The Top Travel Products of 2021, Tested and Recommended by TripSavvy Editors

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

Travel, while looking and feeling a little different, is back. And returning with it is the need for reliable items like quality luggage, comfortable footwear, outdoor gear, and more. To prepare you for your next getaway, we rounded up some of our favorite travel purchases within the last year, ones that we can't stop talking about (and won't travel without).

Here, a list of our favorite travel products, all winners as part of our fourth-annual Editors' Choice Awards. We love this gear, and we're sure that some of these will make your list of packing must-haves, too.

I picked up the Helly Hansen Crew Hooded Jacket—in a smart navy—while on an Icelandic cruise this summer and haven't looked back. While it's protected me through morning dog walks in downpours, it's now proving to be a versatile layer atop a sweater for chilly fall mornings. Plus, Helly Hansen's long-standing reputation for sturdy adventure gear means that it will be a valuable piece in my wardrobe for years, if not decades, to come. Men's version here.

Brooklyn-based perfumer DS & Durga frequently touts perfume as armchair travel, and no scent quite drives that home like their St. Vetyver, an intoxicating blend of namesake Caribbean vetyver and island grasses, with notes of rhum. The boutique company's fragrances are inspired by travels and discoveries from around the world. If vetyver isn't to your liking, you might love Radio Bombay, a sandalwood-infused scent with metallic undertones, or Italian Citrus, which will have you dreaming of sipping spritzes on the Amalfi Coast.

The Big Agnes Dream Island 15-Degree Double Sleeping Bag was genuinely designed with couples’ comfort in mind. Each side of the bag has its own full-length, anti-snag zipper, allowing each of you to get in quickly and zip up to your individual preference. Once you’re there, you’ll sleep soundly all night thanks to features such as the Flex Pad Sleeve, which holds your sleeping pad(s) securely within the bag (read: no sliding off throughout the night), as well as the Pillow Barn, which keeps your pillow in place all night. I also especially love the corner hand pockets meant for pulling the top up over your shoulders to really bundle up on chilly nights. Long gone are your days of attempting to zip two single bags together.

This year saw a new contender break into the luggage space with the arrival of Melbourne-based July. As someone who previously only stuck with an Away bag, I now find that July's new trunk-style carry-on is in heavy rotation for me. The combo of its glazed polycarbonate shell and the Light Sand color, which favors my favorite nail polish (Essie's Ballet Slippers), gives it a super luxe look. It has a solid compression belt to squeeze in all of my overpacking, and I love that its wheels are silent and feel incredibly smooth when I'm rolling it.

I grew up in the heat of the D.C. area and spent my summers on the beaches of Delaware, so a durable and comfortable pair of flip-flops has always been among my most prized items of clothing. After bouncing around from brand to brand for several years, I found these Rainbow flip-flops and haven't looked back. I bought my most recent pair just this summer; each set I buy usually lasts several years' worth of heavy wear and tear, and the classic leather look goes well with any outfit. My favorite part is how well the sandals mold to my feet, making them truly mine and only mine. You can find the women's version here.

And while I'm revealing my favorite footwear, I'll also mention another great pair: these slip-on, hands-free Kizik Madrid Eco Knit sneakers. Call me lazy, but when I leave the house, I like a pair of shoes I can just kick on without stopping to tie or pull up. These let me do that while also providing a secure enough fit for running or other active pursuits; all Kizik shoes have technology in the heel that compresses as you step into the shoe and then snaps securely back into place. Genius. You can find women's sneakers here. The brand offers lots of different styles of shoes as well if you're looking for more options.

I'm a huge fan of the Hoka One One Speedgoat 4 (men's and women's versions available). When I go backpacking, I also love to haul along a pair of kicks for trail runs. This can cause both packing and weight issues. The Hoka One One Speedgoat 4 trail runners solve that issue. In a world of blurring lines between true hiking and true trail running shoes, the newest iteration of the Speedgoats stands above the rest. They combine the cushiness Hoka fans are used to with some serious Vibram megagrip soles. I've felt just as confident in them scrambling scree with a 40-pound pack as I have climbing and descending steep pitches at a brisk clip. If you're looking for a pair of shoes that can double as hikers and trail runners, look no further.

I also love the Patagonia Houdini Jacket (again, men's and women's available). If you spend enough time being active outside, you'll inevitably experience some weather. As someone who has spent decades living and recreating in the Midwest and the western U.S., I've experienced my fair share of unforeseen weather changes. It can be unpleasant at best. And miserable and dangerous at worst. That's why I keep the Patagonia Houdini Jacket near the door at all times. The jacket weighs less than 4 ounces and packs into its own pocket small enough to stuff in a bike jersey or hip pack. And since it's Patagonia, you know it's constructed sustainably. It's not your bomber weatherproof shell. But the DWR finish is enough to get you out of a weather jam while cycling, running, hiking, or backpacking.

I picked up the Flint Lint Roller by chance at a stationery shop, and it's become one of my favorite impulse buys. The amount of solid black and white clothes in my closet means that there's always some random piece of lint or dust on my clothes, so having a portable lint roller has been a blessing. Flint rollers are refillable, and each refill has 30 sheets. To use it, all you have to do is twist the bottom clockwise until the sticky sheet is completely exposed. Each sheet is sticky enough to get most of the lint off your threads, and it's small enough to fit into most purses and bags.

If there’s one thing you need for a week-long camping adventure, it’s sleep. Before heading out on a three-week camping trip in the Pacific Northwest this summer, I knew I needed a top-quality sleeping pad. The Nemo Flyer Sleeping Pad inflates to 2 inches and is insulated with open-cell foam, meaning that you can’t feel the cold hard ground while you’re trying to catch some Zs. It’s also quiet, and the grips at the bottom of the pad keep it from slipping around the tent as you toss and turn in the night. Since I’m tall and a side sleeper, I went with the long wide, which gave me more than enough space without taking up too much room in the tent.

The trackers by Tile have been a game-changer for me. As someone who misplaces my keys and phone daily, I no longer have to run around frantically asking everyone to help me find them. When traveling, I’ve been able to tell when my bag is coming down the conveyor belt at baggage claim (or if it’s been lost). The Tile sticker is excellent for my AirPods, and I have a slim one in my wallet as well. My mom used to say I’d lose my head if it weren’t attached with me, but these days I’d just use Tile as an earring and call it a day.

Mammut's Stoney HS jacket and pants are the epitomai of breathable skiwear that doesn't sacrifice insulation for comfort. I started backcountry skiing last winter, and this kit kept me warm and dry, or cool and dry, depending on whether I was in uphill walk mode or skiing downhill. The two-layer DRYtech material is the real deal. (Men's jacket here and pants here.)

The CamelBak Multibev 22-Ounce bottle really excels in the versatility department. It functions as both a water bottle and a coffee mug, and it makes for an excellent beer vessel. The dual-wall insulation keeps beverage temps perfectly ice cold or piping hot for hours.

I bought the high-waisted Heathyoga Yoga Pants for Women for my mother's birthday. She was starting to get into hiking and walking our high school track, and she was constantly complaining about not having a good place to put her phone. The deep pockets in the leggings drew me to them, so I ended up buying her a two-pack. She loved them. They were soft, the material was stretchy enough that she could move around in them, but it also didn't roll down on her stomach. I highly recommend them and am going to purchase a few pairs for myself shortly.