I’ve never been a fan of those doughnut-shaped travel pillows that fit around your neck (can they make you look any dorkier?). I’ve tried other travel pillows that work well enough, but they are too bulky to conveniently fit in my carry-on bag. With the TravelRest, I may have found the answer to my “how do I get comfortable enough to sleep on the plane” dilemma.

I actually tested TravelRest not on a recent plane trip but a six-hour drive to southern Utah. With the TravelRest, you inflate it, then tether it with a cord to seat’s headrest (or to the seat back on the plane) to keep it secure. Its ergonomic shape — like a candy cane — gives support from your head, down your neck, to your side.

Indeed, I found it much more comfortable than my usual modus operandi: wadding up a sweatshirt and sticking in the crook of my neck. Its small size — it deflates and rolls up not much bigger than a hockey puck — also makes it more convenient than packing a full-size bed pillow for a car or plane trip.

The inventor — frequent traveler John Mittelstadt — suggests that the TravelRest can even be used when you don’t have a high seatback. By fashioning it across your chest like a messenger bag you can “go freestyle” and just nod off while delayed at an airport (or maybe when you want to catnap in your office chair — just close your office door so colleagues don’t think you’re nutty).

The TravelRest is made with a suede-like material and deflates and inflates very easily. I’ll be taking this pillow along on my next plane ride, for sure.

Get the TravelRest at BeltOutlet.com