Meet Lady Beefcake, A Trip for One's Chief Trip Companion. She's a bulldog, she's high maintenance, and she has more meds and skincare than I do. Well, maybe not more. But it's close. Lady isn't an afterthought when we travel. She's booked on the trip. That means her bag gets packed with the same care as mine.

eople ask me two travel questions more than any others. Where should I go? And what should I pack? The first one is my whole job. The second one is this post. I've carried on for two weeks in Europe with five pairs of shoes. I've slept through hotels that were louder and brighter than advertised. I've survived a bachelorette trip with 15 women in a three-bedroom flat (I was not the one who booked it). Everything below earned its spot in my bag through real trips, real mist