A planning session for a long-awaited long trip: what should we bring along?

Hot summer days are just around the corner. Many of you are probably looking forward to a long trip with family or friends, or a visit back to your hometown, after several years apart. After holding off for so long, you'll want to make sure you have plenty of time for that overseas trip, or that reunion with people you haven't seen in a while. When you pull out your big suitcase and start packing after a long break, you suddenly realize just how many things you actually need. With that in mind, this time we're holding a planning session on "what to bring" for those of you gearing up for a long trip.

Item to consider #1: A sub bag

Once you've decided on a suitcase, try packing the clothes and essentials you'll need. You might find that your suitcase fills up surprisingly fast, leaving you worried about what will happen if you buy souvenirs along the way. Anticipating that your luggage will grow while you're traveling, it's handy to add a larger sub bag. We recommend considering a Boston bag or a foldable tote bag that won't take up much space and can be carried onto the plane.

Boston Bag

TO&FRO's Boston bag is a strong ally for long trips, especially overseas travel. It's roomy enough to serve as your main bag for a 3-night, 4-day trip, so calling it a "sub bag" almost feels like an understatement—but it actually packs down small, and having just one on hand means you'll never have to worry about "what if I can't bring everything home?" That makes it an especially reassuring bag to have. Lost baggage is also a concern on international flights in particular, so it's wise to carry a few days' worth of a change of clothes, travel essentials, and valuables with you in the cabin. Since carry-on size limits for both domestic and international flights are often capped at a total of 115cm for the three dimensions combined and 10kg in weight, if your luggage is getting close to the weight limit on your way home, it seems useful to adjust by packing bulky-but-light items like snacks and clothing into this bag.

Be careful not to overpack, as it can end up exceeding the carry-on size limit

It's this big, yet it's packable—which we really appreciate

This is the MINI size. It's just the right size for use as a sub bag. It's designed to slide over your suitcase handle and stay secured, so it's easy to carry around. Unless you expect your luggage to grow considerably, this size should work well too. (Available in two colors: BLACK and GREIGE)

>>Boston Bag (large size)

>>Boston Bag MINI (small size)

Carry-On Bag

With just the right amount of cushioning and the ability to attach to the top of a suitcase, TO&FRO's carry-on bag is another popular travel item at ZUTTO. This large tote bag, which you can use without hesitation for weekend outings and leisure activities, is of course packable as well. Packable tote bags tend to be thin and flimsy, making it hard to keep their shape depending on how you pack them, but this type holds its shape relatively well, which we think is another point that makes it easy to use.

The Boston bag mentioned earlier gave a sense of reassurance that you could travel with just that one bag alone, but this tote bag seems to really show its true value when used mainly as a "sub bag." (Of course, it also works well as a big tote for day trips.)

If you're the type who always brings a suitcase on trips, this carry-on bag might be the better choice for you.

>>Carry-On Bag

Item to consider #2: Temperature control items

Items that help regulate body temperature are essential whether you're heading somewhere with chilly mornings and evenings, or traveling abroad through unfamiliar climates. Mornings can be surprisingly cold, and overseas, air conditioning and heating don't always work as reliably as they do in Japan, so a wrinkle-resistant outer layer is a must for any long trip.

Comfortable Cardigan M

This Comfortable Cardigan is extremely lightweight, and can be rolled up and tucked into a corner of your suitcase. If it gets sweaty or dirty, you can simply hand-wash it at your accommodation, wring it out firmly, and hang it to dry—no need to pack a spare. Having just one on hand is a convenient way to support a comfortable trip while keeping your luggage light.
 

Thinking about when you'd use this cardigan, it seems perfect for napping during a flight (the cabin tends to be especially cold, and it's such a shock when you wake up), or for those times when a hotel's air conditioning is surprisingly too strong (some hotels don't let you adjust the temperature room by room). It also blocks UV rays, so it should come in handy on the beach too, when you want to protect your skin from sunburn.

A simple, no-frills cardigan. For wear on a flight or in a hotel room, this level of simplicity and ease feels just right.

>>Comfortable Cardigan

Item to consider #3: A pair of slippers of your own

Perhaps only a few of you have ever thought about bringing your own slippers on a trip. But surprisingly, having a favorite pair with you can turn out to be a real convenience while traveling.

For example, when traveling abroad. In Japan, hotels of virtually any rank typically provide disposable, simple slippers in the room, but for hotels overseas, it's best to assume that room shoes won't be provided unless you're staying at a luxury hotel with a rating of five stars or so. For those who live in Japan, walking around a hotel room with shoes on can feel uncomfortable, leading to thoughts like "I should have brought slippers!" Of course, they're also useful for changing into when you want to relax with your shoes off on the plane. (Depending on the airline and seat, they may hand them out on board, but oddly enough, sometimes you get them on the outbound flight but not on the way back, even in the same seat...) Slippers really are an essential item when traveling abroad.

Of course, they come in handy domestically too. For example, on a long drive (in the passenger seat), switching from shoes to slippers is one option. If you're riding in someone else's car, bringing your own slippers rather than keeping your shoes on will surely be appreciated all the more by the driver. What's more, from an environmental standpoint, bringing your own slippers reduces the number of disposable slippers thrown away at hotels. Following the trend of bringing your own bag and your own bottle, having your own travel slippers seems like a nice idea too.

Velvet Mules by drogheria Crivellini

After all this deliberation about slippers, we found ourselves wanting an item that felt elegant and worth carrying around—something we could really fall in love with. The one we'd like to consider is this velvet mule. It's an item from drogheria Crivellini, which breathes new life into a traditional Italian work shoe style born in the 1950s, with each pair hand-sewn one at a time by Italian artisans.

The velvet material has an elegant sheen, and with its piping and slim silhouette, it's truly beautiful. Once you put it on, it hugs your foot with a snug fit, and since the outsole is made of rubber, it offers more reassuring sturdiness compared to fabric slippers. Weighing just 85g per shoe, these lightweight slippers are the kind you'll want to carry with you everywhere and use again and again, lifting your spirits along the way.

The rubber outsole isn't well suited for wearing outdoors as a main pair of shoes, but it's fine for walking around inside a hotel, so you can even wear them to the breakfast hall.

Easy to Carry

>>Velvet Mules (Pink)

>>Velvet Mules (Brown)

>>Velvet Mules (Gray)

Item Under Consideration #4: Storage Items

When packing items to bring to your suitcase or to bring home, storage items are, as always, helpful for reducing stress while traveling and making it easier to tidy up once you're back home. Along with that, something else that's handy to have is a shoe case. When returning to your hometown, you might choose sneakers or other comfortable shoes for walking long distances, while a shoe case would be convenient for carrying sandals to wear when going out to play with your own children, nieces, or nephews.

When traveling abroad, there are times you might want to visit places that call for semi-formal attire, such as a theater, or a restaurant with a lovely view, or an atmospheric bar. In such situations, wearing the sandals or sneakers you had on during the day would be embarrassing and a breach of etiquette, no matter how much you're just a tourist. Having a single shoe case that lets you carry heeled shoes or dress shoes without soiling your other belongings would be convenient both while traveling and in everyday life.

Shoe Case

This is the shoe case from TO&FRO. What makes this item great is: "it's made of a stretch material that expands to twice its size, so you can fit any shoe without worry," "it has a deodorizing function," and "it comes with a water-repellent finish, making it resistant to getting wet during water play."

Ready-made shoe cases mostly come in fixed sizes, which made them impractical for bulky sneakers or heeled shoes, since there was a risk of deforming the shoes. But with this one, the fabric stretches to twice its size, so it can comfortably fit even larger men's shoes. Since pointed-toe shoes may risk tearing the fabric, try reinforcing them with a towel or placing the heel side inward as a workaround. It's also very lightweight, so with this shoe case, you should be able to carry heeled shoes or dress shoes with peace of mind.

Actually, this shoe case is a favorite among our staff too. On a recent trip abroad, one staff member apparently packed a pair of low-heeled pumps to wear to dinner at their destination. In everyday life, she uses it to store running shoes for the gym, and on weekends when there's a friend's wedding, she carries heeled shoes in this case, switching from flats to heels once she arrives at the hotel.

>>Shoe Case

Item Under Consideration #5: Room Wear

When sleeping in a bed other than your own—whether at a hotel or at your parents' or in-laws' home during a visit—it's easy to have trouble falling asleep. (The same can apply to guest futons.) In particular, hotel room wear is often "one-size-fits-all" for either "women" or "men," so it may not match your preferred fit, and the texture tends to be rough, which can feel a bit off if you're used to sleeping in soft clothing at home. Since you can't change the bedding, bringing at least pajamas suited to yourself seems like a good way to help maintain "quality sleep while traveling."

Comfortable Shirt & Comfortable Pants

This Comfortable Shirt & Comfortable Pants set is what one of our staff members recommended after taking it on a two-week overseas trip. The fabric is incredibly soft, light enough that it never weighs on your shoulders, and there's zero feeling of tightness. She usually struggles with pants that taper snugly at the ankle because her calves are on the larger side, but these pants had just the right amount of ease that she could wear them with no trouble at all. It's something you might not notice until you actually put them on, but the fabric on the outside and inside is actually different—the inside, which touches your skin directly, has an even smoother texture, which is another nice feature.

According to the staff member, "I bought this thinking I'd use it for travel and visits home, but it was so much more comfortable than I expected that I kept wearing it as pajamas for a while even after I got back. (laughs) It's too hot to wear much right now, but I'm thinking of bringing at least the Comfortable Pants when I go home for Obon. Shorts make me worry about bug bites..."

Staff member: "You can pack it folded like this, but since it doesn't wrinkle easily, I actually compressed it and brought it that way!"

"I'm 166cm tall and chose Medium in GRAY (women's sizing) for both pieces. I usually wear a Large in women's bottoms, but since this is a unisex size, a Large left too much extra fabric and looked shapeless, so I went with Medium instead. I hand-washed the top and hung it to dry in my hotel room, and it dried quickly! I was a bit worried about how long the elastic part of the bottoms would take to dry, so I only washed those a couple of times."

>>Comfortable Shirt

>>Comfortable Pants

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