Travel smarter: A guide to travel accessories

Everything you need to know about why we use different travel accessories and the best ones for your trip.

What is a travel accessory? 

A travel accessory is a piece of kit that’s designed to help you adapt to your situation better, when you don’t have immediate access to items at home. 

It helps you adapt by:

• Organising. In-luggage packing cubes or compact organisers such as travel wallets allow you to separate, organise and locate items quickly.

• Saving space. Packable or flexible miniatures, such as folding toothbrushes and travel towels, provide a smaller packing option for bulkier or awkwardly shaped items.

• Being portable. Usually lightweight or ergonomic, portable items are easy to stash and leave your hands and arms free while on the move

• Being multipurpose. Single, multi-use items of clothing and accessories allow you to save on valuable packing space and cut down the weight of your luggage.

• Providing comfort. Comfort items include things like travel pillows or blankets for warmth or comfort and ear plugs to drown out background noise on loud journeys.

• Providing protection or security. Protective sleeves and items with hidden compartments offer physical protection for valuable items such as laptops and security for items that can attract thieves, such as wallets and mobile phones.

• Providing entertainment. A book, tablet, e-reader, laptop or gaming device can make a good travel accessory for keeping boredom at bay on long journeys.

• Being useful in emergencies. First aid kits, toolkits or torches are all good emergency travel accessories that come in handy in less frequent (but more needy) scenarios.

Using these categories, you can slimline your entire luggage or focus on the type of accessory that’s most important to you.

Which travel accessories do I need?

Next, let's look at some of the amazing, must-haves that every traveller swears by, if you want to get serious about travelling and still travel in style. These top 10 travel accessories are designed to make travelling lighter and more comfortable — and packing a lot quicker.

1. Flyweight Package

Modular packing cubes naturally organise your packing into neat, removable sections and handily separate clothes from shoes, and clean laundry from dirty. They also double up as handy storage compartments if there isn’t a lot of that where you’re staying.

Flyweight Package modular packing cubes are made of a breathable material so they’re a lot better for packing and separating items than plastic bags and there won’t be that musty smell over your clothes when you open them up.

They comprise small and medium mesh cubes so you can see what’s inside without opening them up and the packing loops allow you to roll up and compress the cubes to store them once you’ve unpacked, too.

2. Base Camp Travel Canister

Aside from the main pack you travelled with, you’ll need a versatile, light, multipurpose daypack and organister to sling over your shoulder. 

The Base Camp Travel Canister is good for keeping your main travel essentials for the day (wallet, water, phone etc) but also roomy enough inside for food, wash items, and even tools you may need. 

It comes with a d-zip top opening so you have full view of the contents and the internal hook (and mirror) makes it an ideal hanging storage unit for toiletries or accessories or a socks and pants sorter that you can hang on the back of a door.

3. Travel towel

A travel towel is a soft, lightweight, quick-drying (and massively space-saving) alternative to a bulky cotton towel. Brightly coloured microfibre towels also have several brilliant additional uses, making them a great multipurpose travel accessory:

• A blanket for draughty plane journeys

• A pillow or neck support (rolled up) for quick naps

• A picnic blanket for fields or beaches

• A gym towel on-the-go or at home
  
  

4. Men's Evolve II Triclimate® Jacket or Women's Evolve II Triclimate® Jacket

A 3-in-1 jacket is the ultimate travel accessory because you can wear it for any activity or to any occasion — no matter what the weather.

The North Face Triclimate® jackets is a travel favourite as it helps you plan for all weather conditions, without sacrificing on style. Removable layers means you can wear:

• A sleek hooded, breathable waterproof jacket

• A lightweight, breathable fleece inner jacket 

• Both together for ultimate warmth and comfort against wind, rain and snow

5. Lumbnical Bum Bag or Convertible Shoulder Bag

A small, lightweight bag is essential for heading out in the evening. The Lumbnical Bum Bag has 3 pockets including a zippered inner security pocket — perfect for stashing your phone, wallet and keys on a night out — and looks great slung over the shoulder or around the waist.

Alternatively, The North Face Convertible Shoups essentials secure and your hands free.

6. Noise-cancelling headphones

From loud plane or bus rides to noisy neighbours in your accommodation, noise-cancelling headphones are essential for relaxed, distraction-free travel in those moments when you want to switch off, zone out or listen to your favourite tunes.

7. Flyweight 15” Laptop Sleeve or Stratoliner 17” Laptop Folder

A good laptop protector is an investment: it’s something you can use every day (not just when travelling) in order to keep your laptop scratch and dust-free. But it’s most valuable on plane and coach rides, when you’re far more likely to encounter damage, as everyone begins cramming their luggage into overhead lockers or shelves.

A protective laptop sleeve or folder like the fleece-lined Stratoliner 17” folder is something you’ll be glad to reach for every time you hit the road. Just pop your laptop inside, and the folder or sleeve into your bag.

8. Backpack and Pack Rain Cover

The most important travel accessory is the bag you pack it all into — and there are loads of backpack styles to choose from at The North Face. Some of the essentials to look for in a backpack are:

• Optimal volume and weight capacity for you

• Ergonomically designed for maximum comfort

• Bright colour options and patterns for visibility and style — if that’s your thing

• Lot of features, including well-adapted compartments for specific uses

• Compartments that can all be used all at once, at full capacity

• A waterproof cover to protect your gear against downpours.

Stylish and functional options include the Tote Backpack, Base Camp Fuse Box Backpack and the multicolour Duffel Bag options. Or, if you’d prefer to let the ground take the weight, you can opt for Rolling Thunder Luggage with its 80 litre volume capacity.

9. Men's Base Camp Slides II or Women's Base Camp Slide II Sandals

On the move, we wear heavier weight shoes built for comfort and endurance. But when you finally get to your destination, the first thing you’ll want to do is kick them off.

Slides or flip-flops, like these Men's Base Camp Flip-Flops or Women's Base Camp Mini II Flip-Flops are the perfect additional casual footwear option to sling on for a wander about the town, beach or your accommodation.

10. Beanie, hat or cap

Good headwear is a no-brainer for sun or chill protection. In low temperatures, opt for something ultra-warm like the Cosy Chunky Beanie or the Reversible TNF Banner Beanie to switch up your look. For sunny days, there’s always the classic bucket, like the City Futurelight Bucket Hat, or baseball cap to guard against UV rays.

Picking just the right collection of travel accessories is a fine art of personal selection. But once you’ve got your own, individually-adapted travel kit sorted, any time you head off travelling it’ll save a load of time and space — and might just save the day.