10 Best Travel Gadgets for Planes, Road Trips, and More 2026

I can barely do chores without noise-canceling headphones, so surviving an entire flight definitely won’t happen without them. With a roaring jet engine behind me and a full day of European adventures ahead of me after the red-eye flight, I need to block out the noise. That also means I need to be able to sleep while wearing the headphones. These headphones are light enough for sleep and have god-tier noise-canceling. They sound great, too—really, they are just some of my favorite headphones around and my go-to travel pair.

I switch earbuds so much, it’s exhausting and nauseating to anyone who isn’t me (or another tech reviewer). I take wireless Bluetooth buds and headphones. But the average person probably only needs one or the other. Get what you’re comfortable with.

If you prefer earbuds, AirPods have already won most people’s hearts. That’s fine. These are the ones that have noise-canceling, so they’ll cost a touch more. You could also grab the AirPods Pro.

At some point, you might be able to just Bluetooth into your seatback. I’ve already seen it on some flights. For now, though, it’s worth having an AirFly just so you can connect those Sony headphones you paid a few hundred dollars for while watching the in-flight movies and TV. Having to use the airline-provided economy-ass headphones can make a movie you love suck, or worse, be too uncomfortable to wear for more than an hour or two at a time. The AirFly is the genius gadget that solved this issue, and the SE is the latest version—smaller, more reliable, and you can even charge it while using it.

The Ridge wins on the plane or in the Uber, but when I get to the hotel or Airbnb, the Butterfly comes out. Flip it open and plug it in and I have a nightstand charging kit all ready to go—I can just plop down my phone and Apple Watch and voilà, no need to worry about wires all week.

The chances that I need a sleep mask on a trip get higher each year. Whether I’m trying to get some shut-eye on the red-eye or just anticipate insomnia thanks to the time difference, it comes in handy more than any other sleep aid. This one especially, since its vibrating function is a dream come true.

The soothing vibrations of Therabody’s mask put me to sleep faster than any melatonin could—not literally, but definitely with less downside. And it’s quiet enough that your neighbor won’t give you weird looks or wake up from their own slumber.

You never think a lost luggage nightmare will happen to you; then it does. I’m personally too neurotic to have ever learned the hard way (okay, maybe it’s mostly my partner), but you don’t have to lose a backpack to buy an AirTag. It’s worth having one around for every bag you want to keep safe.

Nowadays, I tag every piece of luggage I own, be it with an AirTag or another smart luggage tag. If something goes amiss (or missing), Find My shows me exactly where my stuff is.

I wrote about this massage gun back when I first tried it and was losing my mind. In retrospect, it was more of a gateway drug. Now, I have multiple. I have a HyperIce HyperVolt Pro 3 at home that does heat therapy (unbelievable stuff!), but it’s too heavy to travel with. This is perfectly carry-on sized and powerful enough to be worth the schlep.

Trust me, after a full day of romping around Parisian cobblestones, you will wake up with sore legs the next day. As I get into my 30s, taking the massage gun on vacation has turned from a joke to a sad reality.

True, I won’t throw this in the suitcase unless I’m flying internationally. But when I’m touching down in London to see a West End show or visiting my best man in France, this is the first thing that goes in the carry-on. And for you uncultured Americans, yes, those two places use different plugs and yes, this cube can do both. There are outputs for USB-A and USB-C cables (and I have plenty of both still), so it really doesn’t matter which cords I bring, I know I’ll be able to keep my devices powered all trip long.