The holidays have always been one of my favorite times of year. Not even Christmas itself, but the pervasive good cheer that usually precedes it. There's just something I can't quite put my finger on about walking through the city with the remnants of last night's snow dusting the curbs as I pass under the twinkling lights; strolling through my evening surrounded by all the enamored couples enjoying the season as people still hunting for that perfect gift race around us. It makes my inner romantic take a contented sigh as she sips her hot chocolate with Baily's. Inevitably, for many the holidays come with travel- be it by bus or boat, train or plane- and the complete bedlam and palpable anxiety of an airport the weekend before Christmas can get to even the most adamant, self-proclaimed travel junkies (yours truly included).
In between starting a new job and getting caught up on laundry, I let this week completely slip away from me. One moment I had a few days to get my things together, and the next it was 1am and I was a bottle of wine into celebrating my friend's birthday knowing damn well I had to leave early the next morning and still hadn't packed. Because my last few trips had gone relatively smoothly, I didn't give much thought to frantically chucking gifts and necessities into my bag at 6am this morning- however, as I'm holed up in a Starbucks, headphone-less and five hours into my nine hour wait for my next flight (courtesy of a delay and a missed connection), I deeply regret not having a few of my favorite products on hand.
So, since I'm always a bit of an idiot in hindsight and most of us are heading home for Christmas, I figured I'd share a few of my usual travel must-haves.
A Good Book
This goes without saying, but since I rarely even leave the house to run errands without a book in my bag I figured I would put it at the top of my list anyways. Never deprive yourself of the opportunity to run off and hide in a different world for a few hours. The best thing I've read in the past few months was the Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls.
A Few Favorite Playlists
I always forget to download new playlists, then regret it as soon as I find myself without wifi. Make sure you have a few different ones downloaded in case you end up stood in one of those queues that just don't move. You can check out a few of mine here.
A Notebook
As a writer, I feel a little naked if I don’t have my notebook on hand. Especially when you’re traveling, you never know what you’re going to see or hear or how it’s going to make you feel, and it’s valuable to be able to capture those raw emotions to translate into other works. That’s not to say I swim through life in a sea of constant inspiration, because in all honesty I’m arguing with my writer’s block a solid 75% of the time- but I enjoy knowing that if I did want to jot something down, I could. Also, sometimes you just want to sit down and doodle. Pack your notebooks.
Toner
If you struggle with your skin like I do, you’ll understand the joys of stepping onto a plane feeling like a Glossier add, and clambering off of it looking like you’ve caught the plague. I don’t know what it is about travel that seems to magically pull pimples from the depths of my skin, but having a toner and some cotton pads on hand to wipe away the oil and grime of traveling definitely helps. My current favorite is the Murad Clarifying Toner.
Moisturizer
On the flip side of that, if my skin isn’t swimming in oil it’s parched and painfully flakey. I like to be able to swipe some moisturizer on after I’ve toned my face to try and avoid that. In the winter I love both Glossier’s rich Priming Moisturizer and the L'Oreal Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Lotion for extra dry skin. The cold weather also drys my hands out, and I’ll pick at the skin around my nails, especially if I have time on my hands. I like to keep a tube of L’Occitane fresh hand cream gel in my bag, the Citrus Verbena is my favorite.
A Scarf
Okay, now bear with me. The reason I always travel with a scarf is because it can be so many things- little head pillow, a blanket, something to discreetly breathe through if the person sat next to you didn’t put on deodorant before leaving the house… I also find it comforting to have something to snuggle into on a long journey that smells like home and my favorite perfume. Anthropologie has some great scarves like this and this. Urban Outfitters also has a few cozy options like this blanket scarf and this woven one.
Let me know if you have any of your own travel must-haves that I should try. Safe travels, and happy holidays! XX