When you’re on the road as often as today’s biggest DJs, traveling comfortably is a high priority. Every artist has their own list of must-haves, from sweatpants, to pillows, and more. GQ recently sat down with Porter Robinson ahead of his Weekend 2 performance at Coachella to find out his eight essential items for touring. The Worlds producer, who is about to hit the road again with an 18-stop North American tour this summer, covered all the bases, right down to his favorite pair of underwear. Among the list: a Y-3 backpack, Apple earbuds, and his favorite video game console.
I refuse to travel without a Nintendo 3DS XL. Mine is pink with a bunch of anime stickers, so I definitely get some looks.
Here are the 8 items: 
Apple EarPods
“This might be weird coming from somebody who specializes in music production, but my favorite headphones on Earth are the Apple EarPods. I’ve bought no less than 30 pairs–I keep losing them! Since so many people use them, they’re like a gold standard for listening to music. If I don’t have one on the way to the airport, I’ll go out of my way to buy a pair.”
Acronym Jacket
“I have a genre of clothing that I call ‘airport jackets’–stuff that’s super comfortable and has a hood, because I need to be able to put something over my face. For three years, I toured with a waxed Rag & Bone parka, but it got so beat up I had to get a new one. My replacement is a super tactical, tech jacket from Acronym. It’s got a magnetic neck that holds yours EarPods.”
Tide To Go Pen
“On a less swanky level, I always travel with a Tide To Go pen. To me, it’s a miracle product. Washing clothes on tour can be so cumbersome; the only thing that’s gonna keep me from wearing something is if it’s not too stinky–it’s fine, I’m touring, get over it–but if it has a big visible stain on it, then that’s embarrassing. It’s not a cool thing to rep, but these pens do the trick.”
“So much of the stuff I travel with revolves around a fear of me being stuck in an airplane without having access to something. I always have Advil Liqui-Gels and a Coke Zero with me 100 percent of the time, because I’m afraid of being thirsty on a plane and with a headache. These items are never in the plane’s overhead–they’re always at my feet.”
Nintendo 3DS XL
“I refuse to travel without a Nintendo 3DS XL. Mine is pink with a bunch of anime stickers, so I definitely get some looks. I generally play Super Smash Bros.—it’s my favorite game series of all time. Whenever I’m on a plane, I look for someone to play with using the local multiplayer feature. It hasn’t happened yet, since that person needs to be searching at the exact same time, but when it does, we’ll be best friends immediately.”
Y-3 Mobility Backpack
“It’s has bajillion different pockets, it looks good, and it’s just super comfy.”
CeraVe Moisturizer
“Here’s a weird one: I travel with one of those soft-shell tubes used for holding liquid, and I fill it with CeraVe moisturizer. I know that’s very prissy, but airplanes are extremely dry, sterile environments, and it makes my skin crack. To avoid that, I moisturize my face all the goddamn time—it’s way more comfortable than being in dry-skin hell while on an 18-hour haul to Australia.”
Uniqlo Underwear
“I always like opening up a brand new pair of underwear. Having it contained in a plastic package makes it clear to me what’s been used and what hasn’t—that way I don’t have to fucking sniff it!”
Read more about Porter’s must-haves here.
Photo: Georgia Modi Photography
