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Five Great Travel Gift Ideas for the Travel Lover in Your Life

“I got a great Christmas present idea after reading your blog.”

When my friend Steve tells me this over a catch up I wonder what he could have chosen, as I usually talk about experiences rather than physical items.

Of course, a great travel experience can also be a wonderful gift. So did he buy a tour, a hotel stay, or a spa treatment that I may have written about?

“I got my friends Selfie Sticks. They look great!”

As I burst out laughing I realised how I once would been horrified to be linked to such an item. Now I’m a convert, and I have a feeling his friends are going to have lots of fun with them.

I was also inspired to put together a little list of gifts for the travel lover in your life, any time of year. Here are some things that put a smile on my face when I travel….

Get Wireless for Sound with Bluetooth Speakers

Music is the perfect travel buddy and I never go anywhere without my UE Boom.

This little baby is shock proof, water proof, stain proof and gives great sound. If you and your human travel buddy both have one you can also listen to your music in stereo by having your smart phone, tablet or other device talk to them both via Bluetooth.

If you prefer to go another way there are lots of great options out there including the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker and the Jawbone Mini Jambox .

Noise Cancelling Headphones

Then there are times when you want to be the only one who can hear the music. And times when you really, really want to drown out the sound of that crying baby or loud talker on a plane.

Enter the noise cancelling headphones. I was first introduced to these by my friend Scott who insisted I borrow his Beats by Dr Dre ones for a Sydney to LAX flight. About an hour into the flight I realised I would have to get my own as I could never fly without them again.

Read: Gift ideas for travel lovers for every budget

My flatmate swears by his Bose noise cancelling headphones which I had the chance to try when I was lucky enough to fly in the Suites on Singapore Airlines. Perfect for watching a movie with, and I’ve also used them while I’m sleeping with no sound at all just to drown out that background noise on a flight.

Packing Cells and Cubes

Possibly not the most romantic gift, but if you want to help a friend revolutionise the way they pack these are gold. I am a relatively new convert and was introduced to these on the same trip to Turkey when I first embraced those selfie sticks.

Now that I’ve started using them I can’t believe I’m so late to the packing cell party. You can use them any way you like but I love the way they keep your clothes all neatly together and make everything easy to find. No more rummaging around trying to find that t-shirt to wear, it’s in the casual clothes packing cell which is now happily sitting in the hotel drawer.

Lots of companies do them and you can get them in all sorts of colours from these subtle grey packing cells by Travelwise to these pretty aqua blue ones by Eagle Creek.

Fun and Stylish Luggage Tags

Luggage tags are like a suitcase’s accessory. They should be fun or stylish but never boring. You don’t want the other suitcases laughing at your friend’s one, do you?

There are so many to choose from, but I adore these ones by Anne Taintor, including the I Love Not Camping  (I have a few friends this would be perfect for!) and the witty We All Have Our Baggage one.

I’m also a fan of simple but stylish tags including Kate Spade’s Polka Dotsand her fanicer New York Juniper Court Luggage Tag. Or maybe your friend is more of a bright and bold M square Luggage Tag person? 

Selfie Stick Fun

And finally, the one that started this whole idea, the Selfie Stick.

Yes, they look ridiculous. But there’s a reason the people using them are laughing and smiling so much. They’re lots of fun!

They’re also rather useful for getting photos over the tops of things (although I refuse to ever use one at a concert and hope they don’t start popping up over people’s heads there).

What I didn’t realise until I got one is that they use bluetooth to take the photo. I thought everyone was just setting their timers and then holding the stick out (although that is the case with some so do check which one you’re getting before you buy).

The two best ways to go are bluetooth though, and you can either choose one of the Selfie Sticks with a shutter button on the handle (this is the kind I personally use) while other Selfie Sticks have remote controls.

So there we have it. Some of my favourite travel gift ideas. How about you? Have you ever bought a present for someone after discovering you just couldn’t travel without one yourself?

This post contains some affiliate links, so if you click on a link and buy something I will get a small percentage. But don’t worry, it’s absolutely no extra cost to you. Thanks! 

Fancy some more ideas? You can now check out my second guide to Gifts for Travel Lovers  and a bit of a loved up list of suggestions in Ten Romantic Gifts for the Travel Lover in Your Life.

Leave a Comment

  1. Great choices! Well since I have a selfie stick I guess that means that I need to get into the packing cells! I needed it this weekend!

  2. The luggage tags are wonderful..the selfie sticks are fun as well. A great assortment of gifts..

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