Travel products that keep our spaces germ-free and our families safe have always been important—even before a global pandemic. But the coronavirus has forced travelers to relearn essential health precautions that are not only crucial during the pandemic, but will be just as important following the introduction of a vaccine when the world opens up. Whether you’re exploring your home state, road tripping to an adopted state for an extended stay, or flying across the country to reunite with loved ones, you’ll want to keep your hygiene essentials close at every juncture. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite luxury products that can help you create a safer environment when traveling, from travel hand sanitizer with all-natural ingredients, to a stylish lunch bag for socially distanced picnics in the park.
LARQ Water Bottle
LARQ is the “world’s first self-cleaning water bottle”—not a bad thing to have in a pandemic. It purifies water in just 60 seconds, “neutralizing 99% of harmful bacteria and viruses using UV-C light.” Not only has LARQ been proven to kill 99.9% of E-coli bacteria, it activates regularly to disinfect the bottle’s contents. It also keeps water cold for 24 hours, and hot for 12.
To buy: $95, LARQ Bottle
Scough Activated Carbon Bandana
Scough was producing game-changing face coverings for travel even pre-pandemic. The bandanas have a non-restrictive elastic strap in the lower neck area that is comfortable but keeps the scarf up and in position when you need to use it as a face covering. It also has an “embedded nose crimp” so you can position it securely over your nose. Scough bandanas have “industrial-grade woven carbon barriers” and even sell separate protective barriers that purify and filter 99% of particles for 90 days.
To buy: $39, Scough
Multi-Surface Disinfectant, PUR Home
In 2020, it seems that road tripping to luxury home rentals, renting chic cabins in the woods, or planning a staycation at your favorite five-star hotel are three of the simplest ways to integrate travel back into our lives. While, of course, it’s important to stay at hotels and rentals complying with CDC-recommended cleaning guidelines, many travelers want to give surfaces a quick scrub as soon as they arrive. Bring PUR Home’s disinfectant spray on your road trips—it’s an all-natural, germ-killing solution that smells better than any cleaning product you’ve ever encountered. You can opt for free and clear (no scent) disinfectant, but their disinfectants with a hint of lavender and mint effectively kill germs and freshen the home or hotel suite immediately.
To buy: $12, PUR Home
PPE Travel Kit, MedZone
Bundled PPE supplies that you can hand out to the whole family? Sign us up. If you’re doing a small multi-generational family gathering at a gorgeous house in the mountains, and you’d like to set a standard for sanitizing, mask-wearing, and rigorous hygiene practices, putting together a welcome bag for each family member—and including a PPE Travel Kit—might help. MedZone’s PPE Travel Kit comes with two disposable masks, alcohol-based sanitizing wipes, citrus-blend hand sanitizer, and face balm (which “helps reduce friction, chafing, or chapped skin”).
To buy: $24.97, MedZone
The Safety Essential Kit, AMETTI
Women-owned luxury travel brand AMETTI has released a compact yet stylish kit with the germ-fighting essentials. The Safety Essential Kit has Ametti anti-bacterial wipes and hand sanitizer in a resealable pouch. AMETTI has always been focused on cultivating a female-focused travel community, and this kit was the brand’s first step toward launching products that encourage their clients’ safety in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To buy: $35, AMETTI
Gucci Flora Print Scarf
While you’ll want to travel with more conventional face coverings, it’s also a good idea to travel with some accessories that can double as masks. In fact, some fliers have taken to layering their masks, such that they can remove the first mask after moving through the airport to reveal a fresh, germ-free mask underneath. Even if this isn’t your preferred method of masked travel, you may want to regularly wash your go-to mask or need one to pair with your evening outfit; that’s where the Gucci scarf comes into play. Woven exclusively for Gucci’s pastel collection, the floral-print scarf has muted undertones that make it work in spring, summer, and fall. Accessorizing your mask is officially in—drape this around your neck with dangling hoops and a simple black mask, and you’ll have an enviable, airport-chic ensemble.
To buy: $890, Farfetch
Face Mask, Erdem
For a traditional mask, Erdem is designing beautiful, breathable, and comfortable masks. They are easily washed and reused, and are great for a day exploring a new city—in an appropriately distanced capacity, of course. This mask comes with a filter and 100% of the profits from Erdem’s mask collection benefits the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal.
To buy: $65, Erdem
Hs.01 Hand Sanitizer, Dear Sundays
At this point, most of us have taken to keeping a hand sanitizer in every one of our regular bags. Because hand sanitizer has become such a purse staple, why not treat it a little less like a recurring pandemic reminder and a little more like an essential beauty product? For high-end hand sanitizer, make sure the one you’re buying has all the CDC-approved ingredients necessary to kill germs (you want an alcohol-based sanitizer, not a hand-purifying spray that’s purely cosmetic). A well-made, all-natural sanitizer uses natural ingredients in addition to germ-killing ingredients to make sure your hands don’t dry out, especially when you’re in particularly dry spaces (like an airplane). Dear Sundays, a luxe nail polish brand known for their long-lasting, nail-strengthening, natural polish, makes sanitizer that’s hypoallergenic and alcohol-based, but also moisturizing for your hands.
To buy: $12, Dear Sundays
Peppermint Bar Soap, Malin+Goetz
Whether you’re taking a long-haul flight and don’t want to touch the communal soap in the bathroom, or are renting a lakefront property for a week and want to make sure there’s sanitizing products in every bathroom, packing a few bars of soap in your dopp kit is a good idea. Trusted skincare brand Malin+Goetz produces a high-end, minimalist line of face, body, and hair products. Their bar soap is a triple-milled foaming bar for hands and body.
To buy: $16, Malin+Goetz
White Canvas Luncher, Modern Picnic
Traveling amid COVID-19 has made one thing very clear: you need to BYO-everything. Meal time looks a little different in first class these days, and when traveling in a new city, checking out a local park with some takeout or homemade sandwiches and a bottle of wine is just as appealing as socially distanced patio dining. Whether you’re having a beach day with friends and everyone’s bringing their own snacks and libations, or you’re packing your lunch for a flight, Modern Picnic has rolled out lunch box purses with insulated interiors and pockets for cutlery. The exterior is just a simple, chic leather or canvas purse.
To buy: $149, Modern Picnic
Premium Cotton Cosmetic Moisturizing Gloves, Eurowow
When braving the airport or more congested areas, the addition of gloves can help you further avoid germs and bring you increased peace of mind. Of course, plastic, disposable gloves are easily carried in a purse, but bringing cotton gloves that you can machine wash at your luxe rental home may be a good idea. Cotton gloves might also help on a plane if you’d like to wear gloves the whole time, simply because they’re more comfortable and few travelers relish the idea of napping in rubber gloves.
To buy: $5.95, Amazon
