All products and listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
In the first two lines of her hit song “Baggage,” Kelsea Ballerini makes her travel style very clear: “I don’t pack light, I travel for a living. And I don't abide by that 50-pound limit.” The country radio staple, from her 2024 album Patterns, details the metaphorical baggage she carries as she navigates relationships in the spotlight, but it’s also accurate to how the 31-year-old musician literally hits the road, whether on tour or on vacation. She’s knows what she needs, and she’s not afraid to bring it with her—whether it’s a product, mindset, or person.
I caught up with Ballerini in New York last week, a few months after the US leg of her 36-city tour, Kelsea Ballerini Live, came to a close. She’s currently taking a summer break before heading over to Australia in December to kick off a leg down under. But, of course, she never really stops: We met up to talk about her new partnership with Pantene, for which she just starred in a campaign called “Country Fried Hair,” then dove deep into how she stays looking and feeling her best on tour, her go-to piece of luggage (spoiler alert: there’s a sweet story behind it), how travel ties into one of her love languages, the best trip she's ever taken with her partner, actor Chase Stokes, and so much more.
First things first, tell us about the tour!
It was so fun. I’m just far enough past it now that I really miss it. I think at the end I was like, that was the perfect amount of shows that I was able to stay locked in the whole time and not get too mechanical. And now that we’re a couple months past it I’m like, damn. Every now and again I’ll get on TikTok and watch videos of people in the crowd singing along and I’m like wow, that was so fun I can’t believe that happened. Truly, headlining an arena tour was at the very top of my career bucket list, and so it just feels like it was a huge undertaking, it took 10 years to do it, it was so fulfilling, and now I’m like…what now? What’s next?
Being on tour is obviously physically and mentally demanding—how did you stay healthy?
I’ll tell you, when I was touring in my 20s I slept like a baby on a moving tour bus, my skin wasn’t reactive to different climates, I could not warm up and rip a shot of tequila and just go on stage. It’s so different in my 30s. I really had to adjust to that, and plus I cared so much, so I was doing everything I could to keep my train on the tracks in every way: mentally, physically, and then also skin, hair, all of it. I took lots of magnesium for sleeping. And then every day just looked a little bit different, so just letting that be okay was a big part of it. Letting go of the structure of what my life looks like outside of tour was the mental game that I had to play.
I’ve heard that you wore a wig on tour—is that true?
Yes! I feel like the last few years of my life, I’ve just been like, okay, what does a healing era look like? How do we get healthy in all the ways? And I think with touring and just doing all the things for the last 10 years, my hair has been one of the many things that’s suffered. And I’m a girly girl, I I like to change my hair, color my hair, do whatever to it, so I didn’t want to have to sacrifice that part of what I love for hair health.
Going into the tour I knew that I was really going to put my hair through it, so we decided to use a wig. I had a whole hair journey where I kinda chopped it off and started over a few years ago, and I’ve worked very hard to get it to a healthy spot, so I was like, I’m not gonna mess it up. Pantene had just come out with the Regenerative hair oil, so every night I literally doused my hair in it, put the wig on, did the show, took the wig off, slept in it, and then washed it. And it helped so much, to the point that I ended the tour with better hair than I started with.
Did you have any other self-care or beauty must-haves on the road?
Red light therapy. Every day. Literally every day. That was a big one for me. And I’m so sounding my age here, but I would go and find steam rooms in different cities, especially when it was really cold and dry. I have a steam shower in my house and I swear by it, I do it every day, so that was a huge one for me. I would also find like a local Lagree or Pilates studio and go do that. I wouldn’t say that I worked out hard on tour, but I was bopping around.
Do you have a favorite red light mask?
Shark's. So good. But it’s huge, so I don’t travel with it.
Speaking of travel—you talk a lot about baggage in your most recent album. In terms of literal baggage, what do you travel with?
Well, I don’t pack light. That’s not just a lyric, that’s very true. I overpack, because I’m indecisive, so I like to have options. I just went on a random, on a whim girls’ trip to Paris with two of my girlfriends. One of my friends does this every year and me and my other friends decided to go meet her like five days before we left. Which is not our speed. And you should have seen us in that airport. We had enough clothes to move to Paris. But the best part was when all three of us opened up our bags and were like, Do you want to wear this? What about this? Do you have something to match these pants? You know, it’s girlhood at its finest. So that’s why I like to overpack, because you never know.
I will say, I have this piece of luggage that I would never buy for myself, but I got it when I was opening for Rascal Flatts in 2016, I believe. For the end of tour they gave me a gift, and it was a Louis Vuitton carry-on duffel.
Wow, go Rascal Flatts.
I know. I was like, this is by far the most expensive thing I own. And for the first few years I wouldn’t bring it anywhere, because I was so afraid of getting it gunky. But now I bring it all the time, and it’s a good memory, and it’s so chic, and the more it’s lived in the better it looks. Now I understand what a beautiful piece that is. So now whenever I wrap a tour, whoever is opening for me, I do the same thing. It’s fun. It’s a fashionable little tradition.
If you could only bring three items on a plane in your duffel, what would they be?
The Regenerative hair oil, Evian face spray, and some form of good moisturizing serum, like a hyaluronic acid serum.
And then you just soak in it all?
Yeah, I used to try to be cute on planes, but let me tell you something: not anymore. Nope. The shed that happens when those wheels touch down is next-level for me these days. But you walk off the plane feeling good and fresh and not like you have two days of makeup on.
How would you describe your travel style? Are you super organized, go with the flow—what are the vibes?
I’m lucky because I travel so much for my job, so I don’t necessarily have to think about the logistics side of things a lot. If I did, we would all be in deep trouble, because we would all be on different flights at different times going to different places. But for personal travel, I do enjoy planning. I love surprising people with getaways. A couple years ago, I surprised my mom with a trip to this place outside of Nashville called Bolt Farm Treehouse, and we went for a long weekend with the dogs. I also surprised Chase with a trip to Paris a couple years ago. So if it’s a gift, I love planning. But I think, honestly, one of my biggest love languages to receive is when someone does it for me. So it’s give and take.
Speaking of Chase, does your travel style change when you’re with him?
I’m such a passenger princess.
As you should be!
Yeah, it’s like, I lead so much in my life for what I do—and I enjoy it, I get to fill my independence cup so much in my career—that when I’m not in that mode I’m like, shotgun rider, baby.
What’s the best place that you’ve traveled to with Chase?
Amalfi Coast. We went to Ravello, and it was heaven. And I’m Italian to some degree, but I haven’t spent a ton of time over there. So every time I’m in Italy I’m like man, I feel like I’m home a little bit. Ravello was very special.
Have you been doing any fun travel this summer?
Paris with my girlfriends, that was unplanned and so, so fun. And then I’m doing little things, like I could go back home tomorrow, but I’m loving New York so much that I’m extending my time up here and I’m going to go see Death Becomes Her [on Broadway] and eat some food. So yeah, I’m just trying to do little things. Every year I like to do a solo trip, a girls trip, and then a couples trip. So one by one.
What are your favorite things to do in New York?
I love walking aimlessly here. Just putting on the Crime Junkie podcast and going. I’ll always find a cool store or coffee shop or restaurant or whatever. I’ll go to the bar and order a little app and then keep going, and I just love it.
Are you planning any travel around the Australia leg of your tour, in the winter?
I haven’t been since 2019, and I love Australia, and it’s a bitch to get to, so I think if you’re going to go for work you’ve got to build some play into it, too. Even just to counteract the jet lag. So I’m definitely going to get there early and maybe stay after. Maybe New Zealand, too, which is magical—and nothing kills you there, did you know that? No snakes, no spiders, no sharks, no fire ants, you can just chill.
What city do you think speaks the most to your soul, out of anywhere in the world?
Nashville. I love Nashville so much. It’s changed a lot, I’ve been there 16 years, but I don’t know, I just love that even as it’s grown you can go downtown and there’s always something so alive. And then you can drive 20 minutes and you’re in the middle of nowhere, like just beautiful farmland. So there’s a bit of a duality to it still, and I think that’s special.
Where’s one city that you haven’t been to yet that you think will speak to your soul?
Man, there are so many places. I really want to go to Rome. Rome, Barcelona—I want more time in Europe. To connect with my roots, you know.
Is there anything else that you have coming up that you’re excited about?
You know, two years ago it would have given me a complex to look at you and say, I honestly don’t know what I’m doing right now. But now I can look you in the eye and say I really don’t know what I’m doing right now, and I kind of love it. Honestly, now, I think I have the space where something wonderful can come in and I can say yeah, let’s do it. Whether it’s music or anything else. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but it’s going to be great.
