Megan Spurrell travel tips

There's nothing worse than ruining a favorite pair of shoes or spending the rest of a long travel day in wet socks after walking through a puddle. Luckily, we've found 22 of the best women's rain boots that will keep your feet protected from water, rain, and slush, while still keeping size in mind. After all, packing a pair of rain boots can be tricky—they're often a pretty heavy shoe and take up a lot of space in your carry-on. We made sure to find lightweight options that are also versatile: You can wear the selections below with multiple outfits and for varying occasions, making them a worthwhile shoe to pack.

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The best hiking backpack can feel daunting to find. After all, every hiker knows that when planning an outdoor adventure, organizing your gear and creature comforts can sometimes feel as challenging as the journey itself. You have that pre-trip list down pat: water bottle, check; sun protection, check; bug spray, check. But the perfect bag to carry it all in? Getting that right takes a little more time and research. To help you sort through the best hiking backpacks for your next adventure—whether you're headed on a half-day outing in your local state park, or a weeklong trek through Denali—we looked to some of our favorite outdoor gear brands, and tapped the outdoorsy folks in our sphere to tell us which backpacks they love to sport.

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The best lip balms consistently earn a spot in our travel bags year round. Nothing dries out your skin quite like a long-haul flight, so having a go-to lip product that you know will hydrate and soothe is crucial. Finding a coveted lip balm you actually love is not always as easy as it should be—some are greasy or sticky, others overly scented, and then there's the ones that simply don't last.

Of the many conveniences that hotels offer, few are as welcome as the in-house breakfast. Whether you’re raring to go or still slumped over after that early morning wake-up, there’s no better reward for having made it out of bed at all than the sumptuous spread that awaits. Here, we’ve rounded up the most sublime hotel breakfasts our editors have enjoyed this year, comprising national dishes, pastry repasts, snow-day bread baskets, and so much more.

Finding the best walking shoes for travel can be tough. You want something comfortable enough to get you through a full day of wandering around, but not so comfortable that it screams “I'm a tourist!” And since nobody wants to tote around a bag (checked or otherwise) filled with shoes, the ones that do make the packing list cut need to be versatile enough to wear with multiple outfits.

It's a new year! (Or will be soon, depending on when you're reading this.) Which means another edition of the Gold List, Traveler's annual compendium of our editors' favorite hotels and cruises, our 30th time doing it. It's wild to think back to where the world was when we put out the first one I was involved with: Pete Buttigieg was about to win the Iowa caucuses, Japan still thought it would be hosting the Olympics that summer, and COVID-19 was just an alarming headline about a seemingly distant new virus.

In a fitting consensus for the first Condé Nast Traveler Points of View summit to be held in-person since 2019, travel editors and specialists alike came away with a relieving, reinvigorating declaration: that we are so back. It’s a grand “we,” one that encompasses the travel industry at large—those in attendance in our offices and online as well as everyone in the wider industry is basking in the knowledge that business is booming. But that does not mean it is time to get complacent—there is always work to be done to improve, to implement thoughtful changes that will better not only travelers, but the places they visit.

Coffee table books are my achilles heel. I live in a modestly-sized apartment in Boston where space comes at a premium, but I will never deny myself the joy of a beautiful travel-inspired tome. I’ll collect them until my shelves are full, until they serve as impromptu nightstands, until every kitchen cabinet overfloweth and, yes, until they cover my coffee table itself. I simply can’t stop collecting them, and the books given to me by others are especially nostalgic—is there any gift more elegant?

For a long time, I thought compression socks were exclusively worn by nervous nellies worried about getting blood clots from sitting too long (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a very rare condition in which a blood clot forms in your leg and travels to your lungs). As a result, I never thought I had a need for them.

Crossbody bags are an undeniable staple for frequent travelers. They’re supremely useful, with room for essentials like your passport, credit cards, cell phone, and AirPods, and yet still lightweight enough to carry around all day. Plus, with a crossbody bag, your hands are free—which means you can easily snap a photo or look up directions while you’re on the go. From tiny camera and shoulder bags to versatile totes with removable crossbody straps, here are 21 of the best crossbody bags for travelers to bring on their next trip. 

Figuring out what to wear on a plane can be stressful in the best of times. Do you dress for the climate you're coming from or going to? How many layers are really necessary? Depending on where you’re jetting off to it might mean that upon arrival you have to step off the plane in a more tailored look or you’re gearing up for comfort and relaxation. Luckily, we have a network of frequent fliers on staff who have mastered the airplane ensemble. We've talked through the most comfortable brands to wear on long travel days already, but this time, we tapped editors for their go-to outfits: the stretchy sweatpants, hoodies, and easy-to-slip-off shoes they consider staples at 30,000 feet. Below, find our favorite tops, pants, shoes, and accessories to simplify your next what to wear on a plane quandary.

Like many trends we thought we’d lost to the ’90s, fanny packs are back in style, and for travelers, that's a great thing. The best fanny packs have always been the most practical way to tote your essentials around—be it your phone, hotel key, or wallet—with quick, hands-free access. And thanks to the resurgence in popularity over the last few years, there are now designs made specifically for everything from the trail to the city. Whether you want to elevate your summer outfits with an upscale leather piece or are looking for a tough, minimal belt bag for your next hike, there are styles here for you. And as we're transitioning out of summer and into fall, you'll find a mix of vibrant and light colors that will brighten your look as well as classic black options that we’re sure will become old reliables. 

When you travel, where you stay is only one piece of the puzzle. Equally as important are the experiences you have abroad: the things you see, the food you eat, the people you meet. And as of late, there is more interest than ever in travel experiences: cooking classes, snorkeling, ghost tours, wine tastings, trolley rides, all of it.