Travel days are hard on the body. Fluorescent lighting, recycled air, and processed food at every turn. It has become normal to feel off after a flight, but that does not have to be your experience.
Alex, Heart & Soil’s content creator, has refined her carry on must haves into a full health protocol. Every item in her bag earns its spot by protecting her energy, her focus, her skin, or her nutrition.
These are her 11 non-negotiables, built around one goal: landing better than you boarded.
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Why Your Carry On Must Haves Matter More Than You Think
Most travel wellness lists tell you to grab a green juice and download a meditation app. Alex’s carry on must haves work differently.
Real carry on must haves protect your biology at the most fundamental level. When you skip the food prep, skip the supplements, and show up to the airport with nothing but a carry-on full of clothes, you land exhausted and inflamed before your trip has even started.
The good news is that everything you need fits in a single bag.
Alex’s 11 Carry On Must Haves for Animal-Based Travel
These are the exact items Alex packs on every single flight.
1. Wired Headphones
Bluetooth devices emit non-native electromagnetic fields that many researchers flag as a concern for cognitive function and sleep quality during long travel days. Wired headphones eliminate that variable entirely, which is why they are a permanent fixture on Alex’s carry on must haves list.
Alex uses Beats wired headphones for longer flights when sound quality matters, and a simple wired pair for shorter trips.
2. Passport + Passport Wallet
Organization on the road matters more than people give it credit for. Stress spikes cortisol, and scrambling through your bag at security is an easy stressor to eliminate. Alex carries a slim passport wallet from Paperwallet to keep her documents in one place without adding bulk.
3. Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Airports and airplanes are saturated with artificial blue light. Blue light exposure at the wrong time of day suppresses melatonin production and disrupts your circadian rhythm, which is exactly why you feel jet-lagged even on short domestic flights. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that blue light blocking glasses worn in the evening significantly improved sleep quality and mood compared to controls (1).
Alex puts on these blue light blocking glasses the moment she walks into the terminal and keeps them on through the entire flight. They are one of the simplest carry on must haves you can add to your bag today.
4. Essential Oils
Alex travels with a small set of essential oils for focus, calm, and to freshen her environment on the plane. A few drops of peppermint on the temples for alertness, lavender for nervous system support during turbulence.
5. Non-Toxic Skin Care
Your skin is your largest organ. Everything you put on it crosses into your bloodstream, which means conventional deodorants, lip balms, and lotions loaded with synthetic fragrance, parabens, and endocrine disruptors are not just a skin issue.
Non-toxic personal care products are carry on must haves.
Here is what Alex packs:
- Deodorant: Primally Pure Pit Kit. Aluminum-free, made with clean ingredients, and effective all day.
- Tallow Balm: Kaitallow Tallow Balm. Beef tallow is one of the most biocompatible moisturizers on the planet. Your skin recognizes it because it mirrors the fatty acid profile of your own sebum.
- Lip Balm: Kaitallow Lip Balm. Same principle, same clean ingredients. No petroleum, no synthetic wax.
A 2020 review in Environmental Health Perspectives identified parabens, phthalates, and synthetic musks commonly found in conventional personal care products as endocrine-disrupting compounds with measurable hormonal effects (2).
6. Organic Cotton Sweats
Conventional cotton is one of the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops on the planet. A 2017 report by the Environmental Justice Foundation found that cotton accounts for nearly 16% of global insecticide use despite covering only 2.5% of cultivated land (3). When you wear conventional fabrics for 8 hours on a long-haul flight, that is 8 hours of skin contact with pesticide residue.
Organic cotton sweats are breathable, comfortable, and clean. Alex never flies without them, and they belong on your carry on must haves list too.
7. Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Plastic water bottles leach microplastics, especially when subjected to temperature changes like sitting on a warm tarmac or in a pressurized cabin. Alex carries a stainless steel water bottle on every flight to eliminate that exposure entirely. Fill it at a water fountain past security and drink consistently throughout the flight.
Hydration directly affects cognitive performance, mood, and energy. This is a carry on must have with zero debate.
8. Stainless Steel Food Container
This is the carry on must have that gets the most questions from fellow travelers at security. Alex brings real food on every flight inside a stainless steel food container. Every wrap, every salad dressing, every option marketed as “healthy” at the terminal is cooked in or drizzled with inflammatory vegetable oil.
9. Homemade Meals and Animal-Based Snacks
What goes inside the stainless container? Alex builds her travel meals around animal-based whole foods. Hard-boiled eggs, sliced steak, smoked salmon, raw cheese, liver pate, and beef jerky made without seed oils. These foods are nutrient-dense, satiating, and require zero heating or refrigeration.
The goal is to never need the airport food. Pack enough to cover every meal and snack from the time you leave home to the time you reach your destination. Real food in your carry on must haves means you are never at the mercy of whatever is behind the terminal counter.
Get the Animal-Based Grocery List here.
10. Laptop
As an incredible content creator at Heart & Soil, Alex has work to do! No further explanation needed.
11. Heart & Soil Supplements
This is the carry on must have Alex gets asked about the most, and the one she is most consistent about. Flying is hard on your body in ways that are easy to underestimate. You are often up earlier than usual, off your normal routine, breathing recycled air, and sitting still for hours while your digestion slows down. Skipping your supplements on travel days is one of the easiest ways to feel behind when you land.
Alex never boards a flight without her Heart & Soil supplements. Liver is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet, and beef organs deliver retinol, B12, CoQ10, choline, and heme iron in forms your body actually recognizes and absorbs, without synthetic binders, fillers, or seed oil-based coatings.
How to Build Your Own Carry On Must Haves List
You do not need to copy Alex’s list item for item. Start by auditing your current travel bag against these 4 categories and build your carry on must haves around your honest answers.
Nutrition
- Are you bringing real, animal-based food?
- Are you avoiding seed oils and processed airport meals?
- Are you supplementing with bioavailable nutrients from organs and liver?
Light and EMF
- Are you wearing blue light blocking glasses from the terminal through landing?
- Are you using wired headphones instead of Bluetooth?
Hydration and Containers
- Are you drinking enough water from a plastic-free vessel?
- Are you carrying your own food in a stainless container?
Toxic Load
- Are your personal care products free of synthetic fragrance and endocrine disruptors?
- Are your fabrics organic?
Your carry on must haves should answer yes to every one of these questions before you zip the bag.
FAQ: Carry On Must Haves for Healthy Travel
What are the most important carry on must haves for an animal-based traveler? Start with real homemade food in a stainless container, Heart & Soil organ supplements, non-toxic personal care products, blue light blocking glasses, a stainless steel water bottle, and wired headphones. These 6 cover the areas that matter most: nutrition, light environment, toxic load, and hydration.
Can you bring homemade food through airport security? Yes. The TSA allows solid foods in both carry-on and checked bags. Liquids follow the standard 3.4-ounce rule, so keep sauces or dressings separate or skip them entirely.
Are Heart & Soil supplements allowed on flights? Yes. Supplements in capsule or powder form are permitted in carry-on and checked bags with no quantity restrictions for personal use. Keep them in their original labeled containers to keep things simple at security.
Why not just buy food at the airport? Almost everything sold in an airport is cooked in canola, soybean, or sunflower oil, including most options marketed as healthy. Bringing your own food in your carry on must haves is the only reliable way to know what you are actually eating.
Do blue light blocking glasses make a difference while traveling? The research supports them. A 2021 review in Chronobiology International found blue light filtering lenses improved subjective sleep quality across multiple studies (4). For anyone crossing time zones, protecting your melatonin production on the plane is worth the small effort.
Bottom Line
Alex’s carry on must haves are a health decision, not just a packing list. Every item in her bag either supports an animal-based lifestyle or protects against what travel does to your body.
Real food, clean personal care, blue light protection, plastic-free containers, and Heart & Soil organ supplements are what make the difference between landing depleted and landing ready.
Build your own carry on must haves list with that same standard, pack it every time, and you will notice the difference on the other side.
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