We saw this article over the summer or ‘23. After reading it, we were inspired to start publishing our That’s Cool I Guess reviews. With the growth in affiliate marketing, and the need for publishers to drive revenue through product placement and affiliate fees, we believe that it’s incredibly difficult to gauge whether or not a review or recommendation is written to be helpful to the reader or to make the publisher a few bucks.
The article linked here, is “designed” to help readers learn what travel gear is a must have. Below, we’ll breakdown our thoughts on whether or not each product is included to generate revenue or is actually a must have for travel (we’ve also traveled to almost 50+ countries).
With our reviews and recs here on That’s Cool I Guess — you’ll see pictures of the products we review in our Home, Office, Car, etc. — evidence that we do in fact (sort of) know what we’re talking about.
The Deep Dive
Phone Mount
This thing is only 13 bucks, and I can see a bit of utility. However, a hard piece of plastic seems a little annoying to pack in your under-seat bag, and most airlines (particularly those flying internationally) have monitors with loaded libraries of movies and shows. For shorter flights - holding your phone or an iPad shouldn’t be a problem. Plus — moving this thing in tight quarters when the drink service rolls through seems like a pain.
The review piece starts the reader off with a decent, inexpensive product that we can see some people using. I’m not one of them, and this doesn’t feel like a must have.
TLDR — Probably not an essential.
Power Adapter
These things are great. I’ve never used this particular one (I still use the one I got at a conference with Visa branded all over it).
No gripes about including this on the list — it really is a must have for any international travel bag.
TLDR — A must have.
Bluetooth Headphone Converter
I can’t quite get a read on this. I’d rather take the free airline headphones, bring an old pair that we all have lying around, or watch movies on my phone (weren’t they just trying to sell us on a phone-holder to use for our in-flight entertainment)?
Plus — it’s tiny (easy to lose or leave on a plane after a redeye) and needs to be charged. Doesn’t seem worth it to me — nor game changing.
TLDR — Way too easy to lose with low ROI.
Packing Cubes
I agree with the assessment “I don’t travel without them.” While I personally was never “anti-packing cubes,” I had just never used them. If you don’t have some already, packing cubes really are a game changer. During business school, I went on a 3 week trip to South America, and fit 3 weeks worth of clothes in a carry-on (including 2 blazers) by jamming all of my stuff into packing cubes.
Understanding that these were a gift from the author’s parents, paying $45 (or $65) for these is a bit nuts in my opinion. I bought these a few years back and couldn’t be happier. Set of 4 — only $22 — these aren’t a showcase piece, they’re a utility piece. Also I can’t stand the idea of supporting Away after this story.
TLDR - packing cubes are awesome, just not worth $10 a piece.
AirTags
Never used these, but I do love the idea. This is the first product recommendation I’ve seen where I would actually buy the listed/reviewed product.
While I personally refuse to check bags when I travel, I get the need for it in certain occasions. Bags are getting lost all over the place (684,000 bags were lost or mishandled in Q1 of 2022). These AirTags might help wary travelers track down their missing bags.
Only question I have is, “even if you know where your bag is, how do you plan on using that to get the airline to actually help you?”
TLDR — These seem like a solid buy for the listed purpose. If you want to learn more, let Reddit help you out.
Portable Charger
Another W in the review department. I have one of these at home somewhere, and have purchased 2 previously (both of those were left on airplanes). I assume we’ll get a review up for them at some point.
The only con for this bad boy is the charging time for the unit itself. It takes quite a while to to fully load this bad boy — but when it’s ready to go, it has powered my Nintendo Switch and a Phone to carry me through the tail end of a domestic flight or a quick recharge prior to landing internationally.
TLDR — A must have that’s slow to charge.
Weekender Bag
I don’t think this is a must have. I just don’t. And when we see the other carry-on as part of the article, it makes even less sense to carry both. Feels like an affiliate marketing cash grab to me.
First, this is a $295 black/ gray duffel. A quick search for “Weekend Bag” gave me pages of results for less than $295 (and I can’t really judge the difference in exterior looks). If you want chic and really need a duffel bag, sure this seems legit. We just don’t agree that it’s a must have for traveling.
Plus, carrying a duffel bag over your shoulder really sucks. If you’re going international and plan on walking down bumpy roads and uneven surfaces and want to avoid a roller, use a travel backpack! A buddy and I went to Hong Kong for two weeks and battled the hills during our travels to and from the aiport and our Airbnb with two backpacks that are large enough to hold weeks worth of clothes and double as a carry-on (under 45L).
He used the Osprey Transporter (44L)
I rocked the Tortuga Travel Backpack (40L)
TLDR - Get a travel backpack (unless you’re optimizing for style).
Carry-on Bag
A solid carry-on is a must have for any traveler. Personally, I think the local Marshall’s or TJ Maxx has what you need. I’ve traveled all over the world with a hand me down carry-on made of canvas and no lock. All of my valuables come with my on the plane in a backpack, and if I’m carrying on luggage, it goes overhead or gets gate-checked, in which case I’m pretty confident it will make it on the plane.
Spending $1,400 on a carry-on feels crazy to me. If you have the cash, by all means, but for the rest of us, something cheap with 360-degree wheels should do the job.
TLDR - Go cheaper. For $1,400 you could book a flight to most places in the world.
Digital Scale
Hmm. I can see the value of having one of these at home, but if you also have an actual scale, you can probably get within 5-10% of the actual luggage weight by throwing your bag on top if it.
Carrying this with you? I don’t get it. Weigh your checked luggage at home, and make note of any mid-trip purchases that may push you over the overweight bag limit.
TLDR - Maybe, but I’ve never though to myself “if only I had a bag scale handy.”
Portable Speaker
Portable speakers are great and these seem small enough to be a manageable addition to any travel bag (backpack included).
They’re definitely trip dependent, and putting your phone in an empty glass can suffice in most cases. But I’d give these a shot (price shopping of course). Cheaper is probably better in this case since once again, they represent a “damnit I left it in XYZ” risk.
TLDR — Speakers are great for almost any trip. Not sure about these, but I’ll approve this recommendation.
Cup Holder?
Uhhh…
I don’t really know where to start here. I cannot for the life of understand why you would take things out of your backpack, purse, clutch, whatever, to load them insecurely into an exposed “cup holder” that you put over your roller?
Color me dumbfounded.
TLDR — We cannot see the value whatsoever — not even for $10.
Neck Pillow
I never use a travel pillow (usually throw on a hooded sweatshirts and jam the airline provided pillow against the window), but this one does seem decent. The only thing that jumps off the page here is the price.
Memory foam seems like table stakes these days, and a quick Amazon search yields products in the $20 range. Without trying this thing, it’s hard for me to gauge the value of the incremental $40, but I’d really have to be blown away.
TLDR — Not sure, but spending $60 on a travel pillow seems steep.
AirPods
I’ve had a set of AirPods in the past and really love them.
I do have a major gripe, though. After about a year or so, they started making a crackling noise every time I tried to stream some audio. It got so bad that I decided to junk them for fear of blowing out an ear drum.
From there, I’ve only used the Apple wired headphones (please only buy the real Apple product — the knockoffs are shiite) due to the price. $180 is a lot for gear with a questionable shelf life (I’ve had friends with similar issues), but they are a fantastic product when they work as intended.
TLDR — AirPods are awesome, albeit somewhat unreliable.
Liquid Holders
Yeah, I can’t figure this out. Just buy reusable bottles at a local CVS for a couple bucks or the travel sizes of your second favorite shampoo and conditioner.
Couple of questions:
Why are they magnetic? So they stick together? Talk about “oh god I’m going to leave this somewhere.”
Who cares if they’re cute — it’s a travel liquid holder?
Not sure this is worth the price.
TLDR — Seems like an impulse buy and way too expensive.
Priority Pass
I have 2 Priority Pass memberships through credit cards, and I have been to a Priority Pass lounge twice.
One was an Air France lounge at SFO and jam packed. The other was in Rio and it was a great experience.
If you travel enough to pay $100 on an annual lounge membership, just apply for a Chase Reserve or Amex Platinum and get it as part of the package deal.
TLDR — Not worth it unless you’re getting this as part of a CC bundle.
I skipped a review of the cross-body bag. Never used one. Will give it the benefit of the doubt for purposes of this exercise.
Honestly, this seems like a pretty good deal for a high-quality checked bag. Personally, the workplace issues with Away would still hold me back from making the purchase.
TLDR — Seems like a good deal for folks comfortable with supporting Away after the toxic workplace claims.
Checked Luggage
Bringing moisturizer on a trip is a great idea. And I’ve used Aquaphor in the past. It’s great.
But please do not buy this online. Go to the local pharmacy and offset the environmental costs of having 0.70oz of moisturizer shipped to your home.
TLDR — Definitely a must have, but please buy this at your local pharmacy.
Moisturizer
A Macbook as a travel essential? Including something like this has “please buy a Macbook in the next 30 days” written all over it. No, a laptop is not a travel essential. In fact, unless you’re going somewhere for work, a smartphone (which everyone has at this point), is sufficient.
No. Please no.
TLDR — A big fat nope.
Computer
Toiletry bags are gross. I’m sorry. If you don’t take a step back and think about what happens to a toiletry bag during a trip and think they’re gross, props.
Stale sink water, cleaning staff hands, the inside of a suitcase, soap residue, toothpaste, and the list goes on. This bag isn’t even waterproof.
TLDR — Toiletry bags are a must have, but to me this one isn’t. Too expensive. And do I have to bring up the Away issues again? This article is starting to sound like an Away ad.
Toiletry Bag
I don’t use them but know a lot of people who do.
This seems like a great deal for 10 pairs. Can’t complain about that. Not much else to say here — seems legit to me.
TLDR — If you’re an earplug person, I’d fire away.
Earplugs
I like a few things about the bottle:
The double wall — these do work and keep things cold
The little strap seems useful
Paying for the collection of 1K ocean-bound bottles is awesome (single use plastic is the worst)
So, overall, I think this is a win in the travel water bottle department. The problem we run into — and I can’t gauge the diameter of this one (although 17 ounces seems small) is that metal bottles often barely fit in the little pouch behind an economy seat. I usually buy a single use plastic (even though I hate it) and ultimately use it for the duration of the trip (so it turns into a many-use plastic).
TLDR — Love the philanthropic nature of the bottle, but metal can be a tricky material for airline travel storage.
Water Bottle
I have a card case, and card cases are (in my opinion) a far superior alternative to a fat, meaty wallet.
The one I purchased on Etsy has held strong for over a decade at this point, and the leather patina looks great. Support a local artisan and save about $100. It’s worth it.
TLDR — I love card cases and have used the same one for over a decade. I’d recommend buying one locally or finding a small business on Etsy instead of paying a premium for a product from a watch maker.
Card Case
That’s It
Hope the above breakdown was helpful. We learned a lot:
4 of the 23 products have limited utility
8 of the 23 products could easily be replaced with less expensive perfect substitutes
3 of the 23 products are not travel essentials
2 of the 23 products are must haves
The rest are 🤷♂️
And this is why we think product reviews and recommendations are broken. We can clearly see that the publication is revenue driven and not consumer first. As someone who wants to make sure they’re spending their money wisely, this drives me crazy. Articles like these are packed with biases making it impossible to decipher whether or not the product is being recommended because it’s high quality and usable or merely an attempt at making some cash.
Hope you find that each of our recommendations and reviews on That’s Cool I Guess feel genuine — because they are. Products we use everyday and love. Thanks for reading! That was a long one.
-Him