Best Gifts for Travellers in 2017

Travellers, we’re notoriously hard to shop for. We live out of our suitcases or backpacks, carry the bare necessities and have likely purchased the things we’ve needed as we’ve come across them. Generally we make the holidays and birthdays difficult for our friends and loved ones (sorry!). Put down the money belt and look into giving your travel addict something from this list that they’ll actually love to receive! Here is my list of the best gifts for travellers!

We’ve made a list, we’ve checked it twice. I’d love to have these gifts, but I’ve been naughty, not nice… -Mr Adventographer

These travel gifts range from inexpensive to “would you adopt me” but remember it’s the thought that counts not the dollar figure. Do your research, find out what your traveller needs or doesn’t. According to Newsweek one of the most frequently returned gifts (62%) every year is clothing. Fit, finish, sizing and style are such personal preferences that clothing and similar items are best avoided avoided as gifts. Look instead to the gifts below:

Useful Travel Gifts for Every Traveller

Every traveller could find a use for these gifts. These aren’t extravagant gifts, they’re practical gifts suitable for every type of travel and traveller. From mobile power solutions to packing supplies and reference material useful travel gifts come out on top!

Packing Cubes

Packing cubes are something I’ve only recently discovered. Give the gift of organization, essential to every traveller! These zippered fabric or mesh containers help you organize items in your luggage. Using unique colored cubes allows me to quickly find any item I’m looking for in seconds. Osprey not only makes great travel luggage & backpacks with wheels but amazing ultralight packing cubes as well!

USB Battery Bank

A USB battery bank is indispensable while on the road. Every traveller I know either has one or wants one. What a perfect gift for the traveller in your life. There’s nothing worse than lining up to board your plane only to have your smartphone (and electronic boarding pass) flash low battery and shutdown. This 20000mAh unit will charge your tablet sized smartphone 6-7 times before needing a recharge itself. And with quick charge technology your smartphone will get the juice it needs just in time for boarding.

Travel Powerbar

While searching for the best gifts for travellers we can continue with the power theme. It never fails that when you need to charge every single outlet is in use. With the rise of smart devices the already rare coffee shop, train station and airport outlets are seeing an insatiable demand. Many travelers have been known to charge in washrooms, in service hallways or even from the back of the airport flight information displays, wherever a plug could be found. Give your traveller the gift of a mini power bar and let them be the hero at whatever location they find themselves. Its one of my top travel tips and has earned me more than one free beer!

International Power Adapter

What good is a power strip if you’re travelling away from your home country and can’t plug it in? This list of the best gifts for travellers wouldn’t be complete without a universal plug adapter like the one below. Better yet find a power adapter with additional USB power ports as a gift for your traveller so they’ll always be able to stay in touch!

Passport Wallet

As travellers our passports take a lot of abuse. New passports with RFID chips and biometric features simply can’t withstand the abuse that our old “dumb passports” could. Nowadays we need to go to great lengths to protect our passports in order not to be denied entry to our next destination. Passport wallets come in many shapes, sizes and colors and make a great gift for travellers. Look into purchasing one with RFID protection to keep your traveler’s identity safer.

Headlamp

A good headlamp never goes out of style! From moving around the hostel at night without waking your bunkmates, finding your passport in a dark train station or setting up camp in the wilderness, a headlamp is indispensable on my travels and consequently they make great gifts for travellers. I use a Petzl Actic Core headlamp which uses either an included USB rechargeable battery or 3x AAA’s which you can find anywhere in the world.

Noise Cancelling Headphones

How I survived international flights before noise cancelling headphones I’ll never know. From drowning out engine noise to crying babies travel has never been the same since my first set of Bose Quietcomfort headphones. The newest version of these headphones integrates bluetooth wireless technology and a USB rechargeable battery. The noise canceling pixy dust is spendy, sure, but it’s surely one of the best gifts for travellers.

Travel Journal

Something I encourage all travellers to do is to journal their trips. You don’t have to write a novel but a paragraph or two each evening about what you experienced, learned or felt becomes an amazing reminder of your trip and a keepsake like no other. A travel journal is a great gift for any traveller that they can look back upon down the road and vividly recall their memories.

Guidebooks

One of the best gifts for travellers, Last but not least, the mighty guidebook. If you know where your traveller is headed next Lonely Planet or Rough Guides have great guidebooks for nearly any destination. Guidebooks are super handy while travelling and help clue you into attractions and cultural activities you might never have known of otherwise! If a Guidebook isnt your style, what about keeping your traveller hyped between trips with one of these best travel books?

Best Travel Gifts for Men

Some of our travel gift ideas are gender specific. For the men in your life who love to travel our best travel gifts for men are listed below:

Solid Cologne

“Solid Cologne?” you’re asking? Well yes… My life changed when I found solid cologne, “what do you mean i can smell good getting off a 16 hour flight?!”. Compact, spill proof and durable unlike your standard cologne bottle these smell-good tins are perfect for your carry-on and as a bonus you won’t get stopped by security for having liquids in your bag!

Beard Trimmer or Shaver

Despite what the common image of backpackers might scream I’m a firm believer that personal grooming doesn’t go on holidays when I do. An electric Razor for your babyfaced traveler or a beard trimmer for your lumberjack are surefire top gifts for a traveller.

Underwear

Lets face it, he’s going to get underwear and socks for christmas anyways, you might as well get him the most comfortable, supportive set round. Great for long flights and steep hikes the Saxx Kinetic series are non-absorbent, moisture wicking and keep everything right where you want it. Just take my word for it!

Best Travel Gifts for Women

For the badass travelling ladies in our lives, I’ve searched out some of the best travel gifts for women. These come recommended by travellers I’ve met but, as a guy, I honestly have no experience with them!

Sleep Mask

Apparently one of the most underrated travel accessories for female travellers is a sleep mask. Who knew? Not I… Supposedly an eye mask will help you sleep better in the hectic environments that travel always throws our way. Sleeping better leads to being more refreshed and enjoying your trip. If it’s going to help me enjoy my trip then it ranks amongst the best gifts for travellers in my mind!

Solid Perfume

What can I say, I knew they made solid cologne for men, but had no clue the same was true in a woman’s product. Solid perfume is rugged, leakproof and durable unlike your standard bottled variety. These perfumes are a great gift for female travellers but I can’t be much help with the scents (Just don’t buy Patchouli!) Haha…

Laundry Kit

We all know ladies clothes don’t always launder as easily as men’s (likely by learning the hard way). Laundry is a fact of life on any long trip (more so if you’re packing light) and a lot of ladies clothes simply can’t be dropped off at the laundromat down the street. Travellers I’ve met have sworn by the Scrubba travel laundry kit.

Add to the Best Gifts for Travellers!

The best gifts for travellers are always the ones that they’ll actually use! -Mr Adventographer

The best gifts for travellers are always the ones that they’ll actually take with them and use. No One likes to have to pretend to love the gift they’ve received, make it easy on them by sticking to this list of best gifts for travellers! That’s it, that’s the end of our useful travel gifts!

Do you have a suggestion for the list? something I’ve missed or overlooked? Drop a comment below and let me know! I’d love to hear from you!