As a budget traveler, I’m no stranger to sacrificing little luxuries in order to secure cheaper airline tickets. To save a few bucks, I’ve given up legroom, sacrificed picking my seats ahead of time, and flown at less-desirable hours. But the hardest thing to swallow as a frugal flier was not being able to bring a carry-on suitcase with me.

Airlines like Frontier (in the United States) and Ryanair (in Europe) are known for their fees for extra bags. But other airlines, including United and JetBlue, have also started to introduce carry-on fees for basic economy tickets on certain flights — in other words, anything that’s not a personal item. (A personal item is the bag that airlines let you shove under the seat in front of you. All airline tickets include this free bag with your ticket, no matter which class you fly, at least for now.)

It’s already hard enough to pack for a whole weekend in a standard carry-on, so squeezing everything into a personal-item bag is even trickier — especially since not all personal items (and standards set by airlines) are created equal. But, in general, the average size of a personal-item bag (or a piece of under-seat luggage) is roughly 18 by 14 by 8 inches. And if you want to make the most of those limited dimensions, Kit Dillon, staff writer and Wirecutter travel expert, recommends using a bag that is as rectangular as possible, so it’s easier to slide under the seat. After your bag is packed, however, you still have to make sure that it fits the dimensions outlined by the airline you’re traveling with.

At Wirecutter, we’ve been putting all kinds of luggage, backpacks, and packing solutions to the test in real-world travel environments for at least a decade now. And we’ve spent lots of time thinking about how much can be packed into each bag we test. We’ve thoroughly tested packing cubes, and we’ve investigated ways to maximize space while packing. I set out to find personal-item bags to pack for a weekend, based on Wirecutter’s bag and packing recommendations. I also attempted to fit the same amount of clothes and toiletries into two personal-item bags, using a variety of packing methods and hacks. It turns out that with the right packing method, you can take a lot with you, but this requires a packing list — as well as a willingness to keep that list short.

Portable Bluetooth speakers are the easiest, most affordable way to spread music and podcasts across a room, backyard, or beach blanket. Because these speakers come in a variety of designs and sizes, no model is perfect for every situation. But the excellent sound and rugged design of the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 made it the favorite in our tests.

Good running shoes can make the difference between a run realized and a run refused. And even though it takes some trial and error to find the right pair for your feet and goals, the payoff is real: You’ll have shoes that lay the groundwork for a comfortable, rewarding, and enduring pursuit — whether you’re running primarily for your health or for personal bests.

For this guide, we’ve gathered advice and insight from eight experts, read dozens of studies, and run more than 5,000 miles over the years. Our focus: go-to shoes for everyday runs. We take a look at the two main running shoe types (neutral and stability), the anatomy of a running shoe, and how a shoe should fit.

To find your best running shoes, you’ll likely need to try on several different pairs, either at your local running store (where you can leverage staff expertise to help you find the ideal fit) or in your living room (if you prefer to shop online). If you’re ordering from home, consider retailers that have solid return policies, such as Fleet Feet, REI, Road Runner Sports, Running Warehouse, and Zappos.

To help inspire your search, we have recommendations for women’s and men’s models and sizes, including dependable neutral trainers, stability shoes with various amounts of cushion, and a low-drop option.

In this edition of The Gift, we share summery gifts for picnics, barbecues, and block parties. Plus … the best gifts for travelers and the pants our style expert swears by.

For many of us, the actual “official” start of summer isn’t the solstice on June 21. It’s the final bell on the last day of school or the first Friday when you can saunter out of a ghost-town office extremely early to meet pals for drinks (like, say, last weekend).

These are the days of scorching marshmallows over a firepit until puffy and blistered brown, chomping into thick watermelon slices in a bathing suit, and bellowing “NO RUNNING!!!” at slippery rugrats from a lounge chair by the pool.

Good company, good weather, and good food are the only real essentials for a memorably good time. But you can add a little something special with thoughtful extras — especially if someone else is playing host. For some surprise and delight at your next get-together, treat your favorite pool party captain, park picnic wrangler, or sweat-browed barbecue maestro (maybe that’s you?) to one of these:

• Many of the best summer hangs are, undoubtedly, food-centric. For serving style as impressive as your host’s culinary skills, gifts editor Hannah Morrill favors these striking compostable paper plates. “They look like ceramics,” she says. “Incredible!”
• For a birthday party, I love these chic beeswax cherry candles for cheekily decorating a cake or bowls of ice cream. And this artsy reusable flower garland would gussy up any park pavilion.
• Speaking of ice cream, you can’t go wrong showing up to a sweltering shindig with a spacious cooler jam-packed with good ol’ fashioned ice cream sandwiches (I still raid the stash my parents keep for the grands in their freezer). But you’ll really blow everyone away if you bust out a pie sandwich: Our kitchen team loves this dark, dense chocolate silk and refreshingly zesty key lime.
• For beach- or pool-loving pals, these hand-loomed Turkish cotton towels are soft, lightweight, and versatile. Plus, says travel and outdoors writer Claire Wilcox, they “come in gorgeous colors and pack away easily.” For a blanket that’s easy to throw in a bag, one of our favorite picnic blankets folds down to the size of a novel and comes in colorful patterns.
• If your pal is a bougie picnic (or patio, or block party) person, like editorial director Marguerite Preston is on the record as, get them a colorful mismatching assortment of these enamelware tumblers. They’re perfectly sized, dishwasher safe, and reusable — and put Solo cups to shame.
• To keep the kiddos entertained, my sister-in-law has had luck corralling a pack of ’em on a family trip with this glow-in-the-dark rock-painting kit, endowing each with a nice little vacation souvenir. My family has also used these cutie French temporary tattoos, which have impressively saturated colors and metallics. And this LED-lit soccer ball will keep that beach or park day going after the sun sets.
• As for sartorial treats, we’re fans of these breezy cord shorts and this shortie, laced-trimmed beach dress. Personally, I’ve been on a two-year quest for a just-right raffia bag — is this one the one?

Oh, and do yourself a favor, and stock up on sparklers right away — you’ll look like a fairy godparent alighting to an impromptu hang with an armload full of them. After all, what’s more magical than closing out a balmy night with a flurry of twinkling light?

Two of my cats, Porter and Crash, were born in a dresser drawer in Brooklyn. I brought them home when I was in my 20s and they were a few months old. By my 30s, just as I was thriving in adulthood, my BFFs (best feline friends) were starting to wind down. I was lucky to live with them into my 40s, but those last 10 years were distinctly different from the first 10.

There are few things that tax the human heart more than seeing beloved pets approach the end of their lives.

While I couldn’t stop the process of aging, I did everything I could to make things more comfortable for them. I kissed and petted them more, I traveled less, and I bought (or built) things to help them sleep better, eat more, and generally feel at ease as their bodies slowly declined.

For those who have a dog or cat entering their senior years, I’ve put together this list — with the help of vets, behaviorists, and fellow pet caretakers — to guide you through the journey. And while this is by no means a complete inventory of scenarios or products, I hope it at least gives you a good starting point.

Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, your first stop should not be Wirecutter or even the broader internet — it should always be your veterinarian.

If your router is more than a couple of years old and struggling to give you fast speeds, or if it’s frequently dropping connections altogether, a new router or a mesh-networking kit will improve your Wi-Fi’s range, stability, and speed all over your home.

Over the past seven years, we’ve spent hundreds of hours testing and evaluating nearly 150 routers, and we’ve determined that the best router for wirelessly connecting your laptops, your smart devices, and anything else your daily life depends on is the TP-Link Archer BE230.

When getting ready to attend a concert or festival, you’ll likely have coordinated your transportation (and your outfits) ahead of time, but the bag you plan to use may be an afterthought. With venues imposing restrictive bag regulations, your usual purse or carryall might not make it past the gate — something I learned the hard way. But don’t worry: You can just bring a running belt instead.

As a freelance writer and editor, I’ve been working from home for over a decade. And because I have freedom of location, I’ve also worked from airplanes, Airbnb properties, coffee shops, camper vans, libraries, parks, and beyond. In 2020, my husband worked as a traveling nurse, and we moved every 12 weeks; I never had a “proper” desk setup and instead began to put together a mobile office that would allow me to work from anywhere.

“The people who write about working from home for Wirecutter have all been testing these products in their personal and professional lives for years,” said Wirecutter editor Erica Ogg, who covers all things related to power and working from home. “Our picks stand out for their quality, usefulness, and durability.”

Knowing your baby is sleeping peacefully — and that you’ll hear them when they need you — can be a great comfort in the early months of parenthood.

There are several types of baby monitors to choose from. The best one for you and your family is the one that most suits your personal needs, easing any anxiety you have as opposed to increasing it.

Want a simple way to see and hear your child from across the house or yard without a lot of other bells and whistles? Consider our top pick local-video monitor, the Babysense Pro Baby Monitor.

Hoping to check in on them from, say, a restaurant on date night or during a work trip out of town? You’ll need a Wi-Fi–enabled monitor, which links a camera’s feed to an app on your smartphone. Our favorite in that category is the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor.

Want both of these capabilities? The VTech RM7766HD is a Wi-Fi and local-video monitor in one.

Just want the simplest, cheapest old-school option? Our audio-only pick, the VTech DM1411, will give you that (plus a little more).

From snowy slopes to churning whitewater, if you want a camera that can go anywhere and record amazing video, an action camera is the best option. For any activity, you can get great-looking photos and videos that you can share with family, friends, and the world.

The GoPro Hero13 Black is the model we recommend. It’s easy to use, it produces some of the best video quality we’ve ever seen from an action camera, and it has ridiculously effective image stabilization. The app is great, too.