Inspire Our Christmas Gift – Impossible Giftees

In our series of Christmas gift ideas for people that like to travel, we have now reached the issue for the most difficult person to buy for on your list. Welcome to our miscellaneous travel related Christmas gifts for the impossible to buy for issue. How catchy is that?

We have already visited technology related gifts for travellers, gifts for the well travelled child / parent and gifts for outdoor enthusiasts. We are saving our guide for gifts for ladies who travel until last, so as to be guilty of both a sweeping generalisation and (probably) the use of an appalling gender stereotype. We think many of the people who read this will probably be men who have not done their Christmas shopping in a timely manner and are desperately in need of some last minute help.

Christmas gifts for the impossible to buy for

Flight Vouchers

If you are buying for someone who loves to travel, flight vouchers can be a great idea. I originally wrote ‘Virgin Vouchers’ for the heading as Virgin are the only airline I can find that sell flight vouchers, but on reading it through decided this may well be misconstrued. Anyway. Those nice people at Virgin Atlantic sell vouchers. On a related note…..

Airport Lounge Access

If someone you know has already booked their flights, why not buy them access to an airport lounge? This is a great way to escape the hubbub of the airport terminal without having to pay for a business class seat. APH have a great range of lounge options at competitive prices, as do Essential Travel Airport Lounges. Both companies cover airports worldwide so you can buy for the return leg too.

Luggage Related Matters

This may sound like a silly idea, but a decent suitcase is something that many people fail to buy. I am not a fan of luxury luggage as for me this just says ‘I am valuable, steal me’, but it is worth paying a little bit extra to get a well designed, light, strong suitcase.

We love the Aerolite® Super Lightweight range. Nice, strong cases that maximise what you can carry within your luggage allowance. Our top tip – don’t buy a black or navy one. Buy an unusual colour to help it stand out on the baggage carousel. If you must have black, there are various things you can do to help with speedy identification. Try tying a length of brightly coloured ribbon to the handle, neon luggage labels, or my personal favourite, attaching several pieces of brightly coloured duct tape to your case.

Baggage Tags

On the subject of identifying your bag, there are several good options for gifts that will help your favourite frequent traveller find their luggage.

At the bottom of the price range, Glo Bag Tags are a great idea. They fasten very well, are nice and durable and the bright colours make them easy to spot from a distance.

If you want something a little more sophisticated, you could go for the Easy2pick Luggage Tracker. This beeps, vibrates and flashes when your luggage is within 20m. It could get you some funny looks in the reclaim hall, but on the plus side you can wander off and have a little doze instead of jostling for position to see if your bag has arrived yet.

Finally, if you want to be super sophisticated and you know your giftee is fond of a gadget, you could go for a small GPS tracker that they can place in their luggage. There are lots of options on the market. We like Live GPS Tracker – Worldwide GPS Coverage as it is relatively inexpensive, light and does not come with an expensive contract. If you are shopping around be careful – you often need to buy the equivalent of a phone type contract to make the device work and they can be expensive, so check the small print.

Nice Notebooks

I know it’s old school, but sometimes it’s good to write things down on actual paper. It can be especially handy when you’re travelling. I find my electronic device of choice will inevitably run out of battery as I approach the immigration desk, for example, leaving me with no idea how to answer the question as to where I will be staying. There are then similar issues with instructing the taxi driver.

We like to have a nice notebook where we can keep all this helpful information. The Paul Smith London Large jotter notebook is particularly snazzy.

If you are feeling very generous, we also like the Paul Smith London set of 12 pencils to match.

Winter Warmers – Gloves you can keep on & still use your touchscreen

We have already featured these in our outdoor gifts issue, but we thought they were such a good idea that we would mention them again in case you missed them. You don’t have to take these gloves off to use your smart phone touch screen as they have clever finger tips. We like either Women’s Etip Gloves from The North Face or Sticky POWERSTRETCH® Gloves from Extremities along with the corresponding men’s versions; Men’s Etip Gloves, or Sticky POWERSTRETCH® Gloves.

Some book ideas

The Volcano Adventure Guide. I bought this book for my husband for Christmas a number of years ago. It has inspired some awesome holidays for us. Honestly!

We have been to Mount St Helens, Yellowstone, Sicily and a few other places after he read this book and thought hmmmmm. that looks fun.

 I am not usually a huge fan of the many 101 places to see / things to do type books, but I do like this one; USA 101: A Guide to America’s Iconic Places, Events, and Festivals. It is a great read if you are looking for road trip inspiration or if you feel like doing some arm chair travelling.

 

Another favourite of mine is Alain De Botton’s The Art of Travel. If your giftee is fond of art, philosophy or just given to starting out of the window day dreaming, this could be a good bet. I like looking at the pictures during long haul flights when my brain has turned even mushier than usual.

Finally in the book selection, here are a couple from probably our favourite writer of travelogues, Bill Bryson. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America and Notes From A Big Country are both great choices for anyone who enjoys a wry look at the world and is interested in travelling in America.

…..and finally, Gift Experiences

Gift Experiences can be a great idea when you can’t think of a ‘thing’ that someone may enjoy. You can buy a huge range from spa days and cooking classes to hot air ballooning and all sorts of hooning around in cars. I quite like the sound of extreme dodgems, but suspect the resultant chiropractor and physiotherapy bills would lead me to regret not having gone to the theatre instead.