Tis the season for stressing about what holiday presents you get everyone on your list. While I much prefer gifting to others than receiving, I still spend hours brainstorming the perfect ideas for each family member and friend. Experience gifts are my first preference, but some on my list don’t love receiving experience gifts and some are just difficult to excite.
So below are a few things that you can use as inspiration for those you need to buy for this year, or ideas to share with your own family and friends to gift to you. I know a few of these are on my list too.
Travel art: Do they have a scratch off map of all the places they’ve been? Are they smitten with a particular location that you can collect little bobbles from and display for them? What about a local artist’s piece and a bottle of local wine from that destination?
Travel consumables: As a big fan of gift baskets, it would be thoughtful to give someone a basket of goodies related to their upcoming vacation. Granola bars for the plane, mini cosmetics and toiletries, and no one has too many pairs of fuzzy plane socks.
Travel luxuries: Sometimes it’s nice to nap with a fancy silk eye mask. A solar-charged power bank for their phone or computer, a stylish luggage tag, a cute passport cover, and packing cubes can also be great options. You should check to see if they have these things before purchasing them so you don’t purchase duplicates, but if it comes up in conversation that they don’t have these things, or don’t love the version they have, it might be the perfect gift.
Travel pillows: This gets its own category because there are so many options out there (pellet-filled, inflatable, foam, etc.). The only I’m currently pining for is called Trtl and it has a plastic and fabric support system that is supposed to not give you the kink in your neck.
Services while they’re away: Do they have a pet that they always take to the local kennel? Will they need someone to check their mail and water their plants? What about a fancy car ride to and from the airport if you can’t do it yourself?
Currency: I recently gifted someone a travel guide and destination currency for their upcoming trip and I think it was a simple way to say “I hope you enjoy your time away” without going overboard or getting too personal.
Lodging or airline gift cards: Help them pay for the trip itself with gift cards to Airbnb or Delta. While gift cards can feel impersonal, we all know that’s what we really want to receive. One way to make gift cards feel more thoughtful is to research a really lovely restaurant or activities in their destination and purchase a gift certificate for that. When I left my job and moved to San Francisco, one of the many thoughtful gifts I received from my coworkers was a gift certificate to a fancy restaurant in San Francisco that my partner and I could use for our anniversary dinner the week after we moved.
Carbon offsets: Let’s be honest, travel isn’t great for the environment. So every year around this time, I recount all of the flights I took throughout the year and purchase carbon offsets in an attempt to counter all of the damage I’ve done throughout the year. Native Energy and TerraPass are two great options. This isn’t cheap, but it’s so important to me to reinvest in sustainability projects. I think assisting someone with this burden would be a thoughtful gift in that you would be showing that you care about what they care about: travel and the environment.
What is on your wishlist this year related to travel? Are there any travel gifts you received that you truly appreciated?