatory get so dry and like prickly or whatever. So now you've got that lotion right there in your backpack. You don't have to hunt or pack your liquids bag in your purse lighter bag. And my favorite lotion of all times is Gold Bond for Diabetics. It does not even budge in those containers and it is so thick and has zero fragrance. Another travel hack is to travel with a sample of your favorite perfume. But I have requested for Christmas this year the travel set of this perfume. I can't even do like any colored candles. I've never worn a lot of perfume before ever except the Victoria's Secret from like 1992 that they discontinued. But I have finally found my own fragrance. So that travel hack would be just pack the samples. One of my favorite travel hacks that I forget so often is to pack little bitty post-it notes or a band-aid even or blue tape strips. And you're going to cover up the obnoxiously bright hotel clock light or the microwave light or the little bitty bright blue or bright red light at the bottom of the humongous tv so you can sleep at night. And don't forget my classic favorite travel hack of all times that I'm sure a flight attendant shared it with me like eight years ago when I first started my YouTube channel. And that is to use the pants hanger from your hotel room closet to close the curtains together so that the light on your first and second day of vacation from the sunshine does not wake you up. But if you do not have a pants hanger you can also use a chip clip. I forgot to tell you the travel hack for using a phone prop if you don't want to pack a phone prop. And that is to use your sunglasses on the tray table and put them upside down. And then your phone is going to lean in there to be for you to be able to watch it. And if you haven't found these this is my double-sided sunglasses and reading glasses case that I travel with. It's fantastic. One common problem of a lot of airline passengers is they do not know how much of everything to pack in a carry-on suitcase only so they don't have to wait for their luggage. So I have a video that tells you the easiest packing system so that you'll have enough of everything that I'll link for you. Thanks for your time and Merry Christmas if you're watching this in December.