Christmas is almost here and you didn’t figure out what to buy for your best friend, boyfriend/girlfriend or family members? I’m here to help you if your loved ones are travel lovers! Surprise them with practical and useful gifts!
You can come back to these travel lover gift ideas after Christmas and get new ideas for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. Get inspired by these 12+ useful gift ideas for travellers and enjoy shopping 😉
Travel books
Books are useful and entertaining presents. If I have no idea what to give for a birthday, I buy books and it always works. Even if someone is not a fan of reading, a travel guide or a travel-related book can be useful and inspiring for the next trip.
If your traveller friend is planning a trip somewhere, buy a city- or country-specific book, my favourite travel guides are made by Lonely Planet and National Geographic. Both of them have general guide books for travel planning like…
- Lonely Planet’s Where To Go When
- The Solo Travel Handbook
- Lonely Planet’s Best Ever Travel Tips
- Epic Journeys: 245 Life-Changing Adventures
- Journeys of a lifetime
- Destinations of a Lifetime
… and even more.
Travel stories and memoirs of travellers will inspire and motivate your travel lover friend to travel more and discover the world. Here are a few great examples:
- The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman
- The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton
- How to Travel the World on $50 a Day by Matt Kepnes, the founder of Nomadic Matt
- Expedition 196: A Personal Journal from the First Woman on Record to Travel to Every Country in the World by Cassie De Pecol
- Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Travel journal & travel planner
Is your friend a colour and planner lover? I’m sure she/he would love the amazing and colourful products of ban.do (also available on Amazon). They extended their planner selection with travel planners! Yeeeeey! The planners are available with different covers and include a world map, stickers, postcards, packing list, travel tips, day planner and even a pocket to keep the tickets dry. Get ready to plan your trip. I mean your friend’s trip 😉
For less colourful versions, check out the journals of Moleskin and Lonely Planet.
The Moleskine Voyageur Notebook will help to plan and document a trip in detail. Moreover, Moleskine Travel Journal includes a wish list section, calendar, checklists and blank pages to collect postcards, tickets, maps and memories.
The lightweight and flexible Lonely Planet’s Travel Journal contains travel checklists, wishlists, blank pages for memories and sketches, even emergency numbers and time zones around the world, just to mention a few things.
Passport holder and travel wallet
Wherever we travel we’ll have to keep our passport or ID somewhere. And why don’t keep it in a stylish passport holder?
This passport holder by ban.do (also available on Amazon) is very chic and has card slots inside.
For more documents and tickets, a bigger travel wallet might be even better. The travel clutch by ban.do and the Comfysail Multi-Purpose Travel Wallet both have holders for passport, travel documents, pen, cards and cash. This is a perfect gift for organized travellers.
This H&M Home tropical and rose passport cover sets even include a luggage tag. The passport cover has three card compartments inside and the luggage tag is very practical with its adjustable strap and removable label.
Luggage tag
Let’s continue with the luggage tags, which are very useful for more reasons. It’ll be easier to notice the luggage, they are stylish and we save time for the airport when they lose our luggage. With this luggage tag by ban.do (or order it on Amazon), I’m sure your friend’s luggage will be noticeable.
Travel toiletry bag
Every traveller girl needs a cute toiletry bag to store beauty products and toiletries during travel. This floral toiletry bag by ban.do has extra pockets and easy to clean leatherette exterior. This other ban.do hanging travel organizer (also on Amazon) is amazing for organized travellers, who like to separate beauty products.
For your makeup lover friend, this open flat makeup bag by The Flat Lay Co. brings a new dimension to store makeup. Available in many colours and prints like tropical leaves and lemons.
Packing cubes and organizer sets
Packing cubes make easier our packing before and during travel. This way our clothes, underwear, shoes will stay organized and separated.
The awesome high-quality backpack (and even more) company, Osprey also produces Ultralight packing cube set, which has small, medium and large cubes to separate your things. The cubes can be purchased separately too.
Floral travel organizer set and packing cube set by TZbonjourney (what I have) contain also three packing cubes in different sizes as well as shoes and underwear bags. My favourite piece is the hanging toiletry bag with compartments.
Lightweight travel backpacks and carry-ons
A lightweight travel backpack is a useful gift idea, especially if your friend is a lightweight traveller. It’s easy to carry around and it will save your friends from paying extra baggage fees. 35-45-litre backpacks fit the overhead bin of aeroplanes, just make sure to check the flight company requirements first 😉
I’ve read good things about Peak Design Travel Backpack and Tortuga Outbreak Backpack, though I own an Osprey Fairview 40 Woman’s Travel Backpack. It’s perfect for a long weekend getaway, but it was also excellent for our 2-week Bolivian trip. The backpack has many compartments and can be packed like a suitcase.
Travel kit and re-usable mini travel bottles
Every traveller knows about the restrictions like what it’s not allowed to have in your carry-on luggage. Yep, I’m talking about the size of liquid containers, which can’t be more than 100 ml. Luckily, we can access travel kits with small-sized containers and don’t have to worry about the rules.
This travel kit by ban.do has everything you need for your trip: plastic containers with labels, jars, pump lids, spray lid, squeeze lids, spatula and a cutie pearlescent pouch.
IKEA also launched a 10-piece travel set called Förfina. The set contains two 15ml, four 40 ml and two pieces of 90ml containers, so we can even save space with the smaller bottles.
Reusable collapsible water bottle
The stylish metal bottles can be super cute and light, though they take a lot of space after finishing the drink. So I prefer the collapsible water bottles thanks to their lightweight and durable properties.
The Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle is available in five colours and with a 650 ml volume capacity. It’s leak-proof, easy to refill, handles cold and hot drinks.
Kemier Collapsible Silicone Water Bottles are also available in a variety of colours and have a capacity of 750 ml. The silicone allows being folded to 1/3 of the size for easy transport and endures the hot and cold liquids.
Microfibre towel
I bring my microfibre towel from Decathlon (also on Amazon) with me wherever I travel. It’s available in 8 colours and 4 sizes, even the biggest one has a compact size and super lightweight. The material is very soft, dries quickly and is resistant to repeated washing.
Maps, scratch maps and awesome maps
Is your friend going on a road trip or a hike or a discovery? Then buy a specific map as a gift.
Awesome Maps “has a map for everyone”. And they are not kidding! They create maps for kids, surfers, hikers, divers, climbers, yoga lovers, travellers etc. and they have every kind of type like poster, towel, canvas and foldable. For your travel lover friend, you can choose a bucket list map as well as a bucket list scratch map, a WTFact scratch map, dive map or a football map.
If your bestie is a scratch map and Budapest lover, here’s an awesome gift for the occasion. A Hungarian company founded by travellers called The Scratch-off Company created a Budapest scratch-off map, which can function as a Budapest travel guide a great souvenir and a beautiful poster on your wall too. You can order it from their website or visit design stores in Budapest. For more information about the map and other Budapest inspired gifts, read my blog post called Budapest inspired illustrations, paintings and prints by Hungarian artists.
Camera and photography gears
Does your friend has a camera or GoPro? I know, these kinds of presents are a bit expensive, so a few of you can collaborate to buy a valuable gift.
If your travel lover friend already has a camera or GoPro, just complete it with useful accessories like a Manfrotto compact tripod, gorilla pod, lenses, remote control, GoPro Dome for underwater or whatever your friend would be happy about.
Surprise trip with you
What would be the best present for a traveller?
Hmmm… Travelling!
With you!
It’s more fun together, you can share the adventures and deepen your friendship. I wrote a guide called Things to do before every trip, which will walk you through the most important steps of getting ready for your next trip. First, consider where she/he hasn’t been before or where she/he wants to go back. When you figured out your destination, make sure the chosen date will be free and book your tickets.
Are inspired now by these gift ideas for travel lovers? Know how to surprise your best friend, boyfriend/girlfriend or family members for Christmas? Before purchasing anything, make sure she/he doesn’t have that item you want to give her/him.
Sooooo what did you buy?
Pin the photos for later and leave a comment below.
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