Fun, Fresh Travel Products for Your Next Vacation

New fall finds from a fashionable travel writer.

Change is in the air. The days are shorter and the muskiness of falling leaves makes me want to turn over everything anew. You too? Here are some fresh, conscious, smart brands to carry us around the world and back.

Humps Optics Sunglasses

Incredibly lightweight and equipped with seriously efficient polarized lenses, these shades are truly designed to have long lives — but the affordable price tag means neither your heart nor your bank account will break if they fall off a ski lift or get crushed under a zebu cart (I did lose a pair that way, thanks for asking). Check out the Rio. ($40)

Ever Eden Multi-Purpose Healing Balm

A brand with a radical commitment to be completely and utterly free of the junk that harms us — sulfates, GMOs, synthetic fragrances, and a host of other chemicals banned in the EU but strangely not the U.S. While designed for babies and their delicate skin needs, Ever Eden is for anyone with sensitive, stressed, dehydrated skin. The skinny tube is an efficient traveler, working as a lip balm, make-up remover, and elixir for the occasional mysterious travel rash. ($20)

NAADAM Travel Set

A sustainable cashmere company with plush sweaters that function almost like blankets you can wear in public. The new kits include cashmere socks, eye masks, a scarf that doubles as a throw, and a cute cashmere pouch that moonlights as an elevated airline pillowcase. Necessary? Maybe not. Fabulous? Absolutely. ($250)

ADAY Plant Life Collection

The travel-inspired clothing brand offers elegant silhouettes in its Carry-On Coat and Long Haul Jumpsuit as well as this capsule of minimalist layering essentials — like a Not So Basic Tank and Simple Things long-sleeved tee — crafted from super soft beechwood tree fibers. ($59 and up)

Monos Suitcase

A new brand out of British Columbia is giving other hard case suitcases a run for their money. With just three different models, Monos takes design and construction seriously (each bag comes with a lifetime guarantee). In a range of pastels and more classic travel colors, these fit a surprising amount of stuff. I put the Carry-On Plus to the test on a five week trip and it pulled through. ($232 and up)

Weezie Long Robe

“Robe time” is something I look forward to as much as anything else on any trip. The new bath brand out of Savannah, Georgia, brings that intangible luxe hotel feeling into your bathroom at home. The picture is complete with bath sheets for those feeling extra indulgent. ($175)

Nileta Kaftan

Two sisters run this Brooklyn brand, which is all about gorgeous, high-quality, multifunctional silk pieces. Technically sleepwear, its uses extend far beyond the bedroom. (I’ve worn the Cami Dress just about everywhere but a bedroom.) The fact that you can wear it out or sleep in it makes it a no-brainer for travel. ($205)

Otherland Candles

Scents gorgeously dreamed up by a former art buyer for Ralph Lauren will transport you to weekends in the Berkshires (thanks to the warm and woodsy notes of Kindling and Tapestry) or imaginary summers in the English countryside, thanks to the floral currents in Daybed. These long-burning candles tell a complete and beautiful story that usher you off to lands where you may or may not ever go, but momentarily visit as if in a dream. ($36)

Époque Évolution Jet Set Trouser

Founded by two women wanting to pack efficiently and stylishly after doing the opposite, the capsule wardrobe doubles as a uniform for both streamlined travel and everyday wear. The perfect black pant is both comfortable enough for a long-haul flight and stylish enough to wear upon landing. I repeat, you can sleep in these pants and wear them upon arrival all day. A dash of first class with an elastic waistband, the hem comes with bar-tack for homemade length adjustments (i.e. you can cut the hem at home and call it done), and, best of all, the trouser is machine washable. ($228)

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