Vacation-Ready Hair: How to Travel Without Compromising Your Curls

Living in New York, we have 4 seasons, and summer is my favorite season of the year. I love it because I get to travel more often than in the other seasons.

Of course, traveling with naturally curly hair has its challenges, though. Unlike when my hair was relaxed, I could just throw it back (or leave it out) and go without any consequence to the look or health of my hair.

Fast forward, and it’s been over 20 years since I’ve embraced my natural curls. Since then, I’ve not allowed a chemical to touch my hair. I’ve tried many products and I have a solid handle on what works, specifically, for fine natural hair.

So, when it’s time to travel, I make sure to prep my hair properly. Between dry airplane air, different climates, and limited time for haircare, traveling can definitely throw any natural hair routine off track.

In this article, I’m sharing with you my tips for traveling with natural hair and keeping it minimal – all from a black woman’s perspective, of course.

Prepping Your Hair Before You Leave

Just like you prep your home before leaving on vacation (so it’s a peaceful space when you return), you need to do the same for your curls.

So, after you’ve packed your suitcase and done all the home cleaning, it’s time to give your hair some TLC:

• Give your hair a full day of love, including deep conditioning to hydrate your curls
• If you haven’t trimmed your hair in a bit, now’s the perfect time to get rid of rough or ragged ends
• Detangle and stretch your curls. This will help protect your hair from excess tangling.

Choose a Hairstyle That Travels Well – 5 Ideas

When you are going to be traveling for quite a bit of time, dealing with your hair is the last thing on your mind. Yes, you can wear it out (bring a satin scrunchie to pull it up once on the plane). But even better is to style your hair in a way that protects your ends and also allows for moisture to be easily added to it.

So, while I know people like to do hairstyles with extensions, I’d opt for just protective styling my own hair. This is the best way to make sure you have access to your real hair.

Optionally, you can bring a wig with you for the trip. Just make sure that you don’t neglect your hair beneath it.

Here are some great protective styles you can do on your own hair:

• Box braids or twists (my favorite for commuting in because you can convert them to a beautiful curly braid out or twist out if you like)
• Flat twists or cornrows – However, if your hair is fine, you may want to make the cornrows a bit larger so that you don’t need to do as much manipulating to do them.
• Double buns (horizontally or vertically) – Buns are super cute and chic. Plus, they travel well. They aren’t as long-term as braids or twists, but you can easily refresh a bun without too much manipulation.

Don’t Forget to Bring Travel-Sized Hair Essentials

When it comes to traveling and making sure your curly hair is well cared for, you need to make sure you have the essentials while still managing to pack lightly.

For one, TSA is not going to let you bring that 8-ounce jar of curl cream in your carry-on bag!

Here are the essentials to pack in travel-sized containers (no more than 3.4 ounces in size):

• an edge control product or pomade for tightening up your look if that’s your thing
• lightweight oil (I love argan or sweet almond oil) OR
• some hair butter
• And, don’t forget to bring some of your curl cream if you opt not to wear a protective style

You also need to make sure that whatever products you bring in a carry-on can fit into a quart-sized, clear zip lock baggie.

Check out: TSA’s full set of rules on Liquids, Aerosols, and Gels.

And, here is the checklist of curly hair essentials – the tools:

• an empty spray bottle (this small spray bottle is perfect) for mixing up a little conditioner and water for a quick moisture spritz. I’ve found that hotel conditioners are more than sufficient. So, I don’t bother to bring my own anymore.
• satin/silk bonnet
• a handful of bobby pins for incidentals
• satin/silk scrunchies
• satin/silk pillowcase (hotel pillowcases are drying and will strip your hair of moisture, especially if that bonnet comes off!)

📍Headed somewhere soon? Pin this post so you’ve got it when you pack and help someone else prep their curls too!

Consider The Climate

When deciding on what products to use and what hairstyle to do, consider the climate you are traveling to. Pop in the country, city, state, or zip code here to find out the weather at your destination in seconds.

Hot and humid? Bring lightweight and anti-frizz products to cut down your risk of frizz ruining the look of your curls. If you rock a full-on protective style, this is irrelevant.

Dry and cold? You definitely want to choose that hair butter over the lightweight oil. Here’s my go-to hair butter. If you have very fine or wispy hair, a light oil will work better than a butter.

By the way, if you’re ever wondering what the best climate is for curly girls, read this: The Best Climate to Live in When You Have Curly Hair

High Maintenance or Appreciation?

Naturally curly hair can seem high maintenance to some, but in my opinion, showing your hair some love at all times, especially when traveling, is not high maintenance. It’s showing appreciation to our Creator for blessing us with a beautiful head of hair in the first place.

Key Takeaways: How to Protect Your Natural Curly Hair While Traveling

Use this article as your before vacation checklist to care for your natural hair. It doesn’t take much to protect natural hair while traveling, but it does take being intentional.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Prep before you go: Wash day with deep conditioning, trim your ends, and stretch or detangle your hair to set a healthy foundation.
• Choose a travel-friendly style: Go for protective styles that are low-maintenance but still let you moisturize your real hair
• Pack the essentials for minimalist travel packing: Bring travel-sized must-haves like a spray bottle, satin bonnet, pillowcase, lightweight oil, and curl cream.
• Adapt to the climate: Use anti-frizz and lightweight products for humid weather, or heavier butters for dry, cold destinations.
• Show appreciation, not stress: Taking care of your natural hair on the go isn’t high-maintenance. It’s love and appreciation for what God has blessed you with.

Traveling Solo or with family. Get organized with this Digital Packing Planner

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