The Modern Man's 5-Minute Travel Grooming Routine

I've boarded 47 flights this year. Most of those mornings started in a hotel bathroom that was either too small, too dim, or too foreign. None of them started with a great-looking face.

That changed when I cut my morning routine down to five minutes — and stopped trying to recreate my apartment's bathroom in a strange city.

Here's exactly what I do. It works in a Tokyo capsule hotel. It works in a Marriott in Phoenix. It works in a hostel in Lisbon at 5 AM with one outlet and a lukewarm sink.

Minute 1 — Splash, don't soak

Cold water on your face, twice. That's it. Your skin's been pressed against an airplane pillow for eight hours; your pores are confused and your eye bags are real. Cold water snaps both out of it. Skip the cleanser unless you're staying somewhere with one. (You're not bringing your three-step routine. You're traveling.)

Minute 2 — Shave (this is where most men fail)

The single biggest upgrade you can make to your travel grooming kit is a real travel shaver — not the disposable razor in the hotel toothbrush kit, not the bulky cordless thing from your bathroom. A pocket-sized electric shaver is what you want: USB-C charged, IPX7 waterproof so you can run it under the tap, and small enough to fit in a Dopp kit pocket without crowding your toothbrush.

Two minutes, dry shave or wet, and you're done. No nicks. No blade goo on the side of the sink. No "did I bring shaving cream?" panic.

Minute 3 — Brows, ears, stragglers

If you're over 30 you have rogue hairs you didn't have at 25. Most travel shavers come with a small precision trimmer attachment. Use it. Thirty seconds. Your photos will thank you.

Minute 4 — Moisturize (yes, you)

Travel HVAC is dry as Mars. A small tube of moisturizer with SPF — 30 ml or under so it goes in your carry-on — solves both the dryness and the "do I need sunscreen for this 9 AM walking meeting?" question.

Minute 5 — Hair

A wet comb, not gel — gels go grainy on dry hair. If your hair has memory of how it should sit, water and a comb will get you 90% of the way there. Save the product for the night you actually care.

The kit, in order of mass

• Pocket electric shaver (USB-C, waterproof — non-negotiable)
• Bamboo toothbrush + travel toothpaste
• 30 ml moisturizer with SPF
• Compact comb
• Lip balm (don't roll your eyes)

Notice what's not on this list: shaving cream, a separate beard trimmer, three skincare products, a hair dryer. You're not building a vanity. You're building a survival kit that makes you look like you slept eight hours when you slept four.

The thing nobody tells you

The point of a five-minute travel routine isn't speed. It's the absence of decisions before 7 AM. The fewer choices you make about your face, the more brain you have for the things that actually matter that day — the meeting, the family dinner, the connecting flight.

A good travel shaver is the linchpin of all of that. It removes the worst variable — your face — from the morning equation in two minutes flat.

Pack accordingly.

— Marcus

The shaver step 2 was built for. Pocket-sized. USB-C. Waterproof. See the lineup →