First Class to Aspen
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
High Maintenance or Necessary?
Traveling to Aspen for the summer is an odd sport. You’re up at 4AM and it’s a Florida 80° out before the sun shines and by noon, you’re drinking coffee in an airport lounge wearing cashmere. Nine hours later, you’re on your balcony at 8,000+ feet wondering why your lips resemble drywall and you have a headache.
This pile of gear is less “packing” and more “survival kit for someone with standards.”
Lets dig in.
Start with the Zegna cashmere lounger (if you’re from Jersey, it’s a track suit) because airports remain one of the few places where society decided sweatpants are acceptable but we want better. The difference is Zegna whispers, I’m comfortable because I choose to be, not because life delt me Nike. Cashmere on travel days is comfortable armor and blends with the temps in the sky and on the ground.
Ferragamo suede/leather sneakers are for walking through terminals while avoiding eye contact with people boarding in Group 8. They’re classy, comfortable usually blend with the planes carpeting (not that it matters, but there’s that)
A white pima cotton T-shirt goes underneath because synthetic performance tees at altitude can sometimes become portable saunas. Pima cotton is soft, simple, and stays in shape.
Then there’s the Boggi Milano perforated navy cap. Useful for the chill of cabin air, keeping your head from picking up strange things from the headrest or sliding down over your eyes for a nap.
Ray-Ban sunglasses serve two purposes: UV protection once you land and avoiding conversations in airport lounges. Both are important.
Speaking of lounges, the Priority Pass Black Card is required. Nothing screams modern luxury quite like free hummus, charging ports, and convincing yourself airport lounge scrambled eggs are gourmet because admission normally costs $50, plus, have you seen the lines that form at The Admirals Club?
An American Airlines First Class ticket is less about status and more about knees. Long flights become surprisingly philosophical when your seat doesn’t recline.
Now to luggage.
The Tumi aluminum carry-on exists because checked baggage is a gamble and trust is expensive. Aluminum picks up scratches but in a beautiful way. They are the luxury world’s version of wrinkles. This one is armor on wheels even though you may need a fork lift to hoist it overhead.
Beside it sits the McLaren x Tumi carbon fiber duffle, which was inspired for Formula 1 and carries more style than what you can stuff into it. Overhead bins are violent places. Carbon fiber can handle anything. This bag deserves a podium.
The MacBook Pro comes because work follows everyone now. “Out of office” has become mythology and this necessity slips easily into the Tumi side flap.
The iPhone is obvious. Boarding pass, weather, texts, maps, photos, doom scrolling. It’s basically a nervous system with Podcasts and Sinatra. Sync it with Bose noise cancelling earbuds, which are essential for crying babies, loud businessmen explaining crypto, your wife asking for a blanket or anyone taking FaceTime calls in public.
The Timex Marlin GMT watch deserves some wrist time and praise. Functional dual time zones, classic design and costs a fraction of the watches many people buy solely to impress strangers in row 25. is proof that good taste doesn’t always require financial recklessness because if you leave it at TSA, you can grab another one for $199.00 (read more about it here> https://www.vabenestyle.com/post/timex-went-to-milan-and-came-back-fancy
The reading glasses on a silver chain are practical and slightly eccentric. Letting them hang as you walk to the bathroom sows you have business to attend to.
Hydration matters, so a Dasani water bottle comes along. Not glamorous but once its filled, you can ignore the flight attendant for the rest of the flight.
The Starbucks carry-on is a balancing act. If you can pull it off at boarding, it’s worth it because airline coffee is akin to brown liquid thru a paper bag. Pair it with a protein bar for the inevitable moment lunch becomes impossible and dinner is delayed as you circle the airport for hours.
Beauty essentials like face moisturizer may be the smartest item packed. Cabin air at 35,000 feet combined with Aspen altitude can turn skin into parchment. Looking exhausted is free. Looking maintained takes about a $10.00 effort and so does being healthy, so pack some Purell sanitizer and saline nasal spray. Airports are giant metal tubes transporting germs internationally. Slather it on intermittently and a few squirts of saline spray becomes a small miracle in the dry air you will be surrounded with the moment you sit down. Altoids or breath mints take up no room at all and save marriages, business meetings, and post-coffee interactions. You’re welcome.
Finally: the leather journal and a solid rollerball pen are important because despite iPads, Notes apps, and AI assistants, writing something down by hand still feels rebellious. Also, if you’re going to journal your brilliant Aspen thoughts like, “I should buy land in Colorado” or “Maybe I need another watch”, why use a Bic?
Luxury isn’t always excess. Sometimes it’s simply being comfortable, hydrated, moisturized, caffeinated, and mildly smug before landing in the mountains.
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