The Ultimate Guide to Your Spring Break 2023 Packing List

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Between the touch and go “spring” weather that plagues the beginning of real Spring, it’s no surprise that so many of us want to get away from our slushy, wet towns at the end winter, even as adults. That is to say that Spring break is for everyone — whether it’s just a few days, or even weeks, skipping town this part of the year is a time-honored tradition.

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Whether you’re backpacking through Europe, or lounging on a beach in the Caribbean, you don’t need to be in college to get the most out of your packing for Spring break. But with everyone attempting travel at the same time (and throwing elbows in the customs line), your time to relax and wind can become needlessly stressful.

Any road trip or cross-country flight requires some amount of pre-planning so you don’t end up tired, sweaty, and forced to pay big bucks for an airport charging cable. But we’ve got you covered with our ultimate packing guide for wherever you might be headed on break. From organizational tools like packing cubes, to pocket translators for international trekking, and Covid travel necessities like well-fitted (yet breathable) travel masks.

We’ve got hacks for every leg of your trip, from take off to touch down. Check out our top picks below, and remember that there’s no such thing as being too prepared!

1. Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On

Travelpro Elite Carry-On
Travelpro Elite Carry-On

If you’re riding out the full week of Spring break, you don’t have to wrack up checked baggage fees — trust us when we say that Travelpro’s Platinum Elite Hardside Luggage is a spacious carry-on with enough room to replace your average checked bag.

We like that it’s right in the sweet spot of fitting guidelines set by most domestic and international airlines, measuring 23 inches tall, 14.5 inches wide, and 9.5 inches deep. Travelpro states that this will fit approximately 7-11 outfits, which in our experience testing the luggage, is plenty to make it through a four to six day trip. The bag’s inner pocket houses a useful battery pack, and you can plug your gadgets into a USB-A and USB-C port on the side to avoid losing juice on the go.

Travelpro Platinum Elite Luggage

Price: $295.99

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2. Pocketalk Plus Two-Way Voice Translator

pocket translater pocketalk
pocket translater pocketalk

While you should always try to brush up on few common phrases of the local language when you’re traveling abroad, if you don’t want to suffer constant notifications from the Duolingo Owl for weeks, Pockettalk makes cross-cultural communication a breeze in real world situations.

Their new Plus model is one of the best all-around pocket translators we’ve seen, and offers fast, two-way voice translation between 82 languages (although are some are only translated over text). It can even help you with tricky differences in currency exchanges, temperature, and even foreign measurements (looking at you, Americans).

The Pocketalk Plus has an eight-megapixel camera for fast image translation, which is especially handy for reading road signs or restaurant menus, sans-assistance. Battery life is good at up to 192 hours, it works uses built-in LTE data and works in over 130 counties.

Pocketalk Plus Two-Way Voice Translator

Price: $299.00

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3. Sunday Scaries CBD Gummies

Sunday Scaries Gummies
Sunday Scaries Gummies

One of the easiest ways to not only avoid flight anxiety, but keep your cool while you’re in an unfamiliar place is through these Sunday Scaries CBD gummies. Each gummy contains 10mg of broad spectrum CBD per serving to help get through even the longest legs of your journey.

The mix of essential vitamins (think B12 and D3) can also help better support your immune system and prevent fatigue if you’re super jet-lagged. Sunday Scaries gummies are great or anyone who dislikes the taste of typical CBD gummies, or doesn’t want to risk tinctures spilling in your bag. Good news for frequent flyers: within the U.S. at least, you can fly with CBD products that contain less than 0.3 percent THC, and these gummies contain none.

Sunday Scaries CBD Gummies

Price: $29

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4. PRO Packing Cubes

Pro Packing Cubes
Pro Packing Cubes

This one simple hack easily eliminates all your packing dilemmas — there’s nothing more satisfying than using packing cubes, or luggage organizers, and frequent flyers swear by them.

This Pro Packing set has you covered for longer trips, or group trips, with two bags large bags for pants, sweaters, and jackets, four medium-sized bags for shirts and shorts, and four smaller cubes for socks, underwear, and toiletries.

Not only to the mesh panels allow your clothes to breath and not get too musty, you can easily see what’s located in each cube without turning your entire bag inside out. Pro Packing’s “hi-tech” fabric is also specially-engineered to be lightweight and not add extra bulk to your checked baggage. That doesn’t mean the cubes are durable, and can take a few bumps in your bag without ripping or fraying.

PRO Packing Cubes for Travel

Price: $42.95

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5. Sony WH-1000MX5

Sony WH-1000MX5
Sony WH-1000MX5

Sony’s WH-1000MX5s are some of our favorite headphones of the year, thanks to some pretty powerful (and award-winning) noise-cancelling abilities.

The ergonomic design and plush ear cups make the WH-1000MX5s comfortable enough to wear for even your longest flight (30 hours of listening with the case, to be exact), layovers too. The 40mm drivers and proprietary “Digital Sound Enhancement Engine” which upscales digital music files will make your tunes sound even better along the way.

If it’s noisy airports and blaring trains you can’t stand, noise-cancellation is obviously the standout here. A whopping eight microphones pick up ambient sound, run it through a Noise-Cancelling Processor, and deliver the least amount of outside noise possible. An optimizer also automatically adjusts the level of noise cancellation based on your wearing conditions and environment.

Even if you’re running to catch your next flight, it’ll be in peaceful silence with the Sony WH-1000MX5s.

Sony WH-1000MX5

Price: $398.00

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6. Protective Health Gear N95 Mask

Protective Health Gear N95 Mask
Protective Health Gear N95 Mask

While it’s true that it’s no longer mandatory to wear masks on airplanes or public transport in most major cities, there’s nothing wrong with taking extra precautions for your health. Got a long-haul flight, hours-long bus ride, or train to another state ahead of you? You don’t want a mask that will be uncomfortably sweaty while you’re in a tight space, or one that won’t protect you and others sitting near you. We recommend the Protective Health Gear N95 Mask, our favorite mask for long flights.

This disposable N95 face mask respirator was made with both breathability and comfort in mind. It’s lightweight, and made of NIOSH-certified materials, but with a comfortable fit so you won’t feel stuffy in even the stalest plane cabin air. You’ll breathe a little easier too, knowing their 95% particle filtration efficiency. They don’t sacrifice comfort for security either, and its secure straps and adjustable nose bridge will sit firmly until you get to your next destination.

Protective Health Gear N95 Mask

Price: $79.99

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7. JBL Pulse 5 Bluetooth Speaker

JBL Pulse 5
JBL Pulse 5

Remember that no matter where you go, Spring break is supposed to be a party. This portable Bluetooth speaker from much-loved audio brand JBL brings the fun wherever you go with their lava lamp-esque portable speaker.

The color-changing speaker features a 360-degree LED light show that switches things up depending on whatever tunes you’re playing. It sounds just as good as it looks too, and you’ll get sound in every direction with the 360-degree speaker array.

Its IP67 waterproof means it can get seriously splashed and keep playing, even at the beach. The speaker can get up to 12 hours of play time on a single charge, so you can keep the festivities going all night long.

JBL Pulse 5 Speaker

Price: $249.95

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8. Liquid IV Hydration

Liquid IV Hydration
Liquid IV Hydration

Let’s get real here — any Spring break trip will probably involve ample libations of all kinds. Help get yourself out of the post-party funk with Liquid I.V.’s Hydration Multiplier, an electrolyte drink mix that uses “Cellular Transport Technology (CTT)” to the brand says can hydrate you faster and more efficiently than by just drinking water.

According to Liquid I.V., just one stick contains three times the amount of electrolytes of traditional sports drinks, and contains essential vitamins like B3, B5, B6, B12 and Vitamin C. Even if you’re not nursing a hangover, it helps to stay hydrated on long trips if you’ve got fun flavors to work with, and we recommend their Piña Colada flavor to get you in the Spring break mood.

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Drink Mix

Price: $24.99

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