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Buying things for people is one of the most difficult tasks in the world, who really knows what they would truly like?
Short of requesting a list from each and every person, my go-to is to give practical things they can use. I also try to keep it fun with bold colors and fun prints they might enjoy to keep it unique to them, while still remaining useful!
Though this is our curated gift guide is geared towards travelers, a lot of these options would be useful to your family (mom, dad, or grandparents) and friends. This list pleases budgets of all price points so you’ll be able to find something for everyone.
Scratch-off World Map
There’s no better way to keep track of all the countries they’ve been to than to scratch them off on this map! Easily scratch off one country at a time as they travel to them and see the world in a more colorful way. Also doubles as wall decor! 😉
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Passport Cover
Don’t lose your passport in your travel bag! Make it easier to keep track of with a beautiful, new passport cover and protect your passport from the elements at the same time.
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Universal Travel Adapters
4-in-1 universal plug adapters are one of the most useful items on a trip, just grab it and you’re good to go. No worries at all for charging all their electronic devices (just make sure the chargers are 220V AND 110V compatible).
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Hardside Luggage Set
There are tons of black, navy, and gray suitcases out there. Help your family and friends find their luggage on the airport baggage carousel, get them something different. A bright and eye-catching piece will catch your eye and theirs!
These pieces are strong and durable; they’ll be able to handle luggage handlers throwing it around and cobblestone streets. The hardside luggages also protect its contents from the weather, beats wrapping your luggage in plastic any day.
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IOPE Skincare
This Korean brand is one of the best skincare brands I’ve ever used, they’re moisturizing without being clogging and creating too much oil. Their “trial sizes” are also great because they’re super small (a little goes a long way) and perfect for carry-on. They’re perfect for any traveler you know who’s looking to maintain their skin even when on vacation.
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Travel Pillow
Aside from the fact that it’s cute and has a panda on it, this has also been one of the best gifts I’ve ever received because I use it all the time. Whenever I travel and plan to sleep, I make sure to bring my cute, panda neck pillow!
Share the gift of sleep with a friend who hates red-eye flights!
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Packing Cubes
I gifted these to Bear a couple of years ago. They are a bit on the pricey side but they are well made and he loves how they have different sides for clean and dirty clothes so that you can keep them separate. In case you wanted to know, he got the clothes packing cube and the drawstring shoe bag.
The drawstring shoe bags are especially useful for those with smaller feet, since they can actually put 1 pair of shoes in each bag. Otherwise the left shoe can fit in one bag and the right one fits in the other.
The company also makes packing cubes for underwear and shoes, in addition to toiletry bags and travel laundry bags. Plus for beach bums, they make swimwear bags as well so they can keep their sandy and wet swim suit separate from the other clothes. For an easy gift set, the packing cubes are also sold as a set.
The best thing about these cubes is they have holes to let the air out so they are easily squished for packing. Help your friends pack more easily and organized by gifting these packing cubes!
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Luggage Tags
Wanna make the passport cover gift bigger, better, and a little more useful? Add on a matching luggage tag!
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Ziploc Space Bags for Travel
This isn’t the most romantic gift, but it’s definitely one of the most practical. While we were packing for our last trip I gave Bear a couple of these bags, they don’t require a vacuum, you just squish your clothes in, zip it up, and they’ll be vacuum sealed!
Gift these to your favorite fashionista! They are super useful particularly for winter travel since they’ll be able to pack more space-consuming coats and accessories.
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Folding Water Bottle
These are great for traveling, they can be rolled up to take less space. The dry airplane cabin air is definitely more bearable when your favorite traveler can keep hydrated with one of these!
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GoPro Action Camera
The GoPro is an amazing video camera that also doubles as a selfie-taking tool. The fisheye lens is wider than the typical camera lens so it makes taking selfies or couplies much easier. It’s a great gift for your favorite couple!
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Nikon D3400 DSLR 2-Lens Kit
We recently started using this DSLR (in case you haven’t noticed some of the newer photos on the Instagram lately, this is why!) and we’re seriously wondering why we didn’t get one earlier!
This is advertised as a beginner’s camera, the fact that it actually comes in a lens kit is somewhat telling as well, but it’s got amazing photo quality. I actually enjoy taking photos on cloudy overcast days now because the depth of field and the tonal contrast is so much better than with any other cameras I’ve used. I will also note that this is our first DSLR, so we are true beginners.
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Try The World Subscription
Gift the gift of travel without actually having to buy the recipient a plane ticket! With a Try The World subscription box, they’ll receive a box every month with snacks and recipes from a different country. The treats are super delicious and are great for adventurous eaters.
I gifted a some of these boxes to Bear and we loved sharing the box together and learning about the different countries through their snacks.
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Hope you enjoyed our list of amazing gift ideas, I loved sharing them with you. I’ll update this every now and then to make sure it’s inclusive of all of my recommendations.
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30 Comments
We love our scratch map!! And I gotta check out those Try The World boxes! Sounds so cool 🙂
I love those boxes! Sometimes I even get them for myself as a special treat, they have a lot of really good stuff in them 😊
Such a useful blog post 🙂 I always like to bind the gifts with people’s hobbies, but only thing I knew to get to travelers were plane/bus tickets. Thanx for the ideas 🙂
Same here! I love tailoring my gifts to fit my recipients needs so I’m glad you liked my post, trying to tailor it to the needs of my readers as well 😉
I would love to own a scratch map. I think it’ll make a really nice decor as well as motivation to see more of the world. I also love the travel pillows! so cute, haha.. I love the ‘Try-the-world’ concept. I think I’ll look into it but not sure it applies to my country (Nigeria)
Oh yes, the Try the World boxes might be tougher for you to get since I’m not sure if they ship outside of the U.S., but I’m sure it’s worth clicking in and checking out 🙂
I am in love with the options 🙂 Especially the last one. There are some great choices.
Glad you enjoyed my post! Most of my friends are travelers as well so I try to get them things that are useful for their travels and explorations.
Oh, I wish someone gave me DSLR kit 🙂 All camera stuff I need is so expensive, I am waiting for new models of Canon 🙂
Haha the DSLR kit would definitely be a higher budget item 😉 And I totally get you, the camera stuff is super expensive… I don’t think I’ll be getting any new lenses for awhile…
Xmas is around the corner, and this is what we need! Ok, maybe the skincare thingy is not for me, but this scratch map looks fire!!! Also I may need this travel adapter as well!
The travel adapter is super useful! I have several of those just so I can make sure I’m always prepared no matter what country I go to.
That scratch off world map is definitely one I’ve considered for myself in the past 😉 and good call on the folding water bottle. It’s always annoying to have to pack an empty water bottle for before you go through security.
Totally agreed! I hate “wasting” space by carrying an empty water bottle through security. I love my folding water bottle so much, I even take it on walks in the area around my hometown just because it’s so easy to stick it in my purse when I’m done with it.
I could do with some packing cubes! I’ll have to put them on my Christmas list this year!
I hope someone gifts you your packing cubes! 🙂
I love the scratch map, passport cover and folding bottle! And I would definitely love to have the GoPro! Now I just need to find someone to buy me all these gifts! Great compilation of gifts for the festive season!
Thank you for your comment. I’m glad I gave you some ideas for your own Christmas gift list!
Tha scratchoff map I need it right now !! And so is the passport cover . I need them all actually. thanks for recommendation . Going to shop rightaway 😀
Glad you enjoyed my list, hope you get those gifts under your Christmas tree!
This is something interesting I am reading about gift guide because everyone wants someone who guide best ways to gift others.
Definitely, I always love reading other bloggers’ gift guides just to get a good idea of what my friends might like so I thought I’d post one as well 🙂
I’ve seen the scratch world map – such a cool idea! Packing cubes are great to organise your packing. I really want a Gopro … maybe I’ll add that to my list!
The GoPro is great for traveling, I hope Santa brings one to you! 😉
I’ll have to check out that skincare line. I love Korean cosmetics and skincare but haven’t tried that brand yet.
Laniege and IOPE are both great! I love them both a lot so I hope they work out for you 🙂
I am sharing this post with my friends, so next time they will give me something of my interest and they know what i really need, thanks for a great post
Thank you for sharing, I hope you’re able to get what you want this Christmas!
This is my biggest fear while on a trip. What to take back as gifts ! Lovely ideas. I liked the scratch off world map, I have been planning to buy one for myself lol 😀 but yes it would make a great gift too. UTA will be very useful too. Thanks for coming up with this helpful list.
Glad you enjoyed our gift guide! 🙂