What’s In My Bag: Travel Edition
What’s In My Bag: Travel Edition
BY TISHAN COWAN
Whether it’s a 2-hour hop or a 2-day haul, my neurodivergent brain craves a few specific things when I’m on the road: compartments, pouches, and anything soft enough to double as a comfort object.
For many of us, “travel” isn’t just about airports or overnight trips. It’s anything that pulls us away from our controlled environments and routines. Leaving the house alone can feel like a logistics sprint. Will it be cold? Loud? Will I get overstimulated and crash at the grocery store again? Is there a bathroom nearby? Did I pack something to regulate my senses if they go haywire in the middle of Target?
The goal is never to bring everything. It’s to bring the right chaos-curated combo of sensory supports, just-in-case meds, stim items, emergency snacks, and objects that spark a sense of control when the world gets unhinged. In my eyes, these aren’t just travel items. They’re a mobile nervous system support kit.
The Perfect Essentials Go-Bag
Let’s start with the essentials pouch. Everyone has their own system: maybe it’s separated by function (medical, stim, tech, skincare), maybe it’s more vibes-based (things that soothe, things that distract, things that smell like safety). Whatever your method, the magic of the perfect pouch is in its portability and its proof of preparation.
Having a pre-packed kit of your basics means fewer decisions, less last-minute scrambling, and way less mental energy spent spiraling in the parking lot because you forgot your meds or your headphones or that one thing that helps you reset. Personally, I like a pouch with compartments — little zipper rooms for my little chaos clusters. If you’re looking for the just-right pouch, the Shorbags All-In Canvas Zip Pouch is a dream — fits everything from gas pills to your emergency lip balm and comes with a D-ring so it doesn’t vanish into bag limbo. For messier days, the Fern & Arrow Boxy Water Resistant Pouch has your back. It’s water-resistant, ready to contain everything from leaky lotions to sweaty gym clothes. And if your go bag needs a backup dancer, the Fern & Arrow Water-Resistant Pouch is your spacious, wipeable hero for longer trips, beach days, or spontaneous chaos.
Temperature Control
Now onto temperature control, aka the silent saboteur of my sanity. Here's the sciencey part that makes so much click: neurodivergent individuals — particularly those with ADHD and autism — often experience differences in sensory processing and how our autonomic nervous systems handle things like heat and cold. Some of us are hypersensitive to temperature changes, where even a mild heat wave can feel like a full-body meltdown. Others might struggle to notice they’re overheating until they’re full-on crashing. This mismatch between perception and response makes environmental unpredictability (like buses with broken AC or a drafty café) genuinely disregulating.
That’s why I don’t play around with this category. Our go-to temp tools? A portable fan, a cooling neck towel (bonus points for how easily it packs!), and a S’well Stainless Steel insulated water bottle that stays cold for 24 hours. Regulating body heat = regulating everything else.
Seek & Stimm
For some of us, the key to staying regulated isn’t quiet or calm. It’s more. More input. More stimulation. More texture, sound, scent, something. This is especially true for those of us with ADHD brains that run better when we’ve got a little background chaos to keep the foreground focused.
When my brain is slipping into fog mode or my anxiety’s spiking, I reach for something to smell, touch, or listen to — basically anything to ground me in the moment. Immediately, these items give me a burst of dopamine and distracts me from whatever is going on. Scent is my favorite shortcut. I’ll sometimes dab a little of the Olibanum in the Scent Sensory Stimming Kit on my wrists or shirt collar just to give myself something steady to focus on. I also rely on sound: playlists, nature noise apps, or just letting myself get lost in a song that matches my mood. Usually, I’m blasting these through my Bose QuietComfort headphones or FLARE Studio earphones (despite their small size, these little guys deliver ultra-precise, resonance-free sound that hits your dopamine sweet spot). If I’m moving through a busy space or feeling mentally scrambled, this kind of intentional stimulation helps me stay in my body and out of the doom scroll in my head.
Avoid & Escape
And then there are the moments when it’s the opposite — when the world is too loud, too bright, too everything, and I need less, not more. For many neurodivergent people, overstimulation can escalate fast: one blaring horn, one flickering fluorescent light, and suddenly your entire nervous system is in fight-or-flight. That’s when I go on the offensive.
FLARE Audio Calmer earplugs are my daily defense — they dull sharp sounds without muting the world completely, so I don’t miss announcements (or oncoming traffic). A face mask has also become a lifesaver. While this might have looked silly pre-Covid, they’re great for going incognito and avoiding overwhelming smells. Bonus: add a drop of essential oil and it becomes a stealthy stimm tool. My flax-filled Weighted Eye Pillow is weighted bliss when I need to calm down fast. And the Ghost Mode cap? It’s my favorite light blocker, eye contact avoider, and “please don’t talk to me” signal. Top it off with a hoodie and boom: personal sensory cave activated.
Touch & Tactile
Touch and tactile support often fly under the radar, but for many neurodivergent people, it’s a key part of staying regulated. Our skin can be extra sensitive. My go-to lip balm is unscented and touch-free, perfect for sensory-sensitive days when even natural fragrances feel like too much. And hand lotion? I like it ultra-clean-feeling and nourishing. For me, these tiny rituals — wiping, dabbing, smoothing — are incredibly grounding. A way to reconnect with my body.
Body Regulation
I used to think being exhausted after travel was just a me problem, but turns out it’s a full-on sensory hangover. My body stores tension like it’s collecting points, and if I don’t give it some kind of reset button, I end up emotionally jet-lagged for days.
That’s why carrying things like a travel pillow-blanket hybrid helps me regulate temperature, emotions, and energy all at once. I also wear compression socks, which give subtle, sustained pressure to my legs — an underrated grounding tool, especially for plane rides or days where you’re upright for longer than your brain signed up for. And if I’m feeling fancy, I pack a leg hammock or inflatable foot rest pillow for long-haul flights. One of the most uncomfortable feelings is having to sit in a chair when all you want to do is lie down. These little gadgets let me elevate my feet, regulate circulation, and feel like I’ve hacked my way to First Class.
