The Travel Pillow

Posted by Rae Schwarz Mar 28, 2007

It's hard to know what to get a traveler these days for a gift. The travel alarm clock gets scanned and inspected in case it's a bomb. Anything with GPS can't be used on a plane. Anything that's a bottle of liquid is right out. Add all that to increased security and shrinking on-board storage allowances and giving gifts to a traveler starts to get harder to do.

One item I was given and didn't think much of until I actually used it was an inflatable travel pillow. It was from a friend and seemed sort of cheesy until I was assigned an aisle seat on my next flight. Without a bulkhead to lean against, I dreaded trying to get sleep and not have my head fall into the aisle and get whacked with the drink cart. However, this small and clever pillow just blew up and fit neatly around my neck, stopping any somnambulistic head wobbles into the danger zone. I felt sort of silly finding myself getting really excited over this small piece of inflatable, flocked vinyl, but that one travel experience had me sold from that point on.

They are made in much better materials now, which makes them look better and they feel a lot more comfortable. I still go with an inflatable as I feel it packs much better than those models stuffed with buckwheat or fiber-fill. Remember, if you are still ascending when you blow up your pillow, leave it just a tad softer than you wish, the increasing altitude will make it get firmer