10 Things to Actually
Buy for Summer

The single best ~$30 you'll spend on travel. They turn a chaotic suitcase into labeled compartments, genuinely fit more, and make living out of a bag for two weeks bearable. No gimmick — just organization that works.

A day of airports, maps and photos drains your phone by 2pm. A 10,000mAh bank with USB-C fast charging is the difference between a live boarding pass and a dead one. Get one with PD; skip the no-name mega-capacity bricks.

SPF that actually protects and won't get you turned away at reef beaches — several destinations now ban chemical sunscreens. Zinc-based, reef-safe, real function. Buy SPF 30+ and reapply; that's the whole trick.

Airport water is $6 and hotel tap is a gamble. An insulated bottle keeps water cold for hours, pays for itself in two travel days, and cuts a pile of single-use plastic. Boring, useful, worth it.

For less than the cost of one checked-bag panic, you always know where your suitcase is. Worth every cent the first time an airline "temporarily misplaces" it. Drop one in each bag and forget about it.

Packs to the size of a fist, dries you off, then dries itself by morning. Not glamorous — endlessly useful for beaches, hostels, pools and day trips where a hotel towel isn't coming with you.

One adapter, every country, with USB-C fast charging built in. The honest upgrade over a fistful of cheap single-country plugs. One caveat: it changes the plug shape, not the voltage — it's not a converter for high-watt appliances.

Crushable, rolls into a bag, springs back into shape, and saves your scalp, ears and face from a vacation-ruining burn. A rare "looks fine, works great, costs little" win.

Weighs almost nothing, lives in your daypack, and turns a washed-out rainy afternoon into a non-event. Buy one that stuffs into its own pocket so you'll actually carry it.

A screaming toddler three rows back versus silence. On a long flight, ANC earbuds are the closest thing to a free upgrade. (We've got a full head-to-head review landing soon.)