Nine of My Favorite Products to Make Traveling Easier

This item is helpful before the trip even begins. Having a designated place at home for all of your travel products is a game-changer. You'd be surprised how many travel products you might have. Not to mention, keeping them in one place makes packing and unpacking much easier. Do future-you a favor and get a travel drawer. Future-you will thank you.

Packing cubes can vastly improve the life of a messy packer. Packing cubes let you pack the same amount of stuff, while having it behave like less. Think of it as having compartments in your bag to make finding things much easier, while also maximizing your limited space. There are different sizes of cubes, and even clean/dirty packing cubes, which keep your dirty clothes separate.

While you’re in the hotel or Airbnb, it’s handy to have a pop-up hamper. These collapse into a small square and are easy to bring along. You can keep your dirty laundry here instead of stuffing them into a drawer or leaving them on floor. This makes more sense if you're traveling with kids. But if it's just you, keeping the dirty stuff in a separate travel cube could work just fine.

Charging cables and adapters can get messy in your travel bags, especially if your devices have different ports and you need to bring several. With something like this, you can keep them all in one place and get them easily whenever you need them.

Toiletry bags are helpful, but having more clutter on the counter, especially when you're traveling with a group, can get messy fast. A toiletry bag with a hook is a great way to free up space in the bathroom for you and your travel companions. Pro tip from Lifehacker Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki: Bring a single shower curtain hook so that you can hang it anywhere, even if the hotel doesn’t have a spot that fits the little built-in hook.

Our food editor, Allie Chanthorn Reinmann, swears by the Sherpani Meridian. She's been using it for over two years, and it hasn't failed her. It's lightweight, with a plastic shell for protection. There's a tidy mesh separator inside and a pocketed flap on the other side. The main zipper has an easy click lock, and the handle and spinning wheels are solid.

If you want to be like me and travel with a backpack, get a backpack specifically designed for traveling. They make a huge difference. Being able to open the backpack completely makes packing and unpacking a breeze. Plus, there are plenty of useful compartments for easy organization. This one is a great option, and it comes with an airtight bag inside already to compress your clothes.

Fanny packs used to be very popular back in the day, and they're slowly making a comeback. I've been using one since before they began to be cool again, not for fashion purposes, but because they are practical. Instead of reaching into your pockets or luggage for your passport, ID, wallet, phone, sunglasses, gum, or a charger, you can reach into your fanny pack for easy access. You don't need this specific fanny pack, but having one will make all the difference in the world.

Allie swears by the Trtl Travel Pillow and has been getting surprisingly good travel sleep ever since she got one. If you haven't been convinced by any particular travel pillow, give this one a try.