Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the traveler in your life? Look no further – we’ve found something for everyone!
Gift an Experience
An experience is often the best kind of gift! Most of us have too much stuff and for those of us who love travel, we tend to prefer trips/experiences anyway. Gifting an experience is better for the planet, less wasteful, and can be talked about for years. It’s also easy to do! Pick one or make a package bundle (like a gift card for a bar, restaurant, and activity on their trip).
- Restaurant gift card
- We love giving this as a gift. Figure out a city that the recipient will be visiting and start looking up best restaurants (or look at our trip guides). Most restaurants offer gift cards and you can email or call them to arrange.
- Bar/winery/brewery gift card
- Slightly less expensive than a restaurant, bars or wine bars in town often offer a situation similar to restaurants. You can also look up wineries or breweries where the traveler is headed and most of those offer gift cards as well. Another option is to pick a tour on GetYourGuide or Airbnb Experiences for a wine or brewery tour.
- Hotel voucher
- If you know the traveler hasn’t booked a hotel yet, this can be a great gift! Just contact the hotel for a voucher which leaves the dates flexible.
- Museum tickets
- It’s often possible to buy tickets ahead online which can be great if you know the traveler’s itinerary. You can also often print out the museum’s webpage and wrap it up, letting the traveler pick a date to have you book which is most convenient for them.
- Theatre tickets
- Heading to NYC, London, or Vienna? A concert, opera, or play ticket is a fantastic splurge for the traveler and gives the additional benefit of a chance to experience local culture and art. You can usually book a gift card without needing to know the exact date.
- Cooking class
- These are so much fun in other countries! Guide books often offer great suggestions or look up major cooking institutes in the country you’re visiting and see if you can snag a class.
- Walking tour
- Depending on how you do this, it can be a very reasonable gift. Get the traveler a 1/2 day walking tour of a city you know they’re visiting or a voucher for a group tour.
- Adventure activity
- Whitewater rafting in Oregon? Zip lining in Costa Rica? Sailing in Greece? Horseback riding in Iceland? This is often a wonderful present as it’s a splurge for the traveler and not necessarily something they’re budgeting into their original trip. An extra fun activity can really make a trip memorable. Check out Tinggly which makes it super easy to give experiences and getaways all over the world. You can search by city/area and give a “giftbox” which gives the recipient a bunch of different experience options to choose from.
- Plane tickets
- This works especially well if you’re planning a trip with someone and know your exact dates. You can also buy a gift certificate for all major airlines.
- Language lessons
- What better idea than to gift the language of a country you know the recipient is visiting soon or wants to visit? You can purchase rosetta stone, a gift certificate on babble, or even classes with a native speaker online. Italki is a great option for a flexible online tutor.
- Audio Book Subscription
- Know a solo traveler or someone who has many flights and long drives ahead of them? You can gift them hours of entertainment. My favorite is Libro because it supports small independent bookstores, but Audible is also a popular option.
- Travel themed night
- Travel can be expensive and not everyone can manage it from a financial or physical standpoint. Think about arranging a night around the idea of a trip. If you love Ireland, make stew and soda bread, pop open a Guinness, play some Irish music and watch The Quiet Man. Or if you’re planning a trip for next year and want some related fun, make a gift pack of an Ireland travel book, a mini umbrella, and a tour voucher to, say, the Bushmill distillery. If you’re heading to Italy, make some pasta, open some wine, watch A Roman Holiday, and make a gift pack of an Italy book, quick dry clothing, and Italian lessons. You get the idea.
- Finally, for pre-arranged adventures, tours, or activities try and look for local companies that benefit the surrounding communities. Lokal Travel or Tours by Locals are some of these offering some great options, but there are many out there in each city.
If you want to give something tangible, we’ve compiled a list of things we now feel we couldn’t travel without. We are firm believers in only taking 1 backpack and 1 carry on suitcase for any length of travel (be it 1 week or 4 months) – so these all fit into that criteria. We’ve arranged it into essentials vs splurges.
Travel Essentials (needed for most trips)
- Luggage – Away or Monos
- You obviously need luggage for a trip and one that is well-made with a lifetime guarantee is the perfect forever-gift. You can’t go wrong with either of these.
- Travel Backpack – Got Bag, Fjallraven, Tumi, Patagonia, Ogio, Pacsafe
- A good backpack with plenty of pockets will serve as your additional piece of luggage. Compartments are great.
- Travel water bottle – Hydro Flask or S’well or Que (collapsible)
- You may want to just get one with a filter, listed below, depending where you’re headed.
- Purifying water bottle – UV water light, Lifestraw or Lifestraw Go waterbottle
- This can help reduce plastic waste in developing countries.
- Foldable day pack
- It’s a pain to empty your regular backpack out every night of tablets, kindles, umbrella, books, etc. It’s much nicer to simply grab a day pack and only fill it with essentials for that specific day. Away, Matador, and Sea to Summit offer good options.
- Packable tote
- We’re in a world that needs to move away from plastic. That, and many countries will charge you for grocery bags. Save yourself some $ and bring your own. It’s also perfect for craft markets, picnic bags, and extra space if you end up with a larger souvenir. Away, Peak Design, and United by Blue offer good options.
- Travel purse/crossbody bag
- Money belt
- Keep your money securely on you with a money belt. Decent options include the Hidden Travel Money Belt and Peak Gear.
- Passport wallet
- I love traveling with a combo passport wallet. My absolute favorite are the beautiful designs by Tactile Craftwork but Bellroy makes a decent one too.
- Reusable toiletry containers
- AirBNBs and apartment rentals often don’t supply toiletries and I hate 2-in-1 products in hotels. It’s just easier to bring your own products. To fill your own, I recommend Matador‘s products. My absolute favorite product, however, is Notice Hair Co‘s travel sets and tins. You can easily refill the tin – it’s how I traveled around Europe for 2 months!
- To-go utensils
- It’s nice to always have a fork, spoon, and knife on you that you can throw in your bag. Life Without Plastic and United by Blue offer some good sets.
- Reusable straw
- You don’t always know where the top of your drink has been or what it’s touched. And you look silly drinking a pina colada next to a pool without a straw.
- Sleep mask
- I love having a quality sleep mask while traveling. Planes, trains, bright hotel rooms – you name it, it’s useful. Cozy Earth and Ettitude offer nice options.
- Portable battery
- Travel adaptor with charging station
- Pick one with lots of USB ports and a few regular plugs. Then you can avoid fighting with your travel companion over the one plug in the room or prioritize which item needs charging the most with your single adaptor.
- Travel book
- Pick the country and grab the book
- Travel sized umbrella
- Is it silly to spend this much on an umbrella? No. First a tiny one is so much easier to carry around. Second, if it breaks on your travels, they replace it for you. For an active traveler this is a must. The one from Davek is perfect and comes with a lifetime warranty.
- Reusable sealable bags
- Packing cubes
- Some people absolutely swear by packing cubes. I’m not one of those people, but I do like them for keeping socks and underwear organized.
- Shoe bags
- It’s gross to have the shoes you walked the streets of a city with touch the clothes you have to wear for the next few weeks. My life changed with shoe bags, and yours can too. I like Peak Design (if you don’t have very big feet) or Earthwise (if you do).
- Travel pillow
- A good travel pillow can make all the difference. My new favorite one is a memory foam pillow from Coop that then can sit on top of a roller bag as you move around. Sea to Summit is a fantastic lightweight option. Travel Rest and Cabeau are nice traditional neck pillows. TRTL also gets great reviews.
- Travel first aid kit
- Toiletry case
- Clear organization is key in limited packing space and Peak Design offers a great option.
- Tech organizer
- Think cords, headphones, chargers ie all technical organization for a trip. Bellroy, Peak Design, and Away offer good options.
- Kindle or tablet
- There’s a ton of different readers/tablets out there. Having one that lets your read and stream from your hotel is wonderful.
- Electric travel toothbrush
- It’s really wonderful to have a travel electric toothbrush, especially if you’re travel is for more than a week. Consider Travel tooth, Suri, and Phillips.
Travel splurges – extra nice to have
- Passport holder
- I love traveling with beautiful passport wallet. My absolute favorite are the beautiful designs by Tactile Craftwork but Bellroy makes a decent one too.
- Luggage scale
- Make sure you won’t get charged a ton extra for an overweight bag at the gate by using a packable scale.
- Perfect walking shoes
- Hat
- A packable wide-brimmed hat for summer travels is an excellent gift.
- Sunglasses
- You might have your favorite brand, but Sunski is one for my favorites (and has a lifetime warranty).
- Camera bag
- Does the person you’re shopping for love photography? A quality camera bag, like the one from Peak Design can be an excellent gift.
- Luggage tag
- Beautiful luggage tags can be great stocking stuffers.
- Collapsible trekking poles
- Depends where you’re going, but if trekking, these foldable poles ones can be very useful.
- Travel journal
- It’s a nice way to record thoughts while traveling, and these gorgeous options are sure to inspire. Add in a travel pen on a carabiner so you’ll never be without a writing instrument.
- Wet bag
- To stash wet swimsuits or clothes post-rain storm, this tiny packable wet bag is awesome and folds up tiny.
- Packable quick-dry towel
- Push pin Map
- A visual map to keep track of you’ve been.
- Photo book
- Did you take a trip with a friend or family member? A nice way to commemorate this is a book by Paper Culture filled with pictures of all of your favorite adventures. Paper culture is our favorite site because of its eco mission including using sustainable paper and planting a tree for every order.
- Travel robe
- Definitely not a must-bring, but it can be very nice to have a travel rob if you have just a bit of extra room in your suitcase. Look for something light and short that won’t take up much room like one from Cozy Earth or Kim Ono.
- Travel slippers
- Comfy travel pants
- Vuori makes the absolute most comfortable and cute travel clothes. I love their joggers for a long travel day.
- Collapsible cooler
- Very useful when you’re staying in places with kitchens, planning to make your own meals. Traveling around with leftover groceries can be very annoying, but made simpler with a cooler. Make sure you buy the ice pack inserts as well if you’re planning to check a bag.
- Travel pants
- These jeans from Aviator have an internal zipper making a money belt unnecessary and allowing you to travel without fear of pickpockets.
- Quality headphones
- Good headphones that do noise-canceling can be a huge benefit while traveling. For over-ear headphones, Sony WH-1000XM4 are great. For earbuds we like Sony WF-1000SM5. For a more budget friendly option, Anker Soundcore Space A40 are good.