I follow a lot of travel news sources, and so many of them start with, “I travel all the time – last year, I went on four trips! These are the 25 things I take with me every time” and then proceed to launch into a long list of sponsored links and heavy items, making for maximalist travel.
This is a different kind of travel gear list. I actually travel a lot – for example, right now I’m in the middle of a 4 week stretch of work travel (Washington DC, Denver, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque), with returns to my home base of SLC between each of these. Update from October 16, 2025: my final trip to Albuquerque has been canceled. This is not the first time I’ve done a stretch like this (one time I did 4 weeks of travel where I flew to Europe twice). Also, as you may have figured out from other posts on this site, I’m the opposite of a maximalist traveler – I only pack a backpack and a purse (or a daypack). This means I have to have small, light travel accessories, and I avoid single use items.
With all that context, here’s a list of some of the things that make lots of travel much easier.
1. Exercise bands
It’s super hard to work out on the road. Long days of work coupled with sketchy, run down hotel gyms don’t make for a compelling environment to exercise. Taking stretchy exercise bands (I prefer small loop-bands) can be a versatile and very small travel accessory. I only take one band (usually the heaviest capacity) and combine that with a little yoga and stretching to get in exercise on a long travel day. I don’t travel with a yoga mat – but if you throw an extra hotel towel on the floor, it’s not too bad.
These aren’t the exact ones I use, but they’re close:
2. A sports bra with a phone pocket OR a running belt
If I get the chance (or I’m somewhere the hiking is great), I’ll go for a quick walk or run. I used to just carry my phone in my hand. Believe it or not, I have not once, but TWICE, managed to crack my phone screen by tripping while running and landing on my phone. Granted, these two incidents happened years apart, but still – after the second one, I vowed to never run without a way to store my phone again.
Here’s my favorite pocket sports bra:
And my favorite running belt (consider sizing up on this, as I think these run a bit small):
Here’s another popular running belt (I used this one for years, but it doesn’t pack down nearly as well as the Salomon one):
3. A lacrosse ball
So this one is really stretching the definition of small and light or multipurpose…but when I was rehabbing both knees and one ankle (can you tell I ski and hike a lot?), this was the easiest way to roll out my tight muscles. I’ve also used my Nalgene as a foam roller for my legs before. It works, sort of, but takes a bit more balance.
4. Performance fabrics and wool
This is a real game changer – performance fabrics and wool can be worn for much longer before they smell, they don’t wrinkle as easily, and they pack down very small. This is an all-around win, in my book. Plus you can wear a shirt for a few days, and then use it to work out in. I even own a couple of wool work shirts, since they can be reworn several times.
A note on wool – I know there are lots of people who don’t wash wool. I’m not one of those people. I wash our wool clothes quite often. To protect the clothes, we have a washer without an agitator, I use gentle detergent (powdered Tide FTW), cold water, and delicates bags (I have a zillion of these – they don’t cleans well if they’re overstuffed!).
5. Electrolytes! And more electrolytes!
Honestly, this is such a big one for me. I take at least one electrolyte pack per day while traveling. If I’m going to be at a conference all day (or somewhere I may not have regular access to water to refill my water bottle), I’ll take two.
I like LMNT and LiquidIV the most. In particular, I like to have an LMNT first thing in the morning- I’ve found it really jump starts my day! Sometimes I’ll even toss a little creatine into my morning LMNT.
6. Compression socks
I started using compression socks for airplanes 6 years ago, and I haven’t looked back. I’ve found that their greatest value is not necessarily the time spent sitting (although I’m sure it doesn’t hurt) but the first time you have to stand up after sitting that long (think long lines for immigration or customs) and the next day. I used to find that my legs hurt after long flights or were swollen the day after short flights. Compression socks seem to fix all of those issues. I use wool compression socks so I can wear them several times before washing them.
Here’s the socks I use (note that you may need to experiment with the level of compression a bit to find something comfortable for you):
7. An eye mask
Despite the hefty curtains in so many hotel rooms, I still struggle to sleep often. For some reason, I’ve been sleeping even worse than usual recently. However, having a nice sleep mask really makes a huge difference. Plus, it’s machine washable, so it’s easy to clean between trips.
And that’s all for now! I’m sure there’s others that I’m not thinking of right now – but as I just mentioned, I’m not sleeping great right now. On to Pittsburgh!
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