Best Travel Hacks for the Glasses Wearer

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Bring an extra pair of glasses

If you’re traveling to a remote location—like the Australian Outback or the vast natural reserves in Iceland—with no optical stores in sight, you’ll thank your lucky stars that you’ve brought another pair of eyeglasses after damaging or completely breaking your main specs. Yes, we know glasses can be expensive, which is why you may be happy to learn that you don’t need to break the bank just to buy a spare.

If you’re working on a budget, Zenni Optical is one retailer that offers decent cheap glasses for as little as $6. As long as you choose a pair that fits well and adequately corrects your vision, it should hold you over until you reach the nearest store and buy better ones.

Buy contact lenses just in case

Traveling with a group that has some adventure travel activities on its itinerary? Don’t let your need for eyewear stop you from joining in. Samta, the writer behind the blog PassportPages, testifies that you can safely wear prescription contact lenses when trying things like bridge climbing, canyon swinging, zorbing, and even skydiving—basically, any activity where you feel like you might lose your glasses if they fall off.

Contacts that retain moisture are the best kind for travel. Those like the ACUVUE OASYS lenses that use HydraLuxe® TECHNOLOGY, for example, are specifically designed to prevent dry eyes so you won’t experience discomfort or pain on your trip.

Get prescription sunglasses

Vision correction isn’t the only thing you need to worry about. Sun overexposure can similarly burn your eyes through the condition photokeratitis. Though it only lasts a few days, it can be painful and even cause temporary vision loss that prevents you from enjoying your vacation altogether! Ultimately, you’ll need UV protection, especially when heading to snowy or sandy getaways. That’s where it can suck to be a glasses wearer.

Imagine the inconvenience of only being able to use sunglasses while wearing contacts—or, even worse, on top of your glasses. Spending extra for transition lenses may seem like a good solution, but it’s not as effective: they’re not guaranteed to block 100% of UV rays and take longer to darken in colder temperatures. Instead, consider buying prescription sunglasses for consistent and convenient UV protection and visual clarity.

Eyebuydirect is one place where you can get your prescription for most of the sunglasses available for a flat fee – $20 for a single-vision prescription and between $109 and $129 for a multifocal prescription. That way, you can get them for cheaper compared to retailers that charge more depending on the eyewear brand and prescription strength.

Avoid hassle with anti-fog tricks

You probably already loathe how your glasses fog up when you’re cooking or lightly blowing on a hot mug of tea or coffee. If you’re heading to a particularly humid destination, especially in regions like Southeast Asia and South America, you’re likely to experience the same thing on your travels. There are existing “hacks” you can try to prevent this from happening: for example, wiping your glasses with toothpaste or shaving cream. However, they don’t prevent condensation.

They’re also abrasive and can degrade the quality of your lenses over time. The hack that actually works is buffing a drop of liquid dishwashing soap on each lens with a microfiber cloth. This trick will form a barrier that prevents water molecules from forming and fogging up your glasses. If you want fog-free specs for even longer, though, you may find it more efficient to use dedicated products like the DR.FILMand RX-Able anti-fog sprays.

Though these work similarly to the soap hack, their effects can last a whopping five days—meaning you can completely avoid the hassle of cloudy lenses for the entirety of shorter trips.

Be proactive with an eyeglass repair kit

Even less strenuous vacations, like city breaks and beach trips, can see your glasses or prescription sunnies incurring minor damage. Yet getting repairs for simple things like loose or broken hinges costs way more than it should—Warby Parker pegs it at around $50.

The better option? Do it yourself! You can get an eyeglass repair kit for as little as $3, which you have to admit is an insane price difference. These contain tools like small screwdrivers handy for fixing hinges and tightening frame arms and nose pads. That way, you can fix your specs without additional costs even on longer vacations. And with this option available, you won’t need to worry so much about your eyewear when trying fun activities, either!

Don’t forget a copy of your prescription

If your glasses or prescription sunglasses are beyond repair—due to, for example, a clean break along the nose bridge or shattered lenses—and you don’t have spare corrective aids to fall back on, the best thing to do is buy new specs at the nearest optical store. You can’t do this without your prescription, so be sure to have it with you on your trip. If you’ve recently had an eye exam, your optometrist is required to give you a personal copy. Just get in touch with them if you’ve misplaced it since then—we won’t judge!

Safe and convenient packing hacks

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Select sturdy cases for your glasses and sunnies

The worst thing that could happen is for your eyewear to break in transit, so don’t lose sight of their security while you’re packing for your trip—pun intended. The best thing to do is to ensure they’re safely stored in the right case, whether it’s one with a hardshell exterior or a soft but well-padded drawstring pouch. You can even use a case that comes with a carabiner so you can easily attach your eyewear to your bag and are less likely to lose it.

Packing light or simply don’t have a case to store your specs in? Take our advice and utilize empty spaces. In this case, you can go the makeshift route by using your clothes to secure them—think socks, gloves, and other padded items! As we’ll mention below, though, you’ll probably want to use pieces you can easily store in your carry-on.

Always store eyewear in your carry-on

Go beyond considering how to pack your eyewear by thinking about where you’ll store them, too. Even major carriers like American Airlines and Southwest mishandle luggage, resulting in thousands of damaged and even misplaced bags every year. If you’re one of them, that may see you going your entire vacation without spare specs, contact lenses, prescription sunglasses, or other eyewear essentials you may have packed to ensure clear vision without any hassle.

And even if your checked luggage does arrive safely, that doesn’t guarantee your sunglasses didn’t get banged up inside the suitcase on your flight. That’s why one of the most common pieces of advice for travelers with poor eyesight is to always store your eyewear in your carry-on. Be sure to do the same!

Opt for disposable contact lenses

If you’re following one of the previous tips and bringing contacts just in case, go with the disposable type. They’re good for one day of use and are already stored in the proper liquid, meaning you don’t need to bring an entire bottle of lens solution with you and risk breaking the TSA’s rules for how much liquid you can take on a plane. Since you use disposable contact lenses for shorter periods, you’ll also be less likely to get eye infections on your trip.

That can be especially handy if you forget you’re wearing them and decide to go for a swim, which can expose your eyes to microbes and debris in the water. You can easily buy disposable contacts from your usual optometrist. For longer trips, you can get them in bulk from online shops like ContactsDirect.

Conclusion

Vacationing can be a hassle for glasses wearers—but with these hacks, it doesn’t have to be. Try them on your next trip so you can Travel Till You Drop!