Travel Pillows
Hello!
Welcome back to Maggie Travels!
Do you remember when travel pillows were like when you were a child? They were U shaped, filled with something that felt a little like styrofoam rice, and covered in stretchy synthetic fabric that was at once slippy and itchy, and always hot. They almost never seemed to support my head when I tried to use them. They just slipped down my shoulder.
We, humans, are clever beasties though and decided to develop this thing that pretty much everyone feels is very necessary, especially as planes get smaller and business or first class costs as much as a house. The U shape continues to be popular, but companies have gotten creative too. For my first trip to Thailand, I bought a circular travel pillow that could be folded into a U shape. 
On many counts, this was an improvement. It was more supportive than the OG travel pillow, and I think the idea was also that I could use it opens flat on the tray table or maybe sit on it? In any case, one thing that made excellent sense was the material this pillow was made of, some sort of soft, felty fabric, so it did not slip off my neck and shoulders when I attempted to use it. I used this travel pillow throughout my time in Thailand as well as on my trip to India. However, I did not bring it home with me. Simply put, it didn’t fit. I had acquired too much stuff in my seven months abroad to fit my travel pillow anywhere. Even my carryon was full. And to be honest, this was the issue I continued to have for a couple of years whenever I contemplated purchasing a travel pillow. Where is it going to fit?
Certainly, the travel pillows of today have their predecessors beat. They’re memory foam, plush covered, tall, supportive, they hook onto the seat or buckle around your neck (which to be honest makes me a tinsy bit worried). However, this improved function and form comes with an increased amount of space that these things take up. Now, you might be thinking, ‘yea but Maggie, it’s totally worth it for that extra comfort on an 18-hour flight, I’ll just pack an extra bag or hook that buckle around the outside of my carry-on.’ To you I say, that is an excellent idea if you’re willing to sacrifice two things: space in your carry-on, and looking as little like a tourist as possible. Now, you may be willing to sacrfice those things, but I am cheap and I don’t love being harassed so I try to look as little like a tourist as I can possibly manage. Instead, I purchased a Samsonite inflatable travel pillow, and while it does have it’s downsides (you spend about 3 minutes looking very foolish on the plane blowing the thing up…) they are outweighed by the benefits. First, it fits the aforementioned criteria of being carry-on packable, because deflated it rolls up to about the size of a pair of socks. Second, it is firm enough once inflated to actually be supportive. Third, it is made of that super soft plush fabric that doesn’t slip off my shoulders Fourth and finally, and this is just an added bonus really, not an essential in travel pillow design, it has a little pocket on one end that I personally like to tuck my earplugs and eye mask into so my whole plane sleeping get up is in one place.
Now, I know that I’ve made a convincing case for this inflatable travel pillow. However, as I mentioned in my post on packing cubes, they important thing is to consider what you need as a traveler. You may want to go grab an inflatable pillow, you may not. You might be 100% ok with using luggage space for the comfiest pillow out there. You may not sleep on planes, in which case I am so sorry, but also you might not want to buy a travel pillow at all. Mr. C. does not sleep on planes, but I bought him an inflatable travel pillow anyway; it did not help. Go with the choice that works for you as a traveler. If you want to experiment, see if anyone in your family or friend group has one you can borrow, and make the choice from there.
