What Are the Different Types of Travel Gear?

Being a musician I travel on tour almost every month either abroad or around the US, and I'd say the best part to me is choosing travel size products. They're so compact and so useful.

I don't travel very often by airplane, but like to take camping trips in the mountains.

Every year our family camps in the mountains, and I have specific travel gear that I use for these camping trips.

We are camping in tents, but do have access to electricity. It takes a lot of work to get ready for this trip, but is well worth the effort.

The older I get, the more comforts of home I like, so always make sure I have an air mattress for everybody. I have an electric pump that will inflate these, and also one that plugs into the cigarette lighter in my car.

Since we are a long ways from a store or restaurant, we take most of our food with us. Our travel gear includes a camp stove and fuel for as long as we are gone. I also have a couple pots and pans and some kitchen utensils that are all geared for camping situations.

We take firewood that I use for a lot of our meals, but it is nice to have the stove as well.

I keep all of the travel gear in one spot in my basement so I always know where all of it is. Each year when we get back home, I sort through everything and make sure it is all ready to go for the next trip.

I have to travel quite a bit for my job, so like to keep this as simple and organized as possible.

I have travel size bottles of all of the personal care products I use such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, moisturizer, etc.

If I can't find the brand I like in a travel size, I buy small bottles and transfer the product from a bigger bottle.

Everything I need is packed ahead of time and ready to go. I even have an extra hair dryer, flat iron and brush that I always keep in my travel bag.

This saves so much time when I need to pack in a hurry the night before. The luggage that I use when I travel for work is different than the luggage I use for personal trips.

Since I am usually flying for work, I also keep a small pillow and blanket with the rest of my travel supplies.

I try to fit everything I need in a carry on bag with wheels. This saves time at the airport and the wheels make it easy to get through the airport quickly.

There are some kinds of travel gear that you can bring with you that take up very little room in your suitcase but can be invaluable. I always carry a small travel sewing kit and a set of miniature cutlery with me because you never know when you're going to want to put a button back on, or have a late night snack that requires a fork.

Another great idea is to bring a shower organizer for all of your bath items. It makes finding things you need a lot easier if you don't want to go digging through your suitcase all the time. I prefer the organizer that hangs on the back of the door. Thinking of items for the bathroom, bringing fast-drying microfiber towels can also be a real time saver.

When I first started traveling I always packed way too much to take with me. Now that I have a few years of practice under my belt I've found a few great ways to keep the bulk of your luggage down. First, use battery operated versions of whatever you can find. I love my battery operated travel shaver and toothbrush. Not having cords can be a real life saver at times.

Also, get a high quality universal plug adaptor for all of the chargeable items you do bring with you. Having a direct wall adaptor for your USB charging items can really save time as well.

Finally, if you have a laptop computer, get a proper carry on bag for it. Preferably something with wheels, as it can get really heavy.

@lighth0se33 – I love collecting those travel size bottles from hotels. Like you, I used to use the big versions, but once I amassed a pile of free hotel soap, conditioner, and lotion, I started bringing these tiny toiletries along instead.

One more thing I do to save space in my bag is bring a compact grooming kit along. Rather than tossing tweezers, scissors, and nail clippers loose in my bag, I have a special case that houses them.

My friend bought me this little rectangular case for my birthday, and I carry it with me every time I go on a trip. It has a beautiful floral design on the outside, and on the inside, it has several loops that you slide tools through.

The case came with separate fingernail and toenail clippers, a tiny pair of scissors, a nail file, a tool for digging out dirt from under your nails, and some tweezers. The handles of each tool have the same floral design on them.

I have to travel once a month to a hospital out of state for treatment, so I have to stay at a hotel for a couple of nights. I keep a supply of travel size toiletries in my medicine cabinet, and they save space in my luggage.

I started out trying to carry a whole bottle of shampoo, a big tube of toothpaste, and a huge bottle of lotion with me every time. This made my suitcase heavy, and it took up space that I needed for warm clothing.

I bought some tiny shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste, and shaving gel, and I have so much more room for clothes and jackets now. Also, my load is much lighter.

For me, one of the most important pieces of travel gear is a good cooler. I prefer to stay in cheaper hotels, and many of them don't have refrigerators. Since I bring most of my own food, I need a dependable, maneuverable cooler so that I don't have to eat out every night and spend a fortune.

I found a large cooler with wheels and a drainage spout that is supposed to keep food cold for up to four days without changing the ice. Well, I prefer to change the ice each night to keep things really fresh and cool, and in a hotel, I can get free ice from the machine.

I drain the melted ice into the bathtub, dry it out with a towel, and refill it with grocery bags full of ice I got from the machine. It doesn't take a whole lot of ice to keep it cool in there, so I don't look too conspicuous carrying this small amount to my room.

Once I discovered luggage with wheels, I have never gone back to regular suitcases. I sometimes have to travel alone, and the rolling luggage comes in very handy.

I traveled to the Gulf coast by myself one year, and this was before I had wheeled luggage. I had to carry a super heavy bag up three flights of stairs, and this made my arms shake for the rest of the night. My arms and shoulders ached for the next several days, and I had to take pain medicine just to enjoy myself.

Before my next journey, I bought a giant duffel bag with wheels and a handle. Now, I can roll my stuff from my car to the hotel with no pain at all. If no elevator is available, I can even pull it noisily up the stairs without too much difficulty.