Fabulous gift ideas for your favorite traveler

Strolling through all these Christmas markets, I’m reminded of all the useless crap people tend to give each other around this time of year. Instead, why not give the travel-lovers in your life presents they will actually like and use?

“But Jul,” you’re thinking, “I don’t know what gifts will delight them.” Ah, don’t you worry. I’ve been collecting all my favorite travel items on the Traveler’s Wish List page of my Amazon store. There are things for every budget, from a couple dollars to a couple hundred (such as my favorite new toy, a tiny travel laptop). I own and use most of the things listed, and covet the rest.

Still stuck for a gift idea? You can go for the practical if not romantic gift card.

What is your favorite bit of travel gear?

12 thoughts on “Fabulous gift ideas for your favorite traveler”

  1. For packing, the Eagle creek travel folders. They really keep even suits from getting wrinkled.

    For the plane, I have noise canceling headphones but i have the
    Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones
    (which are normally cheaper than the bose but moreover seem to be onsale right now for under a 100!
    http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-ANC7-QuietPoint-Noise-Cancelling-Headphones/dp/B000OMKR8E/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s;=electronics&qid;=1229250752&sr;=8-1)

    there was a review in the NYTimes and they are rated more or less as good as the Bose but much less expensive

  2. Cool! We have the Bose ones and love them, but it’s nice to know the cheaper brands work well, too. Maybe it’s time to get a second pair so we don’t have to fight over them…

  3. I never invested as much in travel gear as I should have when I was actually doing lots of long-haul flights, but the one essential thing I always had to travel with was my iPod. (Well, a prescription for Xanax came in handy on red-eyes too, but I don’t think you can get that on Amazon yet!)

  5. When I was flying all over the US for our wonderful government, I invested in a Tempurpedic lumbar cushion (after having a back issue after the flight from Hawaii to DC – Hawaii is actually further away from DC than Munich!). The Tempupedic eye pillow is also a valuable travel tool if you can manage to sleep on planes. They are both very squishable so they can be squished into carry on luggage easily.

    Ditto on the ipod and noise cancellation headphones.

  6. Ooooo, a lumbar pillow sounds nice. My back is always miserable after a long flight. Might have to look into one of those. Unfortunately I can’t ever manage to sleep on planes… a skill that would be extremely useful.

  7. Hey Jul,
    Delurking here to ask if you’re happy with your eee? I’m about to buy a mininote but am worried that the keys on the eee are to small for longer writing sessions (just mails, letters etc. but anyhow).

  8. Mostly I love it – so tiny and light! The smaller keyboard does take some getting used to at first, and I’m not sure it would be very ergonomically correct for long writing sessions (I would use an external keyboard in that case, I think). But for the blog posting and emailing I’ve used it for, it’s been fine.

  9. Thanks Jul; I ended up bying a HP today with a slightly bigger keyboard but is soooo excited about it. Can’t wait to bring it on an airplane and see how much easier it is!

  11. I bring along a pair of noise-canceling headphones: there are lots of alternatives in the sub-100 euro range. A small mp3 player is essential, as is the a multi-plug adapter like Fuji’s that lets me recharge things everywhere. A (very) good book is a personal favorite…and a digital camera, always.

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