The latest travel trend gaining traction online is curated TSA trays filled with fashionable and jet-setting essentials. Photos featuring the “TSA tray aesthetic” keep popping up on TikTok and Instagram, showing stylish arrangements of travelers’ personalized security trays at airports.
The trend is so compelling for two main reasons: First, it is the ultimate flex.
The photos often feature coveted handbags, streetwear sneakers, and knick-knacks that reflect the curator’s unique quirk and flair. Items artfully scattered throughout the containment bins include sunglasses, a perfume, and a digital camera. A tray might also hold selections from a current reading list or a novelty piece that hints at the curator’s journey.
Most of the time, the snap includes a person’s passport and boarding pass to remind you they’ve caught flights. Sometimes the organizer also includes their laptop or AirPods Max headphones. On the surface, the latter is as if to make the TSA tray more understandable and realistic for the average traveler, while maintaining proximity to the person throwing a $2,500 purse into a dirty TSA bin.
The chic ones are the chic ones, but they need their noise-cancelling headphones for the flight too.
Many travelers are used to complying with airport security requirements and keeping liquids, shoes, and electronics separate. Most rush to put their items in and out of the TSA tray as quickly as possible. Many don’t think at that moment that their items in the tray are so in tune with their personal sense of “aesthetic” that they would stop and take a photo.
The second thing that makes TSA tray photos unique is the perceived luxury of time the viewer is giving to the photographer. After seeing the images, you naturally wonder when exactly they took this stylish snapshot during airport security.
Did they hold up the line? Did the TSA agents yell at them to hurry up? Did they The unconcerned about creating their personalized TSA tray and taking a photo of it anyway?
Have they planned ahead to ensure they have enough time to get to their gate?
How do people manage to take aesthetic photos with the TSA tray?
TikToker Chelsea Henriquez posted a tutorial in early July. After passing through the TSA, the stylish and well-traveled New Yorker urged viewers to pack their things and get out of line. She wrote, “IMPORTANT: GET OUT OF THE WAY.” The next step was to decorate the security bin to your “heart’s desire.” She said, “If you have time, set up a few different bins—why not?”
The last and final step is, of course, taking the photos. In another video, the fashion content creator even had her friends create their own perfect trays.
The TSA tray trend is fun whether you’re a trend-setting fashionista or not. If clothes aren’t your thing, you could design a container that’s more in line with your mood and interests.
Or maybe you’re not interested in this trend at all and are interested in it. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t get flagged by the TSA.
