Finding the right gift is hard enough but finding the right gift for someone traveling can feel almost impossible. Today’s reduced luggage allowances and TSA restrictions can seriously limit what can be brought on a plane.
As we are often away for birthdays and holidays, giving each other gifts means extra consideration of luggage space and weight. Basically, a gift for someone traveling must be small enough to fit in a suitcase, and light enough not to take up precious weight allowances.
Most of our practical gift ideas don’t take any precious suitcase space or they are so handy, your traveler will be using them straight away.
Give an Experience
Experiences are my go-to gift. You can never have too many, and the memories last a lifetime.
Here are a few good ways to learn which experiences are available near you.
- Groupon or Living Social can tell you what’s on offer in your area.
- Cloud 9 Living or Xperiencedays make purchasing experiences super simple.
- I also use Google maps to search specific keywords like “survival training.” This is how I found the Trail Blazer Survival School where I bought Jeremy a 2-day Essential Wilderness Survival course.
Consider buying an experience for the destination your loved one is traveling to. One year, we did a cooking class in Morocco that was delicious and memorable.
Be careful of weather dependent activities. For example, many hot air balloon companies won’t give refunds, they only allow rescheduling.
Here’s a few gift ideas from the experiences we have given each other.
- Off-road 4×4 driving course
- NASCAR racing experience
- BMW Performance Drive with ride-along hot lap
- Wilderness survival training
- Helicopter flight training
- Cultural cooking class
- Zorbing
- Afternoon tea at a fancy hotel
- Paint and sip class
Go to a Live Event or Show
You can’t beat the ambiance of a live event. It’s easy enough to check Ticketmaster or StubHub for upcoming events.
Don’t forget to check in your loved one’s travel destination. For instance, we attended an Irish Curling game in Dublin. It was amazing fun and something a bit different.
- Sporting Events
- Musicals or Theater Plays
- Traveling Shows/Performances
- Concerts or Music Festivals
- Comedy Shows
- Magic Shows
Subscription Services
Not just for magazines anymore. You can buy subscriptions to almost anything these days and spend as little or as much as you like.
Here are some subscription gift ideas.
- Online video game services (Steam, Origin)
- Streaming Services (Hulu, Prime Video)
- Food and drink sample boxes (Vinebox, Dessert of the month)
- Make-up in the mail (Allure Beauty Box, IPSY)
- Man boxes (Loot Crate, Man Crates)
- Wardrobe and jewelry (StichFix, rocksbox)
Personal Services
Super practical, yet often we don’t purchase these services for ourselves.
These gift ideas can be a little more personal in nature. You’ll need to know if your love one would be comfortable with the service, like letting someone clean or organize their house.
- Session with a make-up artist
- Photo shoot
- Style consultant or personal shopper
- Housekeeping service
- Organizational service
- Massage or a spa day
Annual Pass to the National Parks
For the history and nature lovers on your list, I can’t think of a better gift than an Annual Pass to the U.S. National Parks.
The America the Beautiful Pass costs $80 and gives access to over 2,000 National Parks for a year. Places like the Shenandoah in Virginia, Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, or the stunning Zion Canyon in Utah. Plus, you are supporting our great parks system.
Alternatively, most states have an Annual State Park Pass. The one for South Carolina, for example, gives entry for up to four people for $99.
Travel Related Gift Ideas
The next best thing to something that literately takes up no luggage space, like concert tickets or a subscription, is something practical to use while traveling.
These are some of the travel accessories we regularly use.
- Kindle – Reading material can be your best friend on the road. A kindle is light and slim, making it easy to carry a whole library in your carry-on.
- Packing cubes – Packing cubes make packing and unpacking really easy. Especially for road trips, when you are moving from place to place. Plus, they take virtually no space or weight.
- Travel towels – Not so useful for hotel stays, but a must for backpacking or camping trips.
- Cord organizer – Between the phone, headsets, camera, and drone this organizer keeps our cords from getting lost.
- Toiletry fold out bag – Look for one that has a strong hook for hanging.
- Luggage scale – I’m a souvenir junkie so I always pack my return trip to the limits, this keeps me from getting those pesky baggage fees.
- Sleep mask – A good sleep mask is worth its weight in gold on the road. I love the GiniMax as there’s no light leakage.
- Waterproof anything – We always carry waterproof backpack covers and a dry bag with us. These waterproof shoe covers were amazing for Iceland. I’m on the lookout for better waterproof gloves.
Hobby Related Gift Ideas
Most travelers combine travel with a hobby. Jeremy likes drone videography and water activities, such as snorkeling and scuba, and mine is photography.
- Camera bag – I love my Peak Design 20L bag. It’s compact but carries my primary equipment in an easily accessible way. I also love that it doesn’t look like a camera bag.
- Camera accessories – SD cards, filters, neck strap.
- Photo editing software – Photoshop and/or Lightroom.
- External Hard Drive/Solid State Drive – Reaching “the cloud” is not always easy when traveling, we love the rugged Transcend StoreJet to back-up our photos.
- Action camera and accessories – Nowadays you can buy an action camera for under $50.
- Carrying case – We bought this carrying case for our DJI drone.
Make a Charitable Donation
If they truly are the type of person that wants nothing or has everything, there are plenty of great causes out there that you can donate to on your loved one’s behalf.
- World Wildlife Foundation
- Humane Society
- Plant a tree in their honor through A Living Tribute
Give the Gift of Stock
I stumbled across the company Stockpile.com when searching for gifts for a dear friend’s teenage daughter, but it also makes a great gift for someone traveling too.
Through their website you can purchase stock in hundreds of companies in the form of a gift certificate. As it can be bought in monetary increments, you can purchase factions of a stock.
If you have no idea what stock they want, buy a generic gift card and let them pick a stock for themselves.
The website is very easy to use, even for someone who has never owned stock before.
More Gift Ideas
Still looking for the right gift for the traveler in your life? Check out our 2021 gift guide.
Alternatively, browse through our favorite travel gear we use on the road.
