It’s that time of year again! I heard my first Christmas song yesterday!!
And there’s nothing harder than trying to find that perfect gift … especially for a backpacker. The first few years I traveled my mother always tried to send me presents abraod even though I begged that more things in my backpack was the last Christmas gift a traveler wants. You don’t have to wait for Black Friday travel deals.
Even though the ideas below are meant for travelers, a couple can be gifted to friends and family that don’t get to see the world as often.
Here’s a list of 11 gift suggestions for the traveler in your family and that will make your life a little easier this holiday season. Hope you enjoy this travelers gift guide.
Walli Wallet
The Walli Wallet is the item of the list that I am most excited about getting!
As a traveler it is important to have a specified holder for a passport, boarding pass, and credit cards aren’t only time saving for a traveler, but is a smart idea to keep your important documents safe and secure.
Walli does all this and more.
This wallet sends messages to your phone when an item, such as a passport, is suddenly missing from its slot whether from being left behind or someone taking it.
It also has the capability of finding your phone by tapping an emblem on the corner.
How cool is the Walli!!
The Walli comes out early next year, but the pre-order campaign has started and in the first 24 hours they have 300 backers and have almost reached there goal.
In the pre-order campaign, they are offering early bird pricing to the first several hundred people that order.
Roam Right Travel Insurance
Roam Right is a great option for travel insurance which I highly recommend to anyone traveling.
The quotes are given per the total amount of travelers, and the rates vary according to the type of coverage you want.
Generally speaking, the average cost of travel insurance is about 6% of the total trip cost.
The price of insurance is determined by a number of factors: trip duration, the age of insured, type of plan, medical benefits, and/or deductible, insurance plan features, etc.
Roam Right is one of my favorite travel insurance providers.
A Tour of a LifeTime
A group tour is a fun way to see the world with people who want to experience everything it has to offer. A few companies that supply spectacular adventures are: G Adventures, Intrepid, and Haka Tours (New Zealand based).
G Adventures – caters to those who want to experience the culture and life of the country they’re visiting, and they offer a variety of different travel styles. Many times you can get Check out my G Adventure Review for 2020
Intrepid’s – passion for diversity will draw you in as you eat local food and sleep the local way; Wanderlust World Guide Awards have voted Intrepid leaders among the world’s best tour guides. Intrepid Travel Review
Haka Tours – offers ways to build the type of adventure you’re looking for when visiting New Zealand; they’ve won many awards, and believe that traveling in small groups (8-12 people) make your journey feel more like a road trip with your mates, rather than a bus ride with 50 strangers. They were also voted New Zealands #1 Ranked Tours. Check out my full haka tour review.
Gift a Travel Blog
Sharing my travel stories with the world changed my life, and deepened my love and passion for traveling.
Hosting a blog cost money, but not a lot for something simple and straightforward. It all depends on factors after the fact, but until those extra accessories come into play, to host a domain, it can be as cheap as $6/month or a little more if the user needs a developer. There are many hosting sites available, but here are two that come recommended:
Bluehost has been around since 2003 and is one of the world’s largest providers of cloud-based online solutions.
Check out Bluehost and see which best fits your gift needs. You can type the name of the domain that you’re interested in to see if it’s available:
Check out Blue Host here
A New Backpack ( Osprey Farpoint)
Picking a backpack for someone can be stressful, but when you know what to look for, it makes the maddening much easier. The best travel backpacks offer multiple compartments, are also water resistant, have internal frames (check with the traveler to see which they prefer: internal or external), contain padding, and have lockable zippers.
Osprey is one of the top backpack brands on the market today, and for good reason. Their backpacks are known for great quality at a reasonable price. An excellent recommendation is the Osprey Farpoint backpack. It is the backpack I have been using the last 3 years! A Backpack is hands down on the of best gift for travelers!
Super-M Speaker
This Super-M speaker is not only waterproof, but it’s also sand proof and small enough to fit into your pocket.
NudeAudio came out with this one after receiving such high reviews on the previous model. It won’t take up a lot of room in a backpack, and it can be taken anywhere, on any adventure. The rechargeable battery lasts up to 8 hours, contains Bluetooth, and is sold on Amazon for $99.
Voltaic Amp
When traveling to and from villages, or backpacking across countries, it can be hard to find a wall charger for a phone.
The Voltaic Amp is a portable charger, with a detachable battery, that uses the sun for powering. It can be found on Amazon starting around $79. Top Ten Reviews rated it number one.
Filter/Sanitizing Water Bottle
Possibly the best gift that keeps on giving … the best water. Many wonderful, mind-blowing countries don’t have the adequate water supply, and a person can only fit so much water inside a backpack. CamelBak is a company that offers the All Clear UV Water Purifier bottle.
The purification system is built-in and treats 80 cycles or 16 gallons with each charge. A traveler can fill water from all sorts of sources such as streams, taps, faucets, etc. If the traveler is going to be in a place that contains a lot of sediment in the water, purchase the All Clear Pre-Filter; this pre-filter would be used prior to the UV purifier. This comes in useful whether you are traveling in Thailand, or places to travel to in the US.. The UV purifier has a rating of 5 stars from 127 reviews on Amazon.
Electronics ( Go Pro Hero 4 and Canon T5)
Travelers want to capture their journey and there are a products that let us do it.
For example every traveler wants a…..
Go Pro Bundle,
Or a new Canon T5
SD cards always come in handy. There’s only so much storage one SD card can hold, which is why it makes it such a great gift for those that are constantly backpacking.
The question you need to ask is whether you want to gift a micro-SD or a full-size SD card.
Their prices and speed differ, and certain tech may only take one verse the other. For a great overview of SD cards and their differences, plus brand reviews, click here. It’s perfect for low light situations. So say your exploring the best caves in the United States, well then you need to have a SLR.
Other Ideas
Sometimes you need to keep it small and simple, so here’s a quick list of ten ideas: combination lock, scarf, book, portable fan, travel pillow, socks, flashlight, rechargeable batteries, sunglasses, or a water-proof phone case. Of course, you can always just grab a gift card to kayak and let them choose their own adventure on Kayak Explore. There’s also ways to get help them get there uber first ride free and Airbnb Coupon Codes that you can gift to your friends and loved ones.
You could even offer to pay for some Hostels! That would be an awesome Christmas Present.
Good luck and don’t stress!