The forecast? “Hellfire”—or maybe just a bunch of fire emojis and the red-faced sweaty guy. We are, indeed, either amid or rapidly approaching peak summer heat, and if your personal zip code isn’t already creeping toward the triple digits, there’s a strong chance you’re traveling somewhere this summer where you’ll be wearily collapsing onto a bench and muttering “it’s hooooootttttt” to your fellow sufferer/travel companion.

Some people thrive in the extreme heat. Their skin tans to an even, healthy glow; their clothes stay dry and unwrinkled; their hair effortlessly remains smooth, kempt, and shiny. I’m happy for those people, but I’m not one of them. I’m sweaty, I sunburn in minutes, and I have a confusing relationship with humidity wherein I love everything about a warm night except what it does to my hair. When it’s over 85 degrees outside, I need to call in backup to look and feel normal, let alone good. The bright side, for me, is that as a frequent traveler, I’ve also become an excellent packer for a variety of climates.

I just got back from a 10-day trip to Japan, where the daily highs ranged from 85 to 97 degrees for the entirety of my time there. To put it succinctly, it was boiling. I brought some personal cooling products that helped a lot, and I also learned some lessons about how to cope with the merciless power of the sun. Allow me to share my knowledge with you about the best products for staying cool while traveling, whether your odyssey is across the globe or just to another part of town for some frozen yogurt.