Last week I boarded “a bespoke yacht experience”—whatever that means—off the coast of Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a virgin piña colada in one hand.

It was 32°C (about 90°F) in Montego Bay, while here in Ottawa, where I live, it’s a balmy 8°C (46°F). And somehow, no matter what the weather is outside, stepping onto a plane always feels like entering either a walk-in freezer or a hundred-person sauna.

Packing for the actual trip usually isn’t the hard part. It’s figuring out what to wear on travel day that requires mental gymnastics: warm, but not too warm; cool, but not freezing; comfortable enough to sit in for hours, but not so cozy that you look like you’ve given up entirely. Ideally, you also avoid sweating through your clothes and stinking profusely beside your seatmate.

So, after spending more than 100 hours on planes this year, I’ve developed a pretty reliable airport outfit formula.

Use it as a little cheat sheet the next time you fly.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you shop through them. I only share things I genuinely love and use.

My Travel Day Outfit Formula:

• A Base Layer That Keeps You Cool: SKIMS Cotton T-Shirt Bodysuit

• Cozy, Yet Chic: COS Merino Wool Cardigan

• Pants That Aren’t Jeans: DONNI Linen Drawstring Pant

• Walkable Sneakers: Saye M89 Icon Shoes

• Socks That Help With Circulation: BOMBAS Travel Compression Socks

SKIMS Cotton T-Shirt Bodysuit

I wasn’t team bodysuit for the longest time — they seemed like a lot of effort for something a T-shirt could do just as well. Then I tried one and completely changed my mind. The appeal is how smoothly they sit under everything: where tees and tanks can bunch, ride up, or add bulk, a bodysuit gives you one clean, seamless layer.

SKIMS is especially good for travel because the fabric is light enough to wear on its own when you’re sprinting through Newark after a delay or sitting on a plane with broken A/C, but it also layers easily under a cardigan or sweater when the cabin inevitably turns freezing.

Shop SKIMS Cotton T-Shirt Bodysuit

COS Merino Wool Cardigan

This butter-yellow COS cardigan is made from 100% wool, so it feels warm and substantial without that plasticky texture some synthetic knits can have. It’s soft enough to wear over a bodysuit or tee, easy to take on and off as the cabin temperature changes.

Shop COS Merino Wool Cardigan

DONNI Linen Drawstring Pant

When I’m flying, I’m always trying to toe the line between cute and comfortable, which means sweatpants feel a little too casual and jeans are usually a hard no. After hours of sitting, my legs and feet can get a little puffy, so anything restrictive is off the table.

These DONNI linen pants are the perfect middle ground: polished enough that I can step off the plane and meet colleagues without feeling underdressed, but relaxed enough to stay comfortable for hours. The drawstring waist is especially forgiving on a long travel day, and because they come in multiple colors, you definitely don’t have to commit to white unless you’re headed somewhere suitably beachy.

Shop DONNI Linen Drawstring Pant

Saye M89 Icon Shoes

I’m very picky about the shoes I wear on travel days, since they often need to work with most of my wardrobe and carry me through the trip without a blister. These SAYE sneakers hit that sweet spot: sleek, simple, and polished enough that, unlike a sportier running shoe, they even pair nicely with my simpler sundresses in a pinch.

Bonus: SAYE uses a mix of lower-impact materials, including corn-based vegan nappa, recycled PET, recycled polyurethane, and organic cotton, so there’s a little more thought behind them than your average sneaker.

Shop Saye M89 Icon Shoes

BOMBAS Travel Compression Socks

I didn’t think I needed compression socks until I started flying regularly and noticed I’d arrive with puffy, swollen ankles after long travel days. Now they’re one of those things I hate flying without.

I love that they look like regular socks, so I can still coordinate them with the rest of my travel outfit instead of feeling like I’ve suddenly entered orthopedic-shoe territory.

Shop BOMBAS Travel Compression Socks

October in Ontario is one of my favorite times of year. It’s still just warm enough to sit on my back porch and write—albeit under a blanket with a hot cup of coffee—while the maple leaves turn orange and gold and the burning bushes go bright scarlet.

Except this year, I’m barely going to be here to enjoy it.

I’m starting the month in Jamaica on a five-day luxury wellness retreat, on assignment for a new Canadian publication I’m writing for. Then I’m off to Florida for a cookout hosted by chefs so famous they probably have trademarks after their names, followed by Grand Cayman, where I’ll be exploring the island beyond the places most visitors already know—which, by my estimate, is basically the entire island, since I’ve never been.

At this point, I feel like I live at my local international airport. Any lingering fear I once had about flying has mostly been replaced by the same mild impatience I used to feel waiting for the school bus: Can we please just get going?

After enough early-morning security lines, chilly cabins, delayed connections, and hours spent trying to get comfortable in a seat clearly not designed for comfort, I’ve figured out the handful of things that genuinely make flying better.

These are the five little luxuries that always make it into my carry-on—and make constant travel feel a little easier, a little more comfortable, and considerably more civilized.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you shop through them. I only share things I genuinely love and use.

5 Finds That Make International Travel More Luxurious:

• The Carry-On Bag That Ruined All Others: Carl Friedrik Carry-On Suitcase

• Block Out Screams, Chatter and More: Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones

• Don’t Bring Back An Airport Bug: Saje Hand Sanitizer

• Sleep Through Anything: Bearaby Weighted Eye Mask

• The Cozy Layer That Looks Chic: Sézane Emile Cardigan

Carl Friedrik Carry-On Suitcase

I used to think a suitcase was a suitcase: it held your stuff, rolled through the airport, and hopefully survived the trip. Then I got this Carl Friedrik carry-on and realized how much better luggage can actually be.

Instead of a traditional zipper, the case closes with a rigid lock frame and TSA-approved combination locks, which makes the whole thing feel much more secure. Inside, built-in compression straps and a removable compression pad help squeeze down bulkier clothes — extremely useful for a chronic overpacker like me — while the zippered compartment keeps smaller items from migrating everywhere.
Shop Carl Friedrik Carry-On Suitcase

Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones

I have two modes when I travel: deeply curious, genuinely wanting to be everyone’s new best friend—and hermit, aka please don’t even look at me. For hermit mode, these Bose headphones make it much easier to pretend I’m in my own little world, even when I’m surrounded by thousands of travelers, crying babies, rolling suitcases, and intercom announcements going off every five minutes.

The noise cancellation is the obvious selling point, but I also love how comfortable they are for long stretches and how easily they switch between devices. If your flight supports Bluetooth entertainment, you can pair wirelessly. The newer models also support multipoint Bluetooth, which is a fancy way of saying you can switch between your phone and laptop without missing a beat.

Shop Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones

Saje Hand Sanitizer

I take this hand sanitizer with me whenever I leave the house, let alone board a germy airplane. The mist format means there’s no gloopy spill in the bottom of my bag or giant blob landing in the middle of my palm, and the fresh lime scent makes it feel a little less clinical than the average sanitizer.

It contains 68% ethyl alcohol—above the 60% minimum recommended for effective hand sanitizer—plus aloe to help keep repeated use from feeling quite so drying.

Shop Saje Hand Sanitizer

Bearaby Weighted Eye Mask

Whether you’re taking an overnight flight or one that leaves at an offensibly early hour, this Bearaby weighted eye mask is the only one I’ve found that reliably blocks out all the light. Unlike thinner masks that tend to shift or let brightness creep in around the edges, this one uses weighted clay beads to help it sit more securely against your face.

That gentle pressure is part of what I love about it, too. It feels soothing without being heavy, and on a busy flight it helps create a little cocoon between me and everything happening around me. If you’re someone who gets overstimulated or tense while flying, I could see that extra bit of sensory separation being especially welcome.

Shop Bearaby Weighted Eye Mask

Sézane Emile Cardigan

No matter the season or destination, getting onto an airplane always feels like stepping into an icebox. That’s why this gorgeous Sézane cardigan has become part of my unofficial travel uniform.

I own it in multiple colors because it hits the sweet spot I’m always looking for when I travel: cozy enough for a freezing cabin, flattering enough that I still feel put together, and beautifully made. I hate looking disheveled when I fly, but I also refuse to be uncomfortable, and this lands perfectly in the middle.

Best of all, it rolls up easily enough to tuck into my carry-on once I land.

Shop Sézane Emile Cardigan

I know I’ve been pretty quiet around here for the past couple of months, and there’s a good reason: I’ve recently started working as a freelance travel journalist.

Travel in my twenties meant being sardined into tiny rooms with three other girls or, when I traveled for work, checking into perfectly tidy but deeply unexciting Marriotts with views of a concrete wall and an air-conditioning unit.

These days, things look a little different.

Every few weeks, I’m checking into plush hotel suites sometimes three times the size of my condo, with more bathrooms than guests (just me), cloud-like beds, enormous tubs, and little personalized gifts waiting to remind me just how precious a guest I am.

This isn’t a list of the obvious ways to make your bedroom feel more luxurious. You already know that a better mattress, high-thread-count sheets, pillows designed for your sleep style, a down duvet, and blackout curtains can make a huge difference. Those are the foundation.

The problem is that every time I come home, my own bedroom feels a little…underwhelming. Not because it isn’t three times the size of my condo, obviously, but because great hotels are very, very good at those tiny details that make climbing into bed feel like an event.

So lately, I’ve been stealing a few of those ideas for home.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you shop through them. I only share things I genuinely love and use.

5 Finds That Turn My Bedroom Into A Luxury Hotel Room:

• Pavlovian Pillow Mist: Saje Pillow Mist

• The Bedside Lighting That Says “No Big Lights”: Perigold Table Lamp

• The Pajamas With Personality: Printfresh PJs

• The Smart Clock That Gets My Phone Out of Bed: Loftie Smart Alarm Clock

• The Weighted Blanket That Makes Bed Feel Better: Baloo Weighted Blanket

Saje Pillow Mist

I used to think pillow mists and room sprays were fancy nonsense destined to collect dust in home-goods stores alongside decorative pillows and throw blankets. Then I got Saje’s Sleep Well mist as a gift. After a few nights of liberally spraying my pillow with its blend of lavender, valerian root, and vetiver, I developed what can only be described as a Pavlovian response: one whiff and my brain seems to understand that it’s time to shut down. And there may be more to it than repetition alone—research on inhaled aromatherapy suggests it can improve sleep quality, with lavender being one of the most studied oils.

Shop the Saje Sleep Well Mist →

Perigold Table Lamp

Staring at screens before bed isn’t exactly conducive to winding down, but I’d argue harsh overhead lighting isn’t helping either. Bright light at night can interfere with the body’s natural sleep cues, which is why I’ve become a convert to soft, low bedroom lighting. Inspired by a waxing moon, this Perigold lamp feels almost purpose-built for the job. A built-in dimmer lets you turn it up for reading and down when you’re ready to wind down, making it as functional as it is beautiful.

Shop the Perigold table lamp →

Printfresh PJs

When my workday ends, I change into pajamas almost immediately, no matter the time. It’s become a little mental cue that the day is over and I can finally decompress. The problem is, I’d neglected my sleepwear for years, so a lot of my old sets were looking decidedly sad.

If you’re also a pajama person—or just want something a little more polished than an oversized T-shirt and underwear—this Printfresh set immediately caught my eye. The bold patterns, saturated colors, and soft fabric make getting ready for bed feel like a treat instead of an afterthought.

Shop Printfresh PJs →

Loftie Smart Alarm Clock

One crucial part of turning my bedroom into a zen oasis is making it a phone-free zone: no late-night texts, doomscrolls that go from “five more minutes” to “wait, what time is it?”, troubling news alerts, or random bings that wake me just as I’m falling asleep because I forgot to turn my phone to silent.

The problem was that I used my phone as both a clock and an alarm, which gave me a very convenient excuse to keep it beside the bed. Loftie removes that excuse. Beyond telling the time and waking me up, it comes loaded with sleep soundscapes—from white and brown noise to birdsong, rain, nature sounds, meditations, and breathwork—to help you wind down. And if you need a little more help breaking the habit, the optional Loftie+ subscription can block distracting apps around bedtime so “I’ll just check one thing” doesn’t turn into another 45 minutes of scrolling.

Shop Loftie Alarm Clock →

Baloo Weighted Blanket

Available in 15- and 20-pound options for a Full/Queen bed, my Baloo weighted blanket is another addition to my evening routine that I now have a hard time sleeping without. Weighted blankets use deep, evenly distributed pressure across the body, which can create that calming, cocooned feeling—and research suggests they may help reduce anxiety and improve sleep.

I’d always heard they were especially popular with people dealing with anxiety, and since that isn’t something I struggle with, I assumed a weighted blanket probably wasn’t for me. It turns out I just really like being gently squished.

Shop Baloo Weighted Blanket →

I’ve got nothing but love for the little town and my hosts, who were lovely and kind and gracious and made me feel like a special girl. It’s one of the many perks of being a travel and food journalist. In fact, the GM of the hotel said as much at dinner the first night, and I replied that we really do have the best job in the world, getting to basically travel for free.

But I wasn’t being entirely honest. Press trips aren’t exactly free.

They’re not all-inclusive vacations gifted by hotels or tourism boards because they simply adore your prose. Press trips are highly choreographed, invite-only marketing events organized by PR teams to showcase a destination in the best possible light, with the explicit hope (and sometimes explicit pressure) that journalists leave glowing and publish as many stories as possible afterward.

My latest romp was a dream. No pressure. No harassment. But I haven’t always been so lucky. And so, I've often turned down trips because the cost wasn’t worth it for me.

Let me walk you through a few experiences that haven’t been as magical as my latest trip to the County, so the next time you’re jealously tapping through a story, know that it’s not all bubble baths and sparkling wine, it’s also food poisoning and five AM wake-up calls.

Press Trips of Yore

Press Trip 1: Overstuffed Itineraries and Bootcamps

When I stepped off the plane onto the tropical island and into a private jeep stocked with water bottles, WiFi (this was a decade ago, before that was standard), and pumping air conditioning, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven.

That was the last moment of relaxation on the entire trip.

Once the on-site PR handed me my itinerary, scheduled down to the thirty-minute interval, I said goodbye to the vacation I’d imagined and hello to the work ahead.

I use the word “work” loosely. It was all objectively fun, if slightly intense: water biking (which, yes, is apparently a real thing — think a full bicycle suspended over two tiny kayaks), jungle hikes, 6 a.m. yoga flows, chef’s table dinners, even lunches accompanied by presentations about the resort’s amenities.

Maybe if I hadn’t arrived fresh off weeks of twelve-hour office days with a completely fried brain, I would’ve enjoyed the constant movement and activity more. But what my body actually wanted was the king-sized bed, the giant soaker tub, and a quiet night watching BBC with a bowl of room service ice cream.

But unlike a vacation you plan and pay for yourself, that wasn’t really an option.

One of the strange things about press trips is that they can make you feel oddly childlike. Your days are planned for you. People tell you where to be, when to eat, when to wake up, when to get on the bus. Great hosts give you enough space to breathe, explore, and recharge. Others micromanage the hell out of you until you’re essentially having an overtired toddler meltdown in the hallway because you should’ve had a nap three hours ago.

Press Trip 2: Getting Lost and Getting Food Poisoning

Of course, the opposite problem is a press trip with almost no structure at all.

Now, you may be thinking: Okay, Allie, which is it? Do you want the itinerary or not? But hear me out. I’m forever Goldilocks in these situations. Too much structure and I start fantasizing about lying face down in a hotel robe for six uninterrupted hours. Too little, and I become a deeply confused woman wandering through train stations with a rapidly dying phone battery.

And that’s exactly what happened on another press trip, where I was invited with essentially zero itinerary and zero guidance. The PR rep oversaw several properties across the region and more or less told me and another journalist to “figure it out,” armed only with train tickets and a prayer.

Unfortunately, neither of us spoke the local language.

Ten stressful hours later, after multiple wrong turns, confused gestures at train conductors, and one deeply questionable street food situation, we somehow arrived at our destination. Barely.

The next morning, exhausted and violently food poisoned, I proceeded to throw up all over my hotel suite.

Press Trips of Today

After those two misadventures, I became reluctant to accept invitations. But my colleagues kept encouraging me: press trips were a great way to meet other journalists, make connections, learn about emerging destinations, and spot trends in travel, food, and wellness before they hit the mainstream.

And they were right.

As my travel journalism career grew, so did the invitations: the Maldives, Croatia, Utah. But somewhere along the way, something shifted in the relationship between journalists and PR teams.

Before I had even seen an itinerary or learned much about the property, I was suddenly being asked for publication dates on stories that didn’t exist yet. Stories I hadn’t written, reported, pitched, or even conceived of.

I never quite knew how to answer those requests. How could I promise coverage for an experience I hadn’t actually experienced yet? Isn’t that the entire point of journalism? To go somewhere, observe, report, and then find the story? And whenever I raised that point, I got crickets back. I clearly wasn’t playing the game properly.

But I knew that lying wouldn’t be fair to my editors or my readers. To imply that somewhere was ‘worth the trip’ before I’d even stepped foot on the property felt fundamentally at odds with the whole point of journalism.

I understood the pressure, of course. Budgets were shrinking, PR teams needed measurable returns, and everyone had someone else to answer to. Still, something about the arrangement left me uneasy.

For all my cynicism, I’m incredibly grateful to be invited on press trips. When done well, they offer an unparalleled way to experience a place — intimate access to museums, farms, vineyards, kitchens, and the people behind them, alongside moments of luxury most people rarely get to experience: private suites, Michelin dining, wine tastings, room service, gifts waiting in your hotel room after dinner.

But I’ve also learned that the modern press trip exists in an increasingly blurry space between journalism, marketing, hospitality, and content creation. The sparkling wine is real. So is the pressure attached to it.f

Not quite. They’re just getting invited on press trips.

What is a press trip?

On the surface, press trips might look like journalists have Sugar Daddies or Mommies, but this is far from a free trip. Here’s the gist: a trip is organized by a PR company, tourism boards, or brands to bring journalists and influencers to experience their clients’ products or services. Sometimes the destinations are exciting: Japan! Sometimes, they are mundane: Texas. The end goal is always to have you, the journalist, be inspired and write about some facet of the experience.

Reality vs. Expectation

If it sounds like a dream, let me temper your expectations. While there are a ton of perks (free accommodations, airfare, meals), this is not a vacation. Got an invite to a tropical beach resort? You might get an afternoon at the beach, but the rest of your time is usually spent listening to presentations by local tourism boards or attending scheduled activities. I’ve been on trips where my itinerary was booked from 5:30 AM to 10:30 PM. This gig isn't for the timid. Your travel companions will be other journalists you’ve likely never met before.

That’s not to say it won’t be fun, but it’s a different type of trip than when you and your friends enjoy a week at the beach, sleeping in late, dancing all night and drinking Mai Tais at noon.

How do you get invited?

Groups like the American Travel Writers Association hosts events and conferences that can help freelance writers connect with editors, tourism boards, and PR companies in search of their next story. I’ve found that the more widely you are published, the more known you become in the industry and brands and other folks tend to reach out with invitations.

Should you go?

Sure! They can be amazing experiences for meeting work contacts, making friends in the industry, and getting to travel to places you otherwise wouldn’t go. The experiences and people you meet may help inspire an incredible story. But I would not look at them like a vacation; I typically come back pretty exhausted. Ask as many questions as you can about the trip, how many other journalists may be attending, the itinerary, and any expectations the host has for you. These can help you gauge the activity and intensity level.

Good luck!