Gift Guide for the Traveler in Your Life
Everyone knows people who love to travel. Most of us also know people in love with the idea and romance of travel. Whatever kind of traveler you have in your life, we have some great gift ideas. From luggage to technology to home décor, there’s a little bit of everything here.
Unique Luggage Tags
It’s amazing what a difference it can make to put something eye-catching and unique onto your suitcase. Like this tag, which comes in all letters of the alphabet, but which looked at first glance like a Team Rocket tag. You can find all sorts of bright designs and bizarre shapes.The more a tag stands out, the more useful it is.
Decorative map
In our experience, people who love travel love being reminded of traveling, even while at home. Part of it’s the reminder, and part of it is probably that it cements that part of their identity–“I am a person who goes places.” Whatever the reason, travel décor goes over well. These unique scratch-off maps let you keep track of where you’ve been by scratching away the surface like a lottery ticket to reveal a map underneath. Here’s another take on the same basic idea.
Luggage
If you’re traveling, you need luggage. And it’s a nice thing to get as a gift because it’s hard to spend money on that for yourself. And it does cost money. Luggage is one of those things where you definitely get what you pay for. A good intersection of price and quality is American Tourister. Their rolling bags are solid. You can also get bags with Mickey Mouse and Star Wars on them…because of course you can.
Portable Charger
Our phones and tablets are important to us. Since 2014, we’ve used our mobile devices more than desktop computers. We rely on them for communication and connection to humanity. We use them to research points of interest and to get directions to wherever we’re going. Portable chargers help you keep that flow of information going. Anker is one of the most trusted brands with a variety of options from small and inexpensive to high-capacity juggernauts.
Power Adapter
Of course, you’re eventually going to need to plug into a wall to recharge something. That’s where international power adapters come into play. This Maxracy adapter is versatile enough to work just about anywhere you could want to go, and it’s compatible with just about anything you could ever want to charge.
SD card or apple SD card reader
If you take a lot of pictures or videos, you’ll want some extra memory on your phone. If you have a Galaxy or some other Androids, you can simply add a microSD card to your phone. It’s unbelievable how inexpensive a reliable 32GB SD card is these days. But if you want to turn your phone into a 4K video-recording juggernaut, this insane Samsung card holds 256 GB of storage. There is, of course, a world of options in between. Apple users will have to buy a special adapter, either third-party or Apple-branded.
Travel Books
Atlas Obscura is a fantastic site, and people justifiably freaked out when their book came out late last year. You might also consider the now-classic 1,000 Places to See Before You Die or Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel. Any of the above can spark ideas, help make plans, or just help your friends daydream when they can’t be on the road.
Noise-Cancelling Headphones
If you spent a lot of time on planes, trains, or buses, a pair of noise-canceling headphones works wonders. Honestly, even if you’re not listening to music, turning on the noise cancellation can buy you a much-needed reprieve from the roar of a jet engine. They’re good for music, too. There are some well-loved pairs out there, and they don’t even have to be that expensive.
Passport Protector
We live in strange times, and that gives us some problems most people don’t anticipate. Since 2006, American passports have used an RFID chip to carry certain information. Unfortunately, that information can be read and stolen by anyone nearby who happens to have the right equipment. This can lead to identity theft, which is difficult to guard against. Luckily, these RFID Passport Protector sleeves block RFID signals, so the data on your passport’s chip can’t be read remotely.
Vintage travel posters
There’s something charming about old travel posters. The variety of art styles, the promise of adventure, and the occasional light touch of kitsch are all charming in their own way. There’s a whole world of them out there, so whatever your taste may be, there’s something to suit it.