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Grab our free PLASTIC-FREE TRAVEL TOILETRIES CHECK LIST!

Tilted Map - sustainable travel and sustainable living blog, with eco-friendly travel tips for Europe and reviews of plastic-free products.
Home / Travel / Travel Gear Reviews

Travel Gear Reviews

The best travel products and gear that’s worth the investment to make your trips smoother, better, easier, and even lighter on the planet. I’m an obsessive, detail-oriented tester, so my recommendations don’t come lightly – good or bad.

Two of the best backpacks for travel, leaning against each other on the review writer's bed: the Travel Backpack Pro, and the Travel Backpack Lite, both made by Tortuga. ©KettiWilhelm2024
Product Reviews | Travel Gear Reviews

How Lite is too Light? Testing Tortuga’s Pro vs. Lite Travel Backpacks

Wearing my Tortuga travel backpack – one of the best sustainable travel gifts this year. ©KettiWilhelm2023
Product Reviews | Travel Gear Reviews

Tortuga Backpack Review: Why This Is The (New) Best Travel Backpack

My LARQ self-cleaning water bottle, and Grayl filtering water bottle, sitting on a rock with the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean behind. ©KettiWilhelm2021
El Salvador | Product Reviews | Sustainable Travel | Travel Gear Reviews

Making Dirty Tap Water Safe: A Real-Life Test for Plastic-Free Travel in El Salvador

Wearing my Unbound Merino leggings on a hike in San Francisco, in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. ©KettiWilhelm2022
Product Reviews | Sustainable Travel | Travel Gear Reviews

Unbound Merino Review: Travel-Testing a Merino Wool Wardrobe [2024 UPDATE]

My zero-waste toiletry routine (including glass bottled products from DECIEM, a brand that has a TerraCycle recycling program, and many plastic-free options) sitting on a light green cloth. ©KettiWilhelm2021
Packing Lists | Product Reviews | Sustainable Travel | Travel Gear Reviews | Travel Tips & Hacks

Plastic-Free Toiletries: The Best Zero-Waste Products [That TSA Won’t Steal]

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Send this to a friend who’s stuck in traffic/ at Send this to a friend who’s stuck in traffic/ at the airport today. 😆 Happy Turkey Day! This clip has been waiting since my Utah trip in April to make its appearance. TRAVEL TIP: 📍 We had a great time pedaling through Zion National Park with @greaterzion_ebikes — but make sure you check when spring break is, especially in California, and avoid those weeks if you can! Otherwise it’ll be a LOT busier than this. 👉 If you’re passionate about sustainable travel, avoiding crowds & e-biking, follow @tiltedmap for more! (We’re hosting another e-bike trip in Italy in 2025! 🇮🇹) —— PERSONAL: 🙏 I’m thankful that I get to get up every day and work on a business that I love and believe in — and that more and more I get to do it with the person I love. ❤️ (See yesterday’s photo post for a bit of our story!) 🦃 Personally, I’m more about the sides 🍠🥕and this year we’re hosting a vegan Friendsgiving here in Boston! (We’re not fully vegan — I guess you’d call us flexitarian? Plant-forward? 🌱 I don’t guarantee I’ll say “no”to anything, but I mostly eat plants for environmental, climate & health reasons. Anyone else?) #thanksgivingtravel #thanksgiving #thanksgivingmemes #travelmemes #holidaytravel #veganthanksgiving #wildlifeplanet #zionnationalpark #ebiketour 🔊Audio: it’s fitting for Thanksgiving that the original version of this audio is from an indigenous news network @nitv_au 🙏
Hello! We’re Ketti and Emanuele. We haven’t Hello! We’re Ketti and Emanuele. We haven’t introduced ourselves in a while, so we wanted to do a little catch-up today. A few fun facts you might not know👇 🇮🇹🇺🇸 Emanuele (Lele for short) is from Italy, and I’m from Montana (USA). 🇨🇳 We met playing capoeira (a Brazilian martial art!) in Shanghai in 2015, when we both lived in China! 👩🏼‍💻 I (Ketti) started Tilted Map back in 2019 as a sustainable travel blog. My background is in journalism. 🎥 Lele has been making videos as a hobby since before we met, and this year, he’s been getting involved with TiltedMap! He now makes a lot of our reels you see here… and you’ll be seeing him more! ⚡️ He’s also an energy engineer! But more of a chatter than most engineers I know. ;) 🎬 We have a YouTube channel! It’s all about sustainable travel & reviews of sustainable products. 🚐 In 2020, we converted in a 1996 Chevy van together. His idea. Never again. 🚙 After we met in China, we traveled together full-time for 6 months “to get to know each other.” Let me tell you, if you live in a mini van with someone for 2 months in New Zealand 🇳🇿, you know whether it’ll work or not! 🇮🇹 After that, we moved to Italy, where I learned Italian (I’m actually fluent now!) and went to grad school. 👩🏼‍🎓 My master’s degree is in Sustainable Business & Energy… but when I finished, I knew I didn’t want to be a business consultant… 💚 …So I went back to writing about travel, adding in everything I’d learned about sustainability. That’s when Tilted Map was born! 💍 We got married in Milan in 2017! I wore a green dress (not as some kind of eco statement, but because I loved it & was never all that into the white dress idea!) 🤸‍♂️ We both love the outdoors & anything that gets us moving. We still play capoeira & teach it to a small group of students here in Boston! 🚴‍♂️ This year, we started leading e-bike trips in a very rural part of Italy – it’s been an amazing experience! We’ll host another one in 2025, so stay tuned for that! Thank you for being here! #sustainabletravel #coupletravel #travelcouple #coupleswhotravel #contentcreatorlife #travelstories
No, my husband doesn’t sponsor my blog, but I di No, my husband doesn’t sponsor my blog, but I did hire him. 🤭 (Here’s how I actually make money👇) I’m 100% aware that most people have NO idea how Instagrammers or travel blogs make money… but is THIS really the way to ask it? 🙄 (Yes, this is a real quote from a man I’d just met.) My main REVENUE sources as a blogger, if you’re wondering how it works: 🔗 Affiliates - AKA, when you click a link to buy a product or book a hotel on my website, or here in my stories, I usually earn a commission on that sale – at no extra costs to you. - It’s usually cheaper way for companies to find new customers this way (vs. through traditional ads), so it costs them less and the commissions are built into pricing. - Clearly marked with the AFFILIATE hashtag. (Legally required, and mine always are.) 💰Sponsored Content - I work with brands & destinations that *share my focus on sustainability* to help them find a new audience - eg: see my reel yesterday about my favorite travel clothes. (And if you want to support me, leave a comment, share it, or save it!) - Clearly marked with the AD hashtag. (Again, legal and ethical!) 📢 Ads - On my website, I make a few cents per pageview (exactly like the ads you see on most news websites). - Same goes for views of videos on this & all the other video platforms – creators get a small cut of the ad revenue. It’s not much, but it can add up. - This is the smallest category for me, but every content creator’s business is different! And YES, you will be seeing more of my husband, Emanuele, on this channel! He’s joining the business to make more videos because this little blog on sustainable travel is WORKING. 🔥 👉 New here? Follow for more realistic sustainable travel inspiration, and ethical shopping ideas! #womeninmalefields #creatoreconomy #travelbloggervibes #shetravelz #thetravelwomen #traveldames #travelette #womenwhotravel #femaletravelbloggers #girlswhotravelsolo
Are you going somewhere cold this winter? 🥶 SAV Are you going somewhere cold this winter? 🥶 SAVE this for my mini guide to packing light for winter travel: ↓ —— New here? Hi, I’m Ketti! @tiltedmap helps you find more sustainable travel options anywhere & more ethical shopping choices. Follow if you’re passionate about sustainability! —— #ad I’ve been wearing @UnboundMerino for 3 years & recommend them to everyone! This is how I travel carryon-only with their clothes in the winter: 🍰 DRESS IN LAYERS - Light layers are your friend! They’re versatile & give you more options with less bulk. 👖 MIX & MATCH - Don’t pack any item of clothing that only works with 1 other item. Think of a capsule wardrobe for travel – a small collection of interchangeable items you can mix & match.   ❄️ PACKING LIST FOR WINTER TRIPS - 2 pairs of pants (notice I’m wearing the same jeans in the whole video?), - 1 pair of merino leggings to wear under the pants for warmth, - 3 long-sleeve merino tops that ALL go with BOTH pairs of pants, - 1 warm zip sweater to layer on top 🔁 REPEAT OUTFITS - This is the 1st point on my full Guide to Packing Light on the blog – because it’s the one most people REALLY need help with! - Use your trip as an opportunity to let go of the idea that you need to wear something different every. single. day. 🧺 DO LAUNDRY ON THE ROAD (OR DON’T). - One of my favorite things about @UnboundMerino ? Their clothes DO NOT SMELL even after wearing them for WEEKS at a time. (Yes, I’ve done it many times. I’m amazed by how long it takes before they get stinky.) ✌️EVERYTHING IS TEMPORARY. - Packing light can be scary at first. It requires rethinking habits that are culturally ingrained, and that’s not easy. - Feeling awkward about repeating outfits? It’s okay & it’s temporary. (You’ll be back to your full closet soon.) - And who knows, you might even start loving the freedom of less stuff. 💰 DISCOUNT - @unboundmerino is having their ONLY sale of the year now thru Dec. 2 with up to 40% off - And save 10% anytime with my affiliate promo code TILTEDMAP #packinglight #wintertravel #packinglist #wintervacation #traveltips #packingtips #merinowool #winteroutfit #unboundmerino
🇪🇸💍 Our first Spanish wedding! Weddings a 🇪🇸💍 Our first Spanish wedding! Weddings abroad are a fun way to get to know a different culture. I’m lucky to have been to several in Italy, China, Belgium and now Spain! Highlights (iPhone) & landscapes (Sony mirrorless), including: 💋 “Puedes besar al novio” = “You may now kiss THE GROOM.” How cool is that?? I felt so seen hearing a ceremony where the woman got to be the protagonist, just because. 🍸Insight: vermouth is a perfectly excellent beverage without being mixed with anything but an olive 🫒 + orange 🍊 slice (red vermouth) or a lemon 🍋 slice (white vermouth). How did I not know about this? Not sure, but I do know what I’ll be sipping next summer. 🦐 The FOOD. I studied abroad in Spain years ago, and all I can say is “I forgot.” 🧳 Having my luggage lost for 3 days (on a DIRECT FLIGHT from Rome, after the airline forced me to check my CARRY-ON SIZED suitcase) = being a wedding guest with zero makeup or jewelry for the first time. 🚫💄😳 And guess what? I had a great time anyway, and no one thought I looked weird. Or least they didn’t say so. Have you been to a wedding abroad? #europeantravel #willtravelforfood #foodoftheworld #foodieparadise #bucketlisttravel #travelwithpurpose #valencia #spanishwedding
Would you enjoy a boat trip like this, or just wan Would you enjoy a boat trip like this, or just want to get back to dry land? The swarms of dolphins (herds? packs?) were gorgeous, too, but we didn’t find any whales on this tour… we just got really wet. And that’s okay! Some whale watching outfitters bait wildlife to make sure tourists get the experience they “paid” for – which teaches those wild animals to depend on humans, and that never goes well for them. I’m happy to not see whales and just let them be. ↓ Mini guide to visiting the Azores with the hope of seeing whales: 🐳 WHAT KIND OF WHALES? - Dozens of species of whales & dolphins pass through the Azores at different times of the year! (See below.) - The Azores are MOST famous for sperm whales. 📆 WHEN TO GO: - March - June: Spring is when the biggest whales (blue whales, fin whales & sei whales – all endangered species) migrate from their tropical winter homes to the North Atlantic (around Iceland & Norway) for summer. They pass through the Azores on the way, making spring the best time to spot them! - Spring is also the best time to see the more common minke, humpback & sperm whales. - Summer: The best season to see dolphins! You’ll find the greatest variety of species (bottlenose, spotted & Risso’s dolphins) and might see them with their babies, too. - Fall: Definitely not peak whale season in the Azores, but you can still see lots of dolphins (as we did in September!) & even sperm whales. 🚤 WHALE WATCHING TOUR AGENCIES: - We went with @picosdeaventura , a local company that’s been around for decades. It was a fun experience despite the waves – but don’t expect to stay dry! - In Terceira, you can compare options from the line of local shops by the city beach in Angra do Heroísmo. 🐋 TRIVIA: - It was legal to hunt whales in Portugal until 1984. Whale watching has since (thankfully!) taken over that industry. - Many swimming holes on Terceira (like the one in my reel that starts with the map – 2 days ago) are former whale hunting ports. Check the reels tab @tiltedmap for our mini Sustainable Travel Guides to Terceira & follow for more! #dolphins #oceananimals #iloveazores #naturetravel #sustainabletravel #visitazores #portugal
What’s YOUR favorite color? Mine is *this* shade What’s YOUR favorite color? Mine is *this* shade of fresh, healthy, glowing green. ↓ Our mini sustainable travel guide to Terceira Island, part 2 (#ad): —— New here? Hi, I’m Ketti! @tiltedmap helps you find more sustainable travel options everywhere. Follow if you’re passionate about sustainability! —— ✈️ HOW TO GET THERE? - Direct flights from the East Coast in new, fuel-efficient airplanes with @sataazoresairlines_official : - from JFK, Boston & Toronto → Terceira - from JFK, Boston, Toronto & Montreal → Ponta Delgada (the Azores’ largest city, on São Miguel island) - Summer direct flights (hopefully returning in 2025🤞) from Oakland, California → Terceira ⏱️ HOW LONG TO SPEND? - You *could* see the major sites in Terceira in 3-4 days, if you pack a lot in, but it’s easy to spend 7-10 days (as I did). - Terceira is becoming known as a slow travel & honeymoon destination. Taking it slow is a good vibe for the island. 🇵🇹 TOUR GUIDE: - Our local guide on Terceira, Pedro, is an EXCELLENT storyteller. (@pedro.silva_tourguide ) I’d recommend booking at least a day-trip with him for a primer on local geography, history & culture. (→ book through the 🔗 in my Terceira guide blog post.) 📆 WHEN TO GO? - June - September = the busy season in the Azores. But when I was there in early Sept, it already felt quiet. - Pedro suggested May/ June or October for good weather + fewer tourists. 🌆 WHERE TO STAY? Terceira has 30 small villages and 2 main towns: - Angra do Heroísmo = the main hub for history, monuments (like the famous Spanish fort, Fort São João Baptista), a beautiful port where whale watching tours depart & a small but lovely city beach. - Praia da Vitória = Terceira’s beach town (praia means beach in Portuguese!), but w/o many historical monuments. It’s also where cruise ships dock when visiting Terceira (in Feb, March, April, Oct & Nov). 1️⃣ See Part 1 for Terceira HOTELS, ACTIVITIES & RESTAURANTS LOTS more tips in my 2 blog posts on the Azores → 🔗 in b!o @tiltedmap 👉 Have YOU been to the Azores, or do you want to go? #azoresairlines #experientialtravel #iloveazores #europeantravel #sustainabletravel #visitazores #portugal
No one is talking about this island destination! I No one is talking about this island destination! If you’ve heard of the Azores, it was probably São Miguel Island, right? ↓ Our mini sustainable travel guide to Terceira Island, part 1: —— New here? Hi, I’m Ketti! @tiltedmap helps you find more sustainable travel options anywhere. Follow if you’re passionate about sustainability! —— TOP ACTIVITIES IN TERCEIRA: 🫏 The Asinus Atlanticus donkey farm was such a unique stop on our Terceira itinerary! The owners believe it’s the largest donkey farm in Spain & Portugal, with 100 donkeys living their best organic lives all over the island. 🍷 The local wine museum is just adorable. It has ocean views, an exhibit on the history of winemaking in the Azores, vineyards, and a tasting room. 🐋 Go whale watching: dozens of whale species pass through the Azores at different times of the year. (Details on that in another reel!) 🌋 Descend into a Volcano: Our guide casually told us after this visit that Algar do Carvão was “the main attraction of Terceira,” which was not a surprise after seeing it! There’s only 1 other intact volcano like this in the world (in Iceland). 🏨 HOTELS: - I stayed at a gorgeous, locally owned boutique hotel called Quinta da Nasce Agua, (@quintadanasceagua ). It had fantastic food, a pool with a view, and thoughtfully designed rooms & suites. - Banana Eco Camp (@bananaecocamp_official - in the video) is an affordable, outdoorsy option! Camp in the fields of their organic tropical fruit farm, or sleep in a rustic cabin. 🥘 RESTAURANTS: - Quinta do Martelo (@quintadomartelo – that’s the owner pouring drinks at the end of the vid!) was one of my favorite restaurants. The menu is traditional, w/ ingredients grown on their organic farm! They have hotel rooms, too. - See the full guide [TiltedMap.com ] for lots more Terceira restaurant recs! CORRECTION: Terceira is the 3rd largest island in the Azores, not the 2nd. (It’s 2nd in terms of population.) See Part 2 of our guide for how to get there, when to go & more! 👉 Which activity would YOU sign up for first? #azoresairlines  #experientialtravel #iloveazores #europeantravel #sustainabletravel #visitazores #portugal
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