My Go-To Travel Clothing & Accessories

When I was younger and backpacking around S.E. Asia, I didn’t care at all what I wore, often opting for some pretty heinous sweatpants, crummy tennis shoes, and a Target hoodie, but as I’ve gotten older, I realized that I didn’t want to look back at my travel photos and wonder who the bridge troll in the sweatpants was…but I am also a HUGE proponent of comfort, so it’s been a balance of finding things that are cute but that also are comfortable enough to walk forever in. Here are my tried and true go to travel items.

Sandals

I have looked high and low for functional AND cute travel sandals. There are so many sandals out there that meet the comfort and functionality points but look like geriatric gladiator sandals. 

After trying out a number of sandals, I found my current favorite, Steve Madden’s Dina. 

Pros: 

• Enough padding in the footbed to withstand miles of walking
• Comfortable: Soft leather straps that don’t rub or cause blisters
• Easy to slip on (i.e. they don’t have ot be buckled/unbuckled)
• Fair traction
• Cute

Con:

• Not waterproof, so not suitable for super rainy weather or water sports

Heels

I almost never wear heels when traveling, however, if I need heels for a nice dinner, I choose the Everlane Day Heel.

Pros:

• comfortable enough for some light/moderate walking
• variety of colors
• can be dressed up or down

Cons:

• cannot be worn for extensive walking

Purses

Picking the right travel bag is super important. Here are a few points my travel purses must have.

• Zipper closure (discourages pickpockets, allows it to be laid flat under an airplane seat and not have all your stuff fall out and roll around the cabin floor)
• Big enough to be a personal item on the plane, hold a collapsable water bottle, and a light sweater
• Lightweight material 
• Durable 

My travel purse favorites:

Longchamp Le Pliage Medium Shoulder Bag 

See the bag here.

Pros:

• folds up
• easily packable
• lightweight
• roomy
• can fit sweater and waterbottle

Cons:

• corners will show wear after heavy usage
• double shoulder strap sometimes slips off

Cuyana

See the bag here.

Pros: 

• crossbody
• roomy
• zipper inner pouch
• monogrammable

Cons:

• does show signs of wear
• on the heavier side

Madewell Zip-top Transport Crossbody

See the bag here.

Pros:

• lightweight
• cute
• cellphone pouch
• monogrammable

Cons:

• on the smaller side
• flat shape

Jackets

My favorite jacket that’s been with me in Japan, Iceland, France, Belgium, England, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Sweden, and Norway during Fall and Winter.

The Uniqlo ultralight down jacket.

Pros:

• pockets
• folds up into small pouch
• warm
• works as inner layer in colder climates and an outer layer in most climates
• variety of colors
• lightweight.

Cons:

• not suitable for heavy rain or extreme cold