Five Weird Things I Travel With

I am often asked what supplies I like to carry when I travel. I have compiled a list of those supplies here. I also created this ebook guide to keeping a travel sketchbook.

 So, today, I'm writing about a topic no one has ever asked me about.

FIVE WEIRD THINGS THAT I TRAVEL WITH.
A very personal and enlightening essay by author, illustrator, and avid sketchbook-keeper, Mike Lowery

Here is a weird (but real) collection of things I carry when traveling. Will any of them be useful to you? No. Will you be at least entertained by the list? Let's find out!

1) A tiny soy sauce dish. 

Let's try this. I will tell you why I carry this with me last, to give you a chance to guess why I bring one on every trip.

2) Earplugs.

I started carrying earplugs with me a few years ago for long-haul flights. I used to download lots of music or shows to listen to or watch. Initially, this would've been on a CD player, and then a minidisc, and then an iPod, until eventually my phone. But over the years, I've slowly adopted an approach to flying where I prefer to draw (or sit) in silence.

Here's how I wear earbuds on a flight:

I'll also occasionally wear AirPods for this with nothing playing. 

3) A blackout curtain. 

Anyone who has traveled with a young kid across time zones won't find this one weird at all.  After a few very early mornings because of too much sunlight for a toddler, I started packing a blackout curtain to hang over hotel room windows. It has little suction cups that help hold it up.

4) A nosebleed fix.

A few years ago, before our sketchbook retreat in France, I got the worst nosebleed of my life while waiting for our flight. Once we were up in the air, it actually got much worse. So much so that they had to call for medical help while everyone was starting to doze off for the overnight flight. You can imagine how thrilling it was for me, an adult in his 40s, to be attended to by SEVEN medical professionals for a nosebleed. Luckily, a PEDIATRICIAN from Alabama was on board and helped me get things under control. Needless to say, I was sure I didn't want that to happen again, and ended up getting some… I'm struggling to think of how to word this…pads? Bandages? They're little sticks of gauze that you stick in your nose to stop bleeding quickly. Thankfully, I haven't had to use one.  

5) Little foldable scissors.

Okay, this one isn't that weird for an artist who carries a sketchbook, but I still wanted to mention them. A friend sent them to me as a gift a few years back, and they're great. They're surprisingly TSA-safe, so I can take them through airport security, unlike magnesium powder, which I used to carry in a ziplock bag. That caused me to have special screenings TWICE. That absolutely makes sense.

Magnesium in a bag is weird to fly with.

I like carrying travel scissors because I can cut up scraps on trips and glue them into my sketchbook.

And now here's

WHY I CARRY A SOY SAUCE DISH.

It's for sketchbooking. I like to paint my pages with an ink wash, which is just water mixed with a few drops of ink. I used to carry a water brush like this one to do this. I would fill the water section up with my ink wash. I did this for years because it was convenient, but I never really liked the actual brush tip. Recently, I switched over to carrying an actual travel watercolor brush and a small dropper with ink wash. I drip a few drops in my little soy sauce dish and paint. Ta-da! 

So, there you have it. A short list of weird stuff I travel with.

You can see my post here if you want to see some of my favorite actual art supplies. And you can grab my "How To Keep a Travel Sketchbook" guide here. 

Need help thinking of what to draw today? Here's a suggestion! 

DRAW SOMETHING YOU NEVER PACK ON TRIPS!

What would be the weirdest thing you could imagine taking along when you travel?

Draw it!

Tip!
Need help deciding what to draw? Do what I do, set a timer for 6 minutes, and list anything that pops into your brain. Don't leave anything out. You'll have a chance to edit your list after the timer goes off, so don't be picky about what you write down.

If you complete today's sketchbook activity and decide to post it, tag me on Instagram, so I get to see it. (I loved getting to see everyone's "Human Intelligence" badges last week) 

That's all for now! Thanks for reading. If you have questions about keeping a sketchbook, the business of illustration, or suggestions for future newsletters, let me know! 

My book is UNDER $10 BUCKS RIGHT NOW!