7 Cozy Travel Tips to Make Your Next Trip the Comfiest Yet

Autumn is the perfect time to pack cozy items for sweater weather while also planning to protect mind, body and soul from dry aircraft cabins, health hazards and the inevitable inconveniences that are too often part of today’s travel experience. These cozy travel tips and recommendations offer simple, stylish and serene ways to help you feel comfortable on the road, in the air, at your destination and back at home again.

1. Lights Out

On overnight flights or in hotel rooms, a sleep mask is a must to bring on the darkness at any time of day or night when shut-eye is a must. Hotel curtains letting in too much light? Pack two clothespins in your toiletry bag to keep them closed. If you don’t have pins, use a pants hanger from the hotel room closet to fully shut those drapes.

2. Sock Up

Prevent swelling and potentially dangerous health risks from blood clots on long-haul road trips and flights by wearing cozy compression socks. The socks apply graduated pressure up the leg, ensuring blood flows back up towards your heart, important when you’re seated for long periods of time. Victoria-based Outway makes practical and fun athletic, high-quality compression socks for travel and active lifestyles.

3. Stay Hydrated

Reduce single-use plastics and stay hydrated by packing a water bottle in your backpack or in the car. While 20 percent of our daily water intake comes from food, we need to pay attention to drinking water regularly on its own too, especially when flying in dry aircraft cabins at altitude. Be sure to fill up after security at the airport’s free water stations. Our pick: the stainless steel Creekstone water bottle by tentree, a Vancouver-based Canadian company and certified B Corp, where every item purchased plants 10 trees.

4. Enjoy the Silence

It’s hard to maintain one’s cozy zen when immersed in a loud environment. Noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs like colourful Loop Earplugs can help shut the world out and support inner serenity. Prep your soundscape with a pre-trip playlist of favourite relaxing or calming tunes, and be sure to download the songs onto your phone before turning on airplane mode.

5. Keep It Capsule

A suitable and cozy capsule wardrobe that moves easily from taxi to airport lounge to your seat on repeat is #travelgoals. Key elements are high-waisted stretchy pants, comfortable sneakers or flats and a drapey wrap that is both fashion-forward and snuggle-worthy. We love the all-Canadian trio of Lululemon Align Palazzo Pant, the tailored Cropped Unblazer by Encircled and Vancouver-based Vessi’s waterproof Weekend shoes. Large blanket scarves are also fashion fabulous and perform double duty as cozy wraps and comfy sleep pillows.

6. Show Your Skin Some Love

Weird time zones, dry air at 30,000 feet, stress and diet changes can combine to wreak havoc on our bodies and especially our skin. Keep the epidermis soft and fresh with Skwálwen Indigenous skincare products, including scented spritzes of Kalkáy (Wild Rose) Refreshing Toner and conditioning Cocomint Lip Balm. Between trips, repair sun and skin damage with monthly 30-minute facials at Formula Fig—they’re like mini-holidays in themselves.

7. Prep the Home Front

Though it may not seem like a travel tip, this last point is the height of cozy trip advice. If time allows, clean your house as best as possible before departure. You’ll appreciate coming home to a tidy space before unpacking your bags and dumping everything onto that (clean) floor. Cook and freeze a favourite soup, stew or pot of chili so all you need to do upon returning home is thaw and savour a home-cooked meal after weeks away. After all, there’s no place—or taste—like home.