Amazon Favorites: Travel

This morning while sitting in rush hour morning traffic, in 30 degree weather, with both my heat & old Luke Bryan songs full blast, it became pretty clear…I’m ready for a vacation. So, until we leave for our next trip, I’ll be gridlocked on I-85 day dreaming about saltwater and sunshine.

We have less than a month before we leave for Oahu & Maui, so I wanted to share how I’m preparing for the trip. I am a complete Amazon Prime fanatic and can’t rave enough about how Amazon feels like my secret weapon or friend some days. Those days where work or traffic or the gym or whatever it may be keeps you late, and the last thing you have time for is to go run around the mall, or target, or best buy, or REI, to look for the one specific thing you need (and hope to god they have it in stock). I still love to shop in person, but it’s more experiential and inspiration based rather than for when I need something specific.

So, let’s bring in the real MVP here – Amazon. I’ll be writing a few separate segments on my Amazon Favorites for home, beauty, etc. going forward, because some of my essential products have been as easy as opening my front door and voila, I’ve got what I need. Keep in mind the list below is geared more towards an outdoor, tropical environment, so maybe skip the bikini’s if you’re planning an Alaskan cruise 🙂

My favorite Amazon finds for Traveling:

Techie

My iPhone 8+ really satisfies all my photography needs (HELLO portrait mode!!), but strapping it to the front of an ATV through the mountains or using deep in the ocean obviously ain’t gonna happen. I LOVE underwater photography and the ocean in general, so I knew I couldn’t step foot on the plane until I had a GoPro in tow. I love the aesthetic of GoPro photography, but also didn’t find myself needing the biggest and baddest model for what we’re using it for. The Hero 5 Session is an amazingly compact model with all the features of the larger models, other than there is no viewing screen. However, the GoPro app allows you to sync your GoPro to your phone and use your phone to view, which I almost prefer. Every other feature that the GoPro Hero 5 Black has is in this tiny little session – for $100 cheaper. Currently these are $100 off and only $199.99! The battery life isn’t amazing, but it’s easy enough to charge up and I plan to do so while driving from location to location in Hawaii.

To support your new GoPro, you will need to buy a microSD card (no internal memory comes with the GoPro). SanDisk is the recommended brand by GoPro, and the Extreme edition is temperature, water, and shock proof. I wanted to be sure to get a memory card that can hang with my GoPro, and this find is only $36.89 on amazon for 64GB! They also have a 32GB for $20.89, but the extra storage is so worth it.

You’ll also need accessories for your GoPro, and I found this 50-in-1 Kit for only $20.99! It comes with all of your basics – Chest Strap, Head Strap, Tripods, Suction Cup Mounts, etc. My big tip for shopping on Amazon is to read. the. reviews! I found this kit based on the many positive reviews, and will be testing out a lot of the components before our trip. For the price, it’s a great starter kit to help me assess what I may want to buy directly from the GoPro brand and save me a lot of $$$ in the process.

Outdoor Gear

Again, positive reviews led me to this lifesaver. With over 2,200 5 star reviews, the Earth Pak Waterproof Dry Bag is a roll top dry compression bag that is perfect for Hiking, Kayaking, Beach Trips, Boating, Camping, Fishing, etc. It also comes with a surprisingly high quality waterproof phone case. While I’m not going to use for any deep diving, this works perfectly fine for boat trips where you may get wet and want the extra phone protection. Be prepared to see this bag in most all of our Hawaii hiking trips (Comes in 7 different colors!)

Because the Earth Pak only comes with 1 Waterproof phone case, I ordered this so both my husband and I are covered. The price point is great, and with nearly a 5 star rating from almost 23,000 people, I feel comfortable using this for the added protection and light water use. Amazon has 8 different colors and I of course went with this cute bright Turquoise!

While I probably wont bring this for our Hawaii trip, this pop up beach tent is the perfect addition for long beach days or added shelter for camping. It comfortably fits both my husband and I and our (big) dog, although I suggest the low profile beach chairs. It will fit regular height beach chairs, but you’ll need to be short like us to have enough head room 🙂 It is impressively wind resistant, provides UPF 50+ sun protection, and has a mesh backing that allows for it to still stay breezy and cool. We love using this for road trips to keep our cooler and pup in the shade no matter where we end up.

Apparel

If you haven’t ordered from Cupshe before, you may have heard of it or seen on Instagram. These swimsuits are super on trend with both cut and prints, and are great quality for such a good price. This one piece is $26.99! One super important thing to note with Cupshe – the sizing is NOT accurate to what you’d see from a typical line. Their items run extremely small, and may have different rises or cuts than you’d expect. Also, if you order directly from their website, it can take a long time to ship, as they’re shipping from overseas. However, our good friend Amazon has plenty of styles available all on Prime, so I got mine in a day and a half! Also, Amazon supports free returns on most of their suits, so if you order the wrong size or hate it you can return. I ended up loving both styles I ordered and am so happy I gave it a shot! For reference in this suit, I am a 36D & M/L in bottoms and I ordered the XL – it fits just like the L Aerie one piece I purchased this year. How cute are the other colors and prints on this one piece too??

This suit is the cutest! Another great Cupshe Amazon find, at just $23.99. Same goes for this suit as what I mentioned above as far as fit – I ordered the XL and it’s great. The chest support isn’t necessarily one I would trust while surfing or swimming in big waves, so keep that in mind if you have a larger chest. Overall super happy with it and the tie back is so easy to adjust to make your waist look teeny tiny! Also, want to note that the print is slightly more aqua tinted on the leaves rather than green, but I actually love that and think it’s so pretty!

This pack of 2 UPF 50+ dry fit long sleeve is perfect for long days in the sun hiking or kayaking! My husband has fair skin and burns easily, so these do a great job at keeping him cool while also covered. Plenty of colors to choose from, and at $17.74 for 2, it’s a great deal. They’re pretty comparable to the Columbia PFG shirts and a great basic to have on hand in case you get a little too much sun and want to stay protected! I’ve got a feeling I’ll steal one to wear for comfy paddle boarding days.

This to-size running belt is perfect for keeping your cards, cash, and phone safe while hiking, running, or just going through town! This really fits a ton of your personal items and comes in cute colors. While I’m planning on using a cross body for shopping/in town trips, I love using this for more active plans where I want to be hands free. Perks – It’ll fit your GoPro Hero 5 Session!! This would be great for trips overseas to prevent pick pocketing and depending on your outfit you can’t see it at all.

For the Flight

My book choice for the long flight is one I’ve been recommended by countless friends and I’m so glad I’ll finally be reading! The Amazon paperback is only $9.59 and Amazon frequently has deals on purchasing books (I love buying my coffee table books here, but more on that in my Amazon Favorites: Home piece later)

Ral’s book choice for the flight is again a book recommended by so many of our friends. We both struggle with giving way too much of our energy on things, events, or people that just don’t deserve it. Worst of all, we both tend to not be able to let it go and struggle with not letting it ruin the whole day/experience. I can’t wait to dig into this and continue learning how to handle adversity and quite frankly better handle the parts of life that just kind of suck.

All of our other trip essentials like luggage, locks, neck pillows, etc we luckily already have on hand, so this should do it for our trip! My Hawaii Packing List is coming soon, so make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it. I’d love to hear your Amazon travel essentials – drop a comment below to share your must have’s!