What’s in My Flight Bag, Backpack, and Everyday Life
These are some products and books I’ve come to really like—whether I’m flying, traveling with my family, or figuring out life as an expat. I only recommend things I’ve used myself or would genuinely trust. Some of these links are affiliate links. That means if you pick something up, it helps support the blog—at no extra cost to you.
becoming dutchish
Bugaboo Butterfly – 1 Second Fold Ultra-Compact Stroller. They are not kidding on the one second fold. This amazing little thing fits in an overhead compartment, is a champ over cobblestone European streets. And it has a bee.. cupholder. Sign me up.
The days of fumbling around with a physical SIM card are over. Holafly is a super simple and cheap way to make sure you don’t get eaten alive by roaming charges when you are using your phone overseas. Oh, and it felt weird having to get one of these when travelling to USA.
Becoming Dutchish product recs would not be complete without something to keep you out of the rain, and what better way to do it than in a jacket called the Travelin’ Olav. My US friends may have trouble tracking this one down, but boy do i feel Euro (and dry) when I put this bad boy on.
OK. This is not a product plug per-se. But when you’re not sure how deep your roots will run in a new place, why not furnish your entire home with the trendy Scandiavian chic of Ikea? If it breaks, throw away! Kids draw on it? Who cares! I am pretty much an expert at putting this stuff together now. Gotta love that simple Swedish efficiency and design.
taking Flight
Yet another appearance by Bose. What you want in an aviation headset is basically to forget you have them on. The Bose A30 Aviation Headset is light, comfy, bluetooth connects and is super crisp on the Coms. Haven’t had to avail myself of it but great warranty too. As they say, you get what you pay for.
Having an entire tool box in your pocket at all times is a pretty handy thing. And when you are limited on weight and space like in a Cessna, this matters. Also super cool when worn on the belt at neighboorhood barbeques. Look like the alpha dad that you know you are with a Leatherman Wave+.
The value of a Garmin G1000 “glass cockpit” will run you around $150,000-$100,000, so an Apple iPad mini is acually a pretty cheap upgrade to your flight bag, and probably your most important. I wouldn’t go any bigger, and bonus: doubles as your new Kindle if you left the other one on a train in Egypt (absolutely not speaking from experience).
Its got pen holders, an elastic strip to attach to your leg, opens up and has a binder for approach charts, a clipboard… but it won’t make you coffee. Miss. But OK, the Design4Pilots kneeboard is a must have in the cockpit. When you fly, you want to just fly, and not worry about where all your stuff is and where to reach for your pen and charts. This will do that, no fuss.
Letters Home
Once There Was a War is John Steinbeck’s recounting as a war correspondent of the human side WWII. No battle plans, no grand strategy, just an unvarnished account of what is was like to be a grunt. Excellent account if you are trying to not lose the forest for the trees in a conflict as massive as WWII.
Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Triology is a very cool retelling of the Allied push through Africa and the “soft underbelly” of fortress Europe in Italy. He takes you in the minds of both the top brass and the soldiers huddled in foxholes, of which one was my grandpa.
Chris McNab’s Hitler’s Eagles is a fascinating, if a bit dry, dive into the well oiled machine that was the Luftwaffe in the leadup to and during WWII. It helps you get a glimpse into what a polished and organized fighting force the allies were up against. German efficiency at its finest.
I have an unhealthy relationship with stationery and office supplies. And when you throw in kids, these Sticky Notes Flags Tabs inevitably end up all over our house. But I can’t resist. I’m not pro enough to actually use the color coding for any purpose, but these have saved me hours when writing the Letters Home story.
Travel
Ever been next to an unruly kid on an international flight? First of all, sorry, they were mine. Second, Bose QuietComfort Bluetooth Headphones just takes you to a dream land far away. Pro tip: do not use when mom is trying to deal with the kids and you are having a nice bloody mary and watching Curb reruns in the aisle over.
Our workhorses. The Away Carry-On Luggage is just what a travelling family needs: indestructable, easy to sling around, and doubles as a trasportation device for a whiney toddler iin the airport. That’s a win in three columns for me. Get something to customize it though, because it seems everyone has them.
One of the biggest rippoffs known to man is hotel laundry service. Why pay $6 to have your socks washed when you can do our entire load for $2 in the bathtub? Tide Sink Packs to the rescue. It’s no deep clean, but it will do the trick and have your clothes smelling fresh-ish until your next destination.
Ever on vacation and just really missing getting all those reps in at the gym? Not me. If you try these Fit Simplify Exercise Bands out let me know how they are. They look neat.
My Vlogging Set Up
With the DJI Osmo Mobile SE, you can bring your phone video game to the next level. Compact, easy to use, very functional. Draw back is that it’s not quite a plug and play as a vlogging camera, but for the price, it’s a good compromise.
Lightweight, easy to use, and takes incredible 4K video for almost two hours. With the DJI Mini 3 you can see the world through a lens you would never have before. And with all the built in software and shooting modes, it makes capturing professional looking shots easy.
My old girl. The Canon Rebel series is one step below pro, which for me is totally fine. These days I don’t carry it with me as much, as I try not to be that tourist with the giant DSLR camera around my neck at all times. With all the advancing tech, you can get a very good deal if you opt for an older model like this one.
This is where all my videos come together. There’s a bit of a learning curve to it, but after I put together a few videos, I found it a very easy to use platform. I’m by no means an expert at this stuff, but Adobe Premiere Pro gets me as close as i can.
