Travel Picks from Oprah’s Favorite Things 2016

Note for 2017: This is the Favorite Things list from 2016, some items of which are still available to buy. We now have Oprah’s list for travelers for 2017!.

Yes, it’s that time of year! Family, friends and fun mixed with the discovery of new and interesting things. Oprah always has the best taste and is a tastemaker, so when she says she loves something, you and your loved ones will probably love it too. She loves to travel, so there are lots of products that are perfect for the next trip that you or anyone you know is going to make. Read on to see what the travel picks from Oprah’s Favorite Things 2016 are.

They all make great gifts, especially for the 2016 holiday season, and they span price brackets so you’re sure to find something just right for your budget. We have gone through the entire list of more than 100 items and selected just the travel products to review. If you’d like to see more gift suggestions for the traveler, we have some of our own ideas too, both unique and practical. You should also check out Oprah’s 2015 picks and some of those are still available to buy.

If you’d like to see all the other products that Oprah has picked, you can find them all on Amazon.

My Audio Pet – Mini Bluetooth Wireless Speaker

In our list of top 10 practical gifts to give a traveler, we suggested the Alexa enabled Amazon Tap portable wireless bluetooth speaker. If that brilliant item does not fit into your budget, perhaps the My Audio Pet – Mini Bluetooth Wireless Speaker will.

This small and cute portable speaker provides big room sound with a 3W audio driver and is easy to take with you wherever you go. Choose from a range of six different animals – they are all cute! Also included is a Mini USB charging cable and a lanyard to loop through the hole that you see in one ear to attach My Audio Pet to a bag or even cycle handlebars.

To turn it on, press the power button underneath. Then connect it wirelessly to your smartphone, tablet or laptop via bluetooth to play rich and clear music. It has a built-in mic so you can operate it hands-free and even take calls that come in on your devices. You can also use it to help you take selfie photos or videos with your phone, tablet or bluetooth-enabled camera by using the Selfie feature.

Fitbit Alta Fitness Tracker

If you’re on the road often, chances are you’re not eating as healthily as you would at home. What better way to burn those extra calories than to take something with you that will serve as a motivator to get some exercise in everyday?

The Fitbit Alta is one of the the latest in the well known line of activity trackers. It’s an everyday tracker so it’s perfect for travelers. It will track your active and stationary time, counting calories, steps and distance covered and automatically recognizing and recording your active workouts. Gentle reminders for you to move will keep you on track of your fitness goals.

At night the Fitbit Alta tracks how well and how long you sleep and serves up a silent alarm through vibrations to wake you in the morning.

When you’re at the hotel gym or jogging around a park, it will notify you on the sleek OLED display when you get calls and texts so you don’t have to stop to fish out your phone. Just tap it to see.

It syncs wirelessly to your laptop and other devices to record food and exercise records among other things. Battery life is long and you won’t need to charge it for up to 5 days.

You’ll get a choice of clock face, layout (vertical or horizontal), band (metal, leather or the classic) and 3 sizes. The special edition Fitbits feature 22k gold plating for that extra special look. Women can opt to buy one or more jewelry-inspired bands to swap in when attending an evening event or party but even the standard bands are quite slim and nice for womens’ wrists.

Kindle Oasis E-reader with Leather Charging Cover

If you think a regular tablet or e-reader is too heavy for you to carry when traveling, then welcome to the Kindle Oasis E-reader and Charging Cover. It’s the lightest and thinnest Kindle so far, making it very easy to hold for long periods of time while reading. To add to that, a new ergonomic design and buttons have been added for easy page turning.

Battery life on this Kindle is the longest ever too. When you do need to charge it, the included removable black, merlot, or walnut colored leather cover will do it for you, so you won’t need a charging point for quite some time.

The display is crisp at 300 ppi and there is no glare even in direct sunlight. As your available light changes, it automatically adjusts the screen’s illumination.

PurseN Travel Pillow Organizer

Solve several travel problems with one clever product – that’s what the PurseN Travel Pillow and Organizer does for you. It is a travel pillow and organizer in one. When using it to support your head and neck while snoozing on a plane, train, car or anywhere else, you won’t wake up after a while to find all the stuff on your lap ended up on the floor. Or you won’t leave the plane with your phone left behind because you forgot it in that disgusting seatback pocket.

The u-shaped memory foam pillow gives very comfortable support to your head and neck. The two arms that fall from the pillow features two zipped and two open pockets to hold anything from a passport and wallet to eyeglasses and tissues. A snap tab on one arm keeps headphone cords in place and you can use the elastic tabs to keep the arms in place. Another snap tab is included to attach the pillow organizer to your carry on luggage and to keep the arms together in front of you while using it in flight.

The removable and washable cover comes in black, navy, burgundy or brown.

Powerbeats3 Wireless In-Ear Headphone

We list a pair of headphones or earphones as a travel essential, so maybe this could be your pick. Powerbeats was already one of Oprah’s favorite things in 2015 and now the new Powerbeats 3 Wireless Headphone is a step up.

It features Fast Fuel that allows you to gives these wireless in-ear headphones 1 hour of playback life with just 5 minutes of charging when the battery is low! So if you want to hurry out to the gym for a 1 hour workout or about to get on a public transit ride but realize the battery is almost dead, just plug it in for 5 minutes using the included universal USB charging cable and you’re good to go.

It uses Class 1 Bluetooth to connect to your device wirelessly during your workout so no cords will come in your way. The sound is good with dual-driver acoustics and if fully charged, it gives you up to 12 hours of music. You can adjust volume, switch tracks and take calls using the RemoteTalk feature with an improved button response. It is also Siri compatible.

These earphones are sweat and water resistant and comes with a carrying case and eartips in 4 size options to give you maximum comfort and improved noise isolation. The earhooks fit securely around the ears for maximum comfort and stability. Choose a color from black, white, blue or yellow.

Vera Bradley Sidesaddle Cross-Body Bag

An antitheft cross body bag or at least a flap over one is one of the most useful accessories a woman can carry while traveling because it deters purse snatchers from being able to grab and run or sticky fingers from being able to reach into the bag when you’re not looking. The Vera Bradley Sidesaddle is the latter type and a very stylish one at that!

The outside of the bags is made of smooth cowhide top grain leather that comes in black, brown, red or yellow and the inside is completely lined in one of the famous Vera Bradley prints in polyester. The flap closes in front with a magnetic snap button.

There is an external slip pocket at the back of the bag and the inside is divided into two compartments. The back compartment features one slip pocket and the front compartment features 3 credit card slots.

This compact bag measures 9.5″ w by 8″ h by 3.25″ d with a 56″ adjustable strap that drops to a maximum of 24.5″. Because of its looks, it works well as an everyday handbag as well as for travel.

Fossil Emma Large Zip Wallet with RFID blocking

Not only do you need a handbag when traveling, you also need a good size wallet or clutch purse, preferably with an RFID blocking feature to outsmart those identity thieves with a tech scanner. The Fossil Emma Wallet fits the bill perfectly.

This large wallet is easy to find and fish out of even a large tote or you can carry it securely in your hand using the detachable wristlet strap. It is made of pure glazed leather and lined inside with cotton fabric hiding the RFID foil that will block your passport and cards from being scanned without your knowledge.

It is large enough to hold an iPhone 6+ and a passport. There is one exterior zippered pocket on the back and the interior opens via a full u-shaped zippered and gusseted opening. In here you’ll find 12 credit card slots, 3 gusseted pockets, 2 bill compartments, 1 zipper pocket and 1 media pocket.

It measures 8″L x 1″W x 4″H and is available in crimson red, neon coral and metallic taupe.

If this is not your cup of tea, we have reviewed some other nice RFID passport wallets for travel.

K. Carroll Secure Style RFID Protective Case with Credit Card Sleeve for iPhone

If a clutch purse is not going to do the trick and you only want to take your phone, a couple of credit cards and a bit of cash with you, the K. Carroll RFID iPhone Protective Case with Credit Card Sleeve will do the trick.

It’s a protective iPhone case on one side and a credit card holder with two slots on the other. The case is lined with an RFID blocking layer to protect against scanners. There are two ways to carry this case – by a long cross body strap or by a short silver toned metal wristlet strap. Both are detachable so you can swap them out for the other.

You don’t need to remove your phone from the case in order to use it and the card slots are snug so there’s no fear of anything falling out.

You can choose a specific case for your iPhone model and you can choose from several different colors.

If don’t need a strap to carry your phone case, there is also the EYN phone case or the Zero Grid phone and credit card holder that we picked as part of our list of unique travel related gifts.

Raden Smart Luggage

Smart luggage is the current big thing in the travel goods industry but not all offerings have focused on design rather than gimmicks. The Raden A series hardside spinner collection is design centric, so even if the smart features don’t fully live up to their potential, you won’t be sorry to travel with these pieces.

There are two pieces in the collection and each is available separately – the A22 is a carry on measuring 22″x 9″x 14″ and weighing 8.4 lbs and the A28 is a check in size piece measuring 28″x 13″x 21″ and weighing 13 lbs. They also come in a slew of beautiful colors.

There are three smart features on these spinners – a weight sensor so you’ll never have to pay excess baggage fees again, bluetooth enabled location tracking capability so you can recover the bag if it gets lost, and a 7800mah in-built charging station with two external USB ports so your devices never run out of juice if a power point is nowhere to be found. All these come from the integrated electronics module located at the top of each bag and it pairs with your phone via the Raden app.

The bags are made of strong Makrolon polycarbonate with a glossy finish, the dual spinner wheels are Japanese, a TSA-approved lock is built in, and the bags are waterproof sealed with reverse zipper lining.

The interior space is evenly divided by two zippered mesh panels to keep everything in place and zippered mesh pockets keep small items organized.

If you’d like to compare the Raden A series to other smart luggage, we’ve reviewed a few other contenders too.

There’s another celebrity endorsed smart luggage line and it’s called Away.

Echo Design Women’s Bright Stripes Wrap

A colorful scarf serves two functions while traveling – keeping your neck warm and providing an instant style upgrade to a basic travel outfit. The Echo Design Women’s Wraps are made of 80% wool and 20% viscose and comes in a few different color combinations in a plaid pattern. The ends are self fringed.

Each scarf measures 27″ by 80″ and can be worn over any jacket or outfit, day or night and for casual or dressy events.

WOLF Caroline Zip Travel Case

Every woman should carry a select few pieces of jewelry to dress up her travel outfits but to keep them safe and organized, the WOLF Caroline Travel Case will do the trick. It is compact yet spacious and looks chic, so you will love to show it off.

When you open the jewelry box using the gold finished zipper with tasselled pull, you’ll see seven ring rolls, four compartments, three necklace hooks and an elastic top pocket inside. There is also a compact mirror to help you with your makeup.

The outside of the box is made of genuine leather in a quilted design and the inside is lined with Lusterloc – a fabric that keeps your jewelry from tarnishing.

This jewelry travel case is available in black, red, dusty rose and ivory and measures 4.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches and weighs 1 lb.

A jewelry box is not what you’re after? Check out a travel jewelry roll instead.

Brouk & Co. The Cord Roll

As we use more and more gadgets we also have to manage more cords, plugs, memory cards and USB sticks. How do we not lose them and keep them organized when we travel? Well, the Brouk & Co. The Cord Roll could be the solution. It is a light and compact organizer that you can slip into your handbag or carry on luggage.

It is a simple faux leather roll that opens up to reveal 8 integrated loops and two pockets that hold wound up cords and other small gadget accessories like plugs and memory and USB cards and drives. A cord in the same material winds around the case to secure it when closed. A small external snap button pocket can be used for other small items.

The closed roll measures 5″x7.5″x1″.

Crab & Cleek Tote

We’ve covered a cross body bag and a clutch purse so the final must have bag for travel is a good tote. The Crab & Cleek Tote Bag is made of canvas with corduroy trim and comes in various special holiday prints. This one is large and measures 22″ w x 14″ h x 8″ d and features a large zippered pocket inside. The dual shoulder straps continue down and under the bag in the same color as the trim.