Best Travel Towels for Yoga and the Beach

By Sarah Fazendin @aweekatthebeach

Let's talk about travel towels for a second. They're one of those things you never knew you needed until you hit the road, and then suddenly can't imagine yourself living without. They somehow unintentionally come to indicate your level of commitment to traveling and once you have one you're initiated into a secret club. Like Fight Club, but for travelers: Towel Club. Only, unlike Fight Club, the first rule of Towel Club is that you tell anybody who will listen about how amazing your towel is.

You tell everyone because once you're in the know, you realize how many travel towels are out there in the world. You're sure yours is the best because you've explored different brands, different sizes, different colors. Maybe the only thing you haven't explored at this point is different shapes- but even that's about to change. Of all the travel towel options that exist, only one company is daring to go where no one yet has: in a circle.

invested a great deal of time in choosing the right mix of material to make luxury towels that are soft to the touch yet quick to dry, lightweight, super absorbent, and, most important, compact (also making them perfect for your yoga practice). Because all of these are crucial considerations when choosing a travel towel, Dock & Bay took it one step further and even made them easy on the eyes; their more traditional travel towels come in varying shades of bright, beachy stripes. Dock & Bay, a new beach and travel apparel startup founded by two travel enthusiasts, is determined to brighten up the travel towel market with twist. Leading up to their launch last year, founders Andy and Benno

Having sold 10,000 towels across the U.K., U.S. and Australia, Dock & Bay is setting out on its next adventure: a round revolution. Their newest product, a round microfiber towel, will be the first - and the largest - of its kind. With more than six feet in diameter, the shapely towels are ideal for sharing. Better yet, they still pack down to the size of a paper towel roll, making it the perfect fit for any bag and taking up at least 50% less room than its cotton counterpart. Like their first model, though, the new design comes with a fashionable pouch that doubles as a beach bag in the same, super sweet colors (blue, red, green and pink).

In order to make your travel towel dreams come true, they're launching a Kickstarter to raise around $14,000 for full production of the playful and practical microfiber towels. Check them out here, and further your status in the Towel Club by pre-ordering a new towel (£25 Early Bird Offer / RRP £40), designing your own or heading out on an exciting trip hosted by Andy and Benno.