Travel Tips: The Strangest Stuff Travelers Swear By Packing and Why It Totally Works

Traveling is equal parts excitement, adventure, and pure chaos. You start packing with noble intentions — clothes, toothbrush, chargers — but before you know it, you’re side-eyeing your suitcase thinking: Should I really bring a rubber chicken?

Turns out… yes. Yes, you should.

Because sometimes the weirdest travel items end up saving the day (or at least getting you through a sketchy hostel, a delayed flight, or a bland sandwich). Here’s a roundup of bizarre-yet-genius things people actually pack — and why they’re 100% worth the raised eyebrows.

Travel tip: Power of a Rubber Chicken (or a Puppet)

Don't stop reading now - trust me on this travel tip! A rubber chicken may seem like a silly toy, but many travelers find it a great stress-relief tool. Crowded airports and unexpected delays can be hectic, and a little humor can lighten the mood.

Carrying a rubber chicken not only lightens your spirits but can make others smile too.

Hear me out: airports are stressful, TSA lines are hell, and nothing diffuses tension like whipping out a rubber chicken.

• Great for stress relief (squeak = serotonin).

• Instant icebreaker with strangers (yes, you’ll make friends in line).

• Weighs almost nothing but packs a punch of pure comedy.

I know someone - not me, I swear, but I have traveled with a puppet a few times...ah hmm, but, he swore his rubber chicken turned an angry airport crowd into a comedy club. Be the chaos you want to see in the world.

Bonus? If you are flying on a plane where seating isn't assigned, well, you might be able to ward off people from sitting right next to you if you talk to it or hold it like a baby.

So, why the rubber chicken and not a puppet? Unless you are prepared to do some shows for kids that see you with it, stick with the squeaky chicken. I know. I. do. know.

A quirky rubber chicken resting on a travel bag

Travel Tip: 🍯 Honey Sticks (Those Little Straws of Honey)

Tiny sugar rush, natural sore throat soother, and perfect for tea/coffee on the go. TSA-friendly, too.

Travel Tip: The Sarong: Swiss Army Cloth

Sarongs are basically fabric superheroes. They can be:

• A beach cover-up

• Picnic blanket

• Hotel bed throw when you don’t trust the sheets (we’ve all been there and that's me every time unless I've had too many Bacardi cokes)

• Emergency curtain when your Airbnb “forgot” to install blinds

And yes, you’ll look effortlessly stylish while eating grocery-store snacks on your makeshift picnic blanket. Vogue, but make it budget travel.

A vibrant sarong draped over a beach chair

Travel Tip: A Portable Door Lock

If you’ve ever stayed in a budget hotel, hostel, or bed & breakfast with doors thinner than cardboard, you know the paranoia. Enter: portable door lock.

• Tiny, cheap, and works on most doors.

• Gives you peace of mind in sketchy stays.

• Basically an anti-“Netflix doc about my trip” device.

Safety may not be funny, but avoiding kidnappers? 10/10 recommend. I also suggest carrying a side of mace with this - as long as it's less than 3.4 oz. and TSA doesn't mind - I haven't looked that up - so don't trust me on that.

Travel Tip: 🛡️ Door Stop Alarm

Take the classic rubber doorstop hack… and make it scream. This little gadget wedges under your hotel/Airbnb door and sets off an alarm if anyone tries to push in. Tiny, cheap, and ultimate peace of mind.

Travel Tip: 🧴 Dryer Sheets

Toss a couple in your suitcase. Keeps clothes smelling fresh and doubles as a static cling fix when your outfit starts attacking you in public. Bonus: mosquitoes hate them.

Travel Tip: 🧻 Flushable Wipes (Because TP is Nasty, Sorry Not Sorry)

Look, sometimes toilet paper just… isn’t enough. Long flights, sketchy bathrooms, late-night taco emergencies — wipes are the real MVP. They keep you fresh, save your dignity, and double as emergency hand wipes if you’re desperate.

But listen, and don’t get my germaphobe started. I probably shouldn’t have gotten a Master of Science in Microbiology because now I'm a germaphobe. Confession - that's why I switched to getting my PhD in Physiology. But here we are. And trust me — toilet paper in public bathrooms is basically a bacteria rave. Nasty. Germs everywhere. I said what I said.

So do yourself a favor: toss some biodegradable wipes in your bag. Your future self (and your immune system) will thank you.

Travel Tip: 🧊 Collapsible Cooler/Beach Bag

They fold flat, weigh nothing, and suddenly you’re the hero who brought a portable fridge for road trips, beach days, or sketchy Airbnb fridges.

Although, we did travel to Sarasota a few months ago with one and never used it. Go figure. But had we needed it, we'd have been heroes!

Travel Tip: 🧤 Ziploc Bags, Gallon Size

Not glamorous, but magic:

• Protects gadgets at the beach.

• Emergency puke bag (don’t laugh, it happens).

• Keeps dirty laundry stink sealed away from your “cute outfits.”

Essentials protected: A smartphone, keys, and wallet sit safely in a plastic bag on the sandy beach, with the ocean waves gently approaching in the background.

Travel Tip: The Travel-Sized Spice Kit

Airport food = sadness. Tourist trap food = bland pasta. Solution? Pack your own spice kit.

• Chili flakes for ✨drama✨

• Garlic powder for soul

• Tajín for taste on the go

Someone I know brought cumin along and turned a sad gas station burrito into a Michelin-star moment, and became the hero of their backpacking group. Flavor > everything.

Travel Tip: 🥤 Empty Tic Tac Box

Fill with bobby pins, Q-tips, earrings, or even tiny pills. No more digging through the black hole of your toiletry bag.

Travel Tip: Bar of Soap in a New or Very Clean Sock

Sounds unhinged, but hear me out:

• Soap = shower or laundry hack.

• Sock = scrubber/pouch.

• Together? Instant wash kit that won’t explode in your bag like body wash.

Travel Tip: 📸 Old Gift Card / Fake Credit Card

Hack for hotel rooms that need a key card to keep the power on. Slip in a random plastic card and keep the AC blasting while you’re out. (Sorry, planet 🌍💔 but hello chilled room).

Travel Tip: 😬 Activated Charcoal Tablets

If (when) street food betrays you, these bad boys can calm down stomach disasters fast. A little weird to pack, but your intestines will write you a thank-you card.

A colorful bikini top and gray socks hang neatly on a clothesline above the bathtub, suggesting a mix of summer and everyday essentials being air-dried indoors.

Travel Tip: A Miniature Clothesline

Socks Need Love Too!

Nothing glamorous here — just vibes and practicality. Wet socks after a rainy trek? Boom. Instant drying station in your hotel bathroom.

Bonus: doubles as a place to hang your swimsuit when you inevitably jump into the hotel pool fully clothed, maybe after a few Bacardi and cokes.

Travel Tip: A Travel Pillow with a Twist

Forget basic U-shaped pillows. Upgrade to ones that:

• Transform into a blanket

• Have built-in headphones

• Make you look like a cozy space alien

Considering 70% of travelers admit to being miserable on flights, investing in a pillow/blanket hybrid is basically self-care.

Travel Tip: The Magic of Duct Tape

Duct tape is the chaotic neutral of travel gear. It can:

• Fix a broken suitcase wheel

• Mend your flip-flop betrayal

• Seal a snack bag shut so you don’t end up with cookie crumbs in your backpack for eternity

Pro move: Wrap a few layers around your water bottle so you don’t have to pack a whole roll. Genius and MacGyver-approved.

Travel Tip: 😷 Silk Pillowcase

• Hotels don’t always wash decorative pillow shams. Ew. And they can't wash the pillows underneath as far as I know. I think they just change the cases, and who knows how clean they're getting in those big ole washers.

• A silk pillowcase is lightweight, folds small, and you can just slip it over the hotel pillow.

• Bonus: it’s better for skin + hair. So it’s both sanitary and bougie.

• But, you'll likely need to burn it after one use, as the underside of it has some serous cooties on it that no matter how many cootie shots you got as a kid (Gen X knows what I'm talking about), you're gonna get cooties if you take this out of this hotel room.

  
  

Travel Tip: 🩹 Liquid Bandage Spray

Cuts, blisters, bug bites — spray-on bandage seals them up without lugging a first-aid kit. Also keeps you from bleeding into your flip-flops at the worst possible time.

Travel Tip: A Collapsible Water Bottle

Hydration but make it compact. These bottles fold down to nothing when empty, so you don’t have to lug a bulky Nalgene through security.

• Saves money (skip the $7 airport water).

• Eco-friendly.

• Weirdly fun to squish.

Since 75% of people don’t drink enough water while traveling, this hack is both weird and lifesaving.

Travel Tip: 👃 Saline Nasal Spray

Planes = dry air. Dry air = cracked sinuses and “vacation cold.” A couple spritzes of saline keeps your nasal passages moist (ew word, but true) and helps ward off germs.

Travel Tip: Nips… and More Nips

Tiny bottles of joy, aka nips, aka your best friend when you realize traveling cocktails cost the same as your first car payment. Tito’s, Bacardi, Baileys (chef’s kiss) — whatever your vibe, these little guys are legal to carry in your bag as long as they’re unopened. Just drink it before you walk into the airport (not in the car while you are driving, though, duh) - or just wait until you're safely on the ground and off the plane, out of the airport, etc.

Why they weirdly work:

• They’re under the TSA 3.4oz limit, so they slide right through security.

• Perfect for hotel coffee (Baileys = life hack).

  
  

✈️ What Actually Happens in Practice

• U.S. airlines (Delta, American, United, Southwest, JetBlue, etc.) → All forbid you bringing your own and drinking it. If a crew member sees you pouring your own, they can take it away or (in rare cases) file an incident report. And they probably won't serve you any after that, so beware.

• International airlines → Most follow the same rule, but a few are more chill if you politely hand the bottle to a flight attendant and ask them to pour it for you. So I'd always ask before you do it, just in case.

• Reality check → Plenty of travelers do sneak a nip into their Coke, but if you get caught, you risk more than embarrassment (it can be considered a federal offense in the U.S. 😬 - so I advise strongly against doing that - just ask your flight attendants).

  
  

Travel Tip: 🔥 Bonus Chaos Item: Binder Clips

Clamp your curtains shut in hotels where management clearly has never heard of darkness. Also hold headphones, toothpaste tubes, or even broken flip-flops together in a crisis.

Final Thoughts

Sure, you can pack like a normal human and survive your trip. But where’s the fun in that? Rubber chickens, sarongs, duct tape, spice kits — they might seem random, but they’re the chaotic travel sidekicks you didn’t know you needed.

So next time you’re packing, toss in something quirky. Worst case? TSA gives you a funny look. Best case? You’ve got the best travel story in the room.

A family stands by the airport window, gazing at an airplane on the tarmac, ready to embark on their journey.