My Most-Used Travel Essentials Are On Sale Right Now!

It's finally time for Amazon Prime Days, and while there are thousands of products on sale, not all of them are actually worth buying, even if the price is right. So I went through all the deals and pulled together a list of the best travel products, luggage, accessories, and gear that I personally use and recommend. In fact, every item in this video has traveled with me at some point. Whether you're stocking up for an upcoming trip, maybe replacing an old favorite, or finally wanting to try something you've had your eye on, these are some of the best travel deals so far this year. Let's get to the list. Let's start with the most popular carry-on suitcase on my channel, the TravelPro MaxLite 5. If someone asks me for a durable, lightweight carry-on on a budget, it's usually this one. I call it the Toyota Camry of luggage. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with fancy features, it's not flashy, it's reliable, and it just does the basics really well. The MaxLite 5 is one of the lightest carry-ons in this category, which means more of your airline weight allowance can be used for your stuff instead of your suitcase. And because it's soft-sided, it has a little flexibility when you're trying to fit it into the overhead bins or those tighter airline size restrictions. I think there's a few different colors on sale and the different wheel configurations, and if you want to know the difference between the two-wheel and the four-wheel, I made an entire video going through all the differences. Next is the Bento Bag from Nomad Lane. Yes, you can find some colors on Amazon, and several of them are currently up to 20% off. I'm telling you, Nomad Lane rarely runs sales, maybe twice a year, so this is one of the lowest prices I've seen in a while. This is one of my go-to travel bags to pair with my carry-on, because everything I need throughout a travel day is easy to access. Airport documents, electronics, snacks, chargers, maybe a sweater for the plane, everything has a dedicated place, and the organization is genuinely some of the best I've seen in a travel bag. So, whether I'm in the airport, going through security, or on a long layover, or during my flight, everything can be easily reached. It's premium and high quality, and definitely worth the price, so if you've been considering one, Prime Days is probably the best time to grab it. The Away Everywhere Bag is another favorite, and I have it in Salt White, and Chris has it in Black. What makes this one different from the Bento Bag is that it's soft and unstructured, which means it squeezes into more of those smaller European airline baggage sizers a little more easily. I also love how wide it opens. Most tote-style travel bags feel like you're digging through a black hole just to find one little thing, but this one opens wide enough so that you can actually see and access everything inside. Truthfully, I think it serves a completely different purpose from the Bento Bag, and if you're trying to decide between the two, I actually made an entire video comparing them side-by-side. And by the way, I made a visual storefront for everything featured in this video, so if you want to see all the items listed out, you can find them all in one link below in the video description. You can also find everything linked individually below in the video description, or you can scan the QR code, and that's also going to take you to the page that has everything I'm talking about in this video. Alright, by now you probably know that I'm a huge fan of Merino wool clothing for travel. It's naturally temperature-regulating, it's moisture-wicking, and odor-resistant, which makes it one of the best fabrics for long travel days. And what I mean by that is Merino actively releases heat in warm conditions, which means it stays drier and odor-free compared to synthetics. Temperature-regulating Merino fiber works in both directions, warm in the cold and breathable in the heat. That means whether you're rushing through an airport, or sitting on a cold airplane, or exploring a city all day, Merino helps keep you comfortable through those constant temperature changes. The downside is that good Merino clothing can be expensive. And a lot of you have been asking me to share some less expensive options. So I found this Merino wool t-shirt on Amazon for around $45 to see how it would compare to some of my favorite premium Merino brands. Now I've worn this multiple times without washing it and I can confirm, it still doesn't smell. This is the charcoal color because when I ordered it, they didn't have a black in size small. It says it's 100% superfine Merino wool and I can say it's definitely soft and I don't find it scratchy. I will say the sleeves are a little longer than I would like, but the fit is decent. I don't love that it has the logo on the side of the sleeve, but I did read some reviews that the newer stock doesn't have the logo, so hopefully that is the case. There's also a little tag on the bottom which I don't love either. Overall to me, this shirt is a little more like casual and activewear style, whereas my v-neck from Unbound Merino, because of the fit and the cut, I think it's a little more of a dual purpose shirt, meaning I can dress it up or down. But for around $40, if you want all the benefits of a Merino wool t-shirt and don't mind the look, I think this is a great option. Now one thing I've learned after years of travel is that it's often the small things that make the biggest difference on a trip. And today's sponsor, Epica, makes two products that have earned a permanent spot in my luggage. Epica is an Amazon bestseller in the travel adapter category, and now they've recently expanded into a full travel product lineup. Most travelers think about packing cubes, luggage, and travel adapters, but one item that's become surprisingly useful for us is this Epica Garment Travel Steamer. It heats up in about 15 seconds, and it can be used either vertically to steam hanging clothes or horizontally like a small iron. The heating plate changes to this orange color when it's hot, so there's never any guessing about when it's safe to handle. What I really like is that it's compact enough to fit into the trolley handle space of your suitcase, so it doesn't take up too much room. It's also dual voltage, automatically adapting from 100 to 240 volts, which means you can use it almost anywhere in the world without having to think about voltage settings. And because it has two heat levels, I can safely use it on more delicate fabrics like merino wool, while Chris can use it on heavier fabrics like jeans. In fact, we've actually been using this steamer on our jeans to refresh them over the course of our travels. The steam relaxes the denim fibers, it smooths out those creases, and helps sanitize the fabric to neutralize any odors. And while we're talking about travel essentials, let's talk about the item I never leave home without, my travel adapter. I've used several adapters over the years, and the Epica Air 40W is one of the smallest ones that I've found. It's about 40% slimmer than many traditional universal adapters, and it weighs just 4 ounces, so it takes up very little space in my tech pouch. Despite the compact size, it can power up to 5 devices at once, with three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a standard AC outlet. I always like to mention though that this is an adapter, not a voltage converter, so make sure you check your devices to make sure they're dual voltage before you plug them in. So I've linked both the travel steamer and the Air 40W travel adapter in the video description Now for all my trips, I like to keep all of my tech items together in one pouch, and lately it is this tech organizer from Tomtoc, and Chris really likes this one as well. And this is the smaller size, I believe it's about 1 liter or so. And so I think it's actually the perfect size because it holds exactly what most travelers will pack for any given trip, like some chargers, your cables, your adapters, and your headphones, all without being too bulky. It's truly the perfect size. There's a few colors to choose from, some might be different priced, but I would suggest a nice light color like this one so that it's easy to spot and grab from your bag. Next is the Klippa bag hanger, I always, always, always talk about this thing, it is so, so useful. This is a bag hanger, it can easily keep your purse or your backpack off of the floor. It's especially useful at the table when you're dining out, or in the bathroom stall when there are no hooks. You can easily clip it to the strap of your bag, or just tuck it inside a pocket and you'll be amazed at how many times you actually use this when you're out on your adventures. Along the same lines, this is the hero clip, I like to kind of call it the guy version of the Klippa. This has become one of Chris's must-have travel accessories. This is the small version, the smallest size you can get, but there are different sizes available. But he uses this to clip his camera bag to the table, just to keep it off of the ground, and it's also been really useful when we've taken the trains in Japan to maybe clip an extra bag to your luggage when you're on the move. If you need a sun hat for your summer travels, or maybe you're going on a sunny holiday somewhere, this is my absolute favorite one for travel. It also does have a little chin strap if you want to use that. I never really do, I just tuck it on the inside and then wear it like this. But yeah, this is literally the perfect size because it's going to give you all the sun protection that you want, but it's really not huge and bulky, it's not taking up a lot of space. Also, this thing squishes down, you can fold it, you can move it around, and it always bounces back and keeps its shape. I have packed this thing so many times, back and forth to Mexico, and it always maintains the shape. I'm truly, truly amazed. But another way that I pack and travel with my hat is I'll also use one of these magnetic hat clips, and then you can just clip this to the side of your luggage or your tote bag or something. All you do is open up the magnets, clip it to the hat, and it's quite strong, like that's not going anywhere, so you can easily clip that to the side of your luggage as you're traveling through the airports. I've also used it to hang off of my backpack or day pack if we're going on a hike or even just exploring a city, and there might be moments where I don't always want to wear my hat. Sometimes we'll be in shady areas, or sometimes we'll be sitting down for a drink or lunch or something, there's plenty of shade and I don't want to wear my hat. I can just clip it to this, to the side of my bag, because that also means that I'm not going to set it down and forget it somewhere. And here's a bonus tip, if you're traveling somewhere cooler, you can also use this to hang scarves or gloves from as well. Okay, next are these sunglasses. I have been basically running this model of sunglasses for probably four or five, maybe even six years now. I bought these on Amazon. They're polarized, so if you're traveling anywhere with water or super sunny, polarized sunglasses are a must have. And these truly are the most lightweight pair of sunglasses I've ever owned. I've been rocking these for quite a long time and I absolutely love them. They're also quite cheap as it is, so the deal for Prime Days is awesome. And because of that, I usually end up bringing two pairs of these on any given trip, this tortoise shell color as well as black. And once again, one of my tried and true toiletry bags. This one hangs, it's got multiple compartments, it is so lightweight, it's got great organization. And I have used this for so many years now, and so many of you have picked up this bag and told me how much you love it. So I do love hearing that as well. But if you do not have this bag, it's on for a great price right now. And if you don't want to use this for your toiletry bag, this is also just a great bag to use for the airplane. You can fill it with all of your small items like your headphones, your lip chaps and Kleenex, your phone stand, all those little things, and then just hook it to the airplane seat in front of you, and that way you don't have to keep digging under the seat to grab things as you need them. And also my favorite brand of packing cubes. These ones are currently also on sale. These are from Tripped Travel Gear. They are just super lightweight. You can just see how thin these are. But they are also extremely durable as well. These are compression, so you are going to be able to squeeze all that extra air out when you pack everything in. But I love packing cubes mostly for the organization it provides me. So if you're moving hotels a lot, maybe every one or two nights, these help so much with just staying sane and organized. I've talked a lot about packing cubes, so I'll just share a couple of tips about how I like to use them. So sometimes I'll have one cube for my night clothes and anything else bedtime related. And what I'll do is I'll pack that cube last so that when I arrive at my destination, maybe late in the day, I'm tired, I can just have everything I need and just pull it out from that one cube. It's right there, ready to go. All right, let's talk about a few travel shoes, shall we? First up are these Birkenstock-inspired sandals. I bought these last summer. I wore them everywhere. And so far, honestly, they're really holding up great. They're very comfy because they've got lots of cushion. But here's something unexpected, and I've talked about this in a previous video. Last summer, I ended up accidentally having to wear these as my water shoes because we stayed at a beautiful place on the lake, but the beach was super rocky and these were the only sandals I had. So I wore them in the water several days in a row and they have held up great. Alternatively, if you know you're going to be going in the water on the beach, these Reef Vista sandals are actually waterproof and extremely comfortable. They're also very lightweight. I've worn these in Portugal and many times in Mexico, and they're a great option if you want a very walkable, waterproof sandal that can also look a little more dressed up or polished when you want to go out for a night. Truly a multipurpose sandal. And I also love that they've got the adjustable Velcro on the back, so they truly stay put. They're not going anywhere. I've actually used these on a hike in Mexico and they worked great. Another sandal option for you, I love these flat sandals as an option because they also just pack down super flat in my suitcase. They're very comfortable. They're also great to just throw in last minute if you feel like you need one extra pair of sandals because they're so flat. So whether you pack them together or individually in random places in your suitcase, there's always going to be room for a pair of sandals, something like this. They're very, very comfortable to walk in, especially with the elastic slingback. They're quite cushiony as well. I have two pairs. I've got these in black as well as brown. Again, I've worn these all over anytime I go to a warm destination or somewhere in the summertime. Next, these aren't really like a summer shoe, but they're super fun. I noticed they're on sale. These are my chunky loafers. These are from Dream Pairs. I think Dream Pairs has a lot of fun things on sale right now. I bought these and packed them for my Japan trip and I wore them all over Tokyo. I absolutely love them so much. They're like a little bit heavy for sure because they're just those chunky loafers, but they are so cute and surprisingly comfortable. I was able to wear these all day, multiple days walking around Tokyo. Also, Chris got himself a Merino Tech t-shirt as well. As far as fit, he's wearing a size large and he's happy with the length, which is roughly the same length as the Unbound Merino men's tall t-shirt. As you can see, it looks very similar, but he said it's definitely a lot thinner and he finds his Unbound Merino t-shirt to be a lot softer and more comfortable to wear overall. Those are some of the best Prime Day travel deals I have found so far this year. I'm going to keep looking because Prime Days are on for a few days. If I come across any additional deals worth grabbing, I'll be updating my storefront so you can find everything from this video plus any new finds all in one place. And if you're shopping for an upcoming trip, let me know in the comments which item you're most tempted to pick up. Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one.