gadgetnewsonline Travel Kit – My favorite gear to bring on a weekend trip to NYC

On our very first edition of the new gadgetnewsonline Travel Kit series, we are heading to the Big Apple with our favorite weekend kit. And by we, I mean me, and this is the gear I plan on bringing with me. This will be a short and sweet trip to NYC for a few days with a more pleasure over work vibe, so I won’t need my full tech kit here, but I still want to ensure my phone is charged up and ready to go, I have favorite leather bag over my shoulder, and my passport ready to go. Head below to check out my favorite gear to bring for a weekend in the big city.

You’re reading gadgetnewsonline Travel Kit – a new feature series where we give you a closer look at our favorite travel gear for heading off to the big city for the weekend, heading out to the country for some R&R, exploring exotic locales overseas, a day trip to the beach, or just to the park for a relaxing picnic for the afternoon.

This is a selection of my main weekend travel kit as of right now. Obviously there are a few other things – iPhone 15 Pro, keys, clothes, toiletries, sunglasses, footwear, a watch (or two), wall adapters, AirPods, MacBook, and some incidentals. I often like to carry a small traditional notebook (I still like to make hand-written to-do lists and the like) as well as some kind of portable storage device just in case (this is more for a work trip or longer trips abroad), and I’m still considering bringing my Aer sling bag for when I’m wandering around in the day time. But for the sake of this trip, let’s call this the weekender edition. 

Harber London Leather Overnight Bag

Well, one thing everyone is going to need for a long weekend trip is a good weekender bag. When it comes to hopping on a flight for a weekend away like I am, some folks might prefer a carry-on sized piece of luggage they can roll through the airport, or perhaps even a larger backpack, and I certainly wouldn’t blame you for that. But I tend to travel quite light (or at least compact), and really appreciate the classic duffle-style option here. A carry-on sized piece of luggage is really more of a 5-day or week-long carrier for me, so for a weekend away, a nice duffle, weekender, or, in this case, the Harber London Leather Overnight Bag is just right for my needs.

Some folks might prefer something with a dedicated MacBook compartment, and for this I recommend one of the brand’s leather MacBook backpacks, but there’s just something about this classic overnighter/weekender-style I love to carry. While there is no specific laptop compartment in the Harber London Leather Overnight Bag, it offers up enough space with some organization pockets for everything I need, clothes and everything highlighted in this post, alongside a gorgeous leather build that will last me a lifetime of trips like this, a leather luggage tag for Apple’s AirTag, a magnetic outer pocket for quick grab essentials (passport, glasses, and so on), a few internal pockets for organization, and more.

• Removable leather Shoulder Strap
• Luggage Strap
• AirTag Luggage Tag
• 42-liter capacity
• Two internal zippered pockets
• Magnetic outer pocket
• Full Grain Leather

Harber London Tech Dopp Kit

The Harber London Tech Dopp Kit is a gorgeous little carrier we detailed previously in our hands-in review. It, much like the matching Overnight bag above, delivers a wonderful full-grain leather treatment and a build that will likely be around longer than I will. There’s a couple internal pockets and a series of cable straps to organize small accessories, wall chargers, and more in what I would consider one of the most elegant examples of a small accessory case like this I have ever tested out. There’s even a nice loop for Apple Pencil and magnetic keychain too.

• Internal pockets
• Cable straps
• Fabric lining
• Large enough or A6 notebook
• Full grain leather construction

Nomad Tracking Card with Find My

I have already detailed this wonderful piece of kit in both our launch coverage and my follow-up review. It is simply fantastic and a wonderful way to add some peace of mind to your travel kit. The card form-factor means it can neatly slide into your wallet, passport holder, bags of all sorts, and really just about anything – you could even slide into the back of your iPad or MacBook case for that matter. I’m not sure I’ll ever travel, or frankly ever leave my house at all, without one. Wireless MagSafe charging, flawless Apple Find My performance, and the perfect size – the Nomad Tracking Card is basically perfect.

Nomad Passport Wallet

A complete look at this one is waiting in our recent hands-on review and there’s not much more to be said here as well – the Nomad Passport Wallet is simply a gorgeous leather passport wallet that will remain a mainstay in my travel kit for the foreseeable future. It features plenty of extra storage space for small documents and ID, a dedicated magnetic boarding pass folder (although I hope I wont have to use a paper boarding pass every again), and a nice pen holster or not, depending on the model you’re after. I love this thing and you can get an in-depth breakdown of what it’s all about in my hands-on review.

Twelve South AirFly Pro

We have been big fans of these little wireless audio adapters for years and I rarely ever fly without one. I’m really the type to need to connect to the in-flight audio, but it’s so small you might as well throw one in your kit just in case you do want to. Starting at $35, there are a four different Twelve South AirFly models, ranging from solo listening through to the pro with longer battery life that can beam audio to two sets of headphones at once. You simply plug it in, and you can listen in to the in-flight audio, be it movies or otherwise, in a neat and elegant way.

Twelve South Butterfly 2-in-1 MagSafe Charger

The Twelve South Butterfly 2-in-1 USB-C MagSafe Charging Station has thus far been my favorite little charger for taking on the road for quick trips like this. It’s incredibly compact, coming in at roughly the size of any AirPods case, albeit in a more rounded anodized aluminum form-factor with vegan leather interior. It unfolds to reveal a MagSafe charger for your phone on one side and an Apple Watch charger on the other – you can also use the MagSafe pad for AirPods. Pair this with a dual USB-C wall charger and I can charge up everything I need for a trip like this. While some folks might prefer something with a 3-in-1 setup that can charge AirPods, iPhone, and Apple Watch, for a quick casual weekend away where I’m not going to be using the AirPods much outside of the hour and half flight, this compact little charger is ideal for me. 

SANDMARC iPhone 15 Pro Leather Case

I have raved about SANDMARC’s Pro Leather iPhone cases for at least a couple generations now – here’s my complete hands-on review, and the series 15 model remains my personal favorite. While the more minimalist version of this case offers the same leather treatments, metal button covers, and microfiber lining, its is the Pro version with the metal cage surrounding the back camera on iPhone that really stands out for me. Functionality aside – with this case and can quickly pull out one of the brand’s lens attachments (detailed below) from my bag for photographs, and then remove them when done – I just love the way the metal array looks. As far as I’m concerned, it is a wonderful design detail even if you never decide to grab one of the brand’s lenses and something that makes this leather case stand out from all other in the category.

SANDMARC iPhone Lens – Macro 100mm and Telephoto Zoom

Not everyone is the type to want to pull a lens attachment to take pictures – it is awfully touristy looking, and to be honest I’m not really either. But wow do the pictures looking fantastic and you’ll be glad you had the zoom lens when you’re trying to capture distant landmarks and the like. There are some other great brands in this space (Moment immediately comes to mind), but consider how much loved the SANDMARC Macro 100mm for ultra close ups and the Telephoto Zoom for distant subjects, on top of the fact that I happen to adore the Leather Pro Case we just detailed, the lens attachments are an easy choice for me to at least throw in my bag for trips abroad. I sometimes will throw them in my sling back just when out and about taking a walk through my own neck of the woods.

Get a closer look at the details and what they are capable of in my reviews for the Telephoto iPhone zoom lens and the 100mm iPhone Macro Lens right here. 

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