There’s an overwhelming amount of gear out there targeted at travelers. Much of it seems to be either wildly expensive or wildly poor quality. We’ve spent the last few years trying all sorts of methods for traveling light: from traveling with just backpacks, to sharing a carry-on suitcase, to each having our own little roller. Tegan swears by the Army-rolling method for keeping her gear tidy, while Alex is admittedly a bit more on the “just throw it in” side of things. Between us, we’ve definitely racked up some favorites, though, and we’ve been asked a lot what sorts of things we recommend for those trying to travel lighter. Asked and answered! Keep reading for our top 5 travel gear recommendations, up to date as of 2020.
If there’s anything we’ve learned from our experimenting with traveling super-light, it’s that you have to invest in some pieces that may seem a bit pricey at first glance in order to do it. Tegan learned this lesson the hard way during our month-long trek around Europe in 2017. Seeking to replace an ancient but much-loved carry-on, she let herself be swayed by thousands of 5-star (too-good-to-be-true) Amazon reviews on a brand she wasn’t familiar with. Like a bad dream, one of the wheels popped off the second the suitcase hit pavement for the first time in Paris, and we were stuck carrying it all around France, Germany, Poland, and Hungary for the next month in the summer heat. Not fun, folks.
That being said, we acknowledge that we are tough customers. We’re tough on our gear. We put it through a lot. It gets wet. It gets muddy. It gets stuffed unceremoniously into coin lockers and overhead bins. It gets used as a step-stool, a pillow, an umbrella, and a buffer on public transportation. Since we’re on the move so much, it doesn’t often get to sojourn in hotel rooms while we’re out and about.
By the way, we aren’t sponsors or affiliates of any of these brands or products– we just love them and think you will, too.
The first person we ever knew with a Kånken was one of Tegan’s college housemates, Brian, a person frequently ahead of the curve on fashion. How we wish we’d jumped on the bandwagon back then! We didn’t start using Kånken until our trip to Norway in 2017, where this funky Swedish brand is much more wallet-friendly than in the U.S. Known in Scandinavia as a “back-friendly” backpack, its straps promote good posture and weight distribution.
If laid flat, it’s zippers open all the way to the bottom, which makes it great for effective packing. It’s made out of vinylon, which is water- and dirt-resistant, and can be easily wiped off. It’s not waterproof, but ours has gotten wet dozens of times and has kept things mostly dry on the inside.
Let us tell you, this backpack has been through a lot. Tegan uses it as a daily commute bag to hold her gym clothes, sneakers, lunch, and other items, and the front compartment is perfect for wallet, keys, etc. It’s been on all sorts of trips and day hikes with us as well, no worse for wear.
For traveling, the interior back pocket is a great place to store passports, etc. where they’ll be flush against your back, the layer of foam protects both your back and your most essential essentials.
2. Best for day hiking + biking: Kavu Spectator fanny pack and Kavu Rope Bag
While the Kånken is a great day-to-day and travel pack, we absolutely love our two Kavu bags for city walks, day hikes, and bike rides of all lengths.
The Kavu Spectator is a fanny pack, and thank goodness these are back in style because… we would wear it anyway. This fanny pack is so, so comfortable. You won’t even notice you’re wearing it when you’re doing even the most strenuous of activities– it doesn’t move, it doesn’t shift, and the mesh portion that sits flush against you makes it super breathable. We recommend the polyester option rather than the canvas option if you’ll be using it for more intensive activities. It’s the perfect size for your phone, wallet, and keys.
The Kavu Rope Bag is a larger one-shoulder bag that’s surprisingly spacious as well as trendy. You can really fit a surprising amount of things in here: we often carry our fairly bulky Canon DSLR camera, our 21-oz. HydroFlask water bottle (also super recommend this brand of water bottles, by the way!), lunches and snacks, phones, etc. It has 2 large compartments (1 on each side), as well as a variety of smaller zipped compartments.
3. Best carry-on, Alex's pick: Eagle Creek Gear Warrior wheeled duffel
4. Best carry-on, Tegan's pick: Patagonia Black Hole Duffel, 55L
Rather than rolling her things, Tegan has been trending more and more towards just carrying it on her back. The our Patagonia Black Hole 55L duffel bags are so great for this. We’ve tried traveling with hiking backpacks, but found it frustrating to essentially unpack the whole thing every night or only pull things from the top. This duffel bag gives you the best of both worlds: you can carry it backpack- or duffel-style, and it has adjustable and detachable padded straps. It’s made from 100% recycled materials, and the exterior is weather- and abrasion-resistant with a polyurethane coating that makes it super weather-resistant.
The only caveat to this duffel is that despite being the correct dimensions for carry-on size for most airlines, if it’s really stuffed it can appear much bigger. For the most part, Tegan has been able to put this bag in overhead bins and clear gate checks, but sometimes airlines have weighed or measured it.
5. Best bike helmet: Schwinn Thrasher
When we first started biking, we were looking for an inexpensive but very, very safe bike helmet. The Schwinn Thrasher helmet is super lightweight but great quality and feels very secure on your head. This is certainly an example of seeking safety above fashion! We bought these helmets for about $20 each, and they don’t look like they’ve aged a day in the several years we’ve had them. They are easy to adjust, well-padded, and ventilated on top. They’ve even survived a few accidents no worse for wear– protecting us from potentially serious injuries. We’re primarily amateur bikers– we like to hit the road for long rides on summer weekends, or will commute to work with our Blue Bikes membership in Boston, so these helmets were the perfect price point for us. You can’t beat the price or the quality.
Do you use any of these products, or similar ones? Let us know what you think in the comments!
