Inspire Our Christmas Gift – Technology

We all know the problem, what do you buy the adults in your life when you are desperately racking your brains for a surprise Christmas gift? Kids are easy, they usefully write lists to post to Santa. We wish adults did too, we love Amazon’s Wishlists for hard to buy for adults, but apart from a couple of wonderful family members (thank you), they are not widely used among our friends and family.

So, here are our Christmas gift ideas for people that like to travel. This issue is all about the technology loving traveller, but we will have future editions with ideas for; ladies who travel, the outdoor enthusiast in your life, how to keep your globe trotting kids happy and a miscellany issue for people who really are impossible to buy for.

Please note, if you are the organized sort of person who finished all your Christmas shopping in August this may still be helpful. If you see something you like you can always ping this to someone who is going to buy you a gift as a subtle hint.

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Technology Loving Traveller

1. e readers

The e-reader is a travellers dream. Half of my luggage allowance used to be taken up with paperbacks. So last century. Even if you already have a tablet, an e-reader is still worth having for the non-glare screen. Our favourite buy is the Kindle Paperwhite, we love it’s simplicity, the looooong battery life, and the access to Amazon’s massive array of Kindle books. At last count our two households contained 4 different Kindles from various generations including the original. Somewhat battered but still going strong.

The other good thing about buying someone a Kindle is that you can then buy them various accessories to go with it next time you are stuck. Kindle covers are actually really useful and there is an endless range depending on how much you want to spend.

2.  Tablet Computers

Tablets are fantastic when you are travelling. You can download and read magazines and books with colour pictures, watch films, catch up on TV and be generally entertained. There are however, a bewildering array of tablets on the market and navigating the buyer maze is tricky. We do have an editorial divide on tablets. Anna has fallen for everything Apple in a big way and would only have an iPad. I on the other hand, am a skinflint, as is my husband, and we are fans of all things Android. So, we have a couple of different tablet recommendations depending on which side of the Apple / Android divide you fall.

In either event one of your first choices will be whether to go for a 7inch or a 10inch tablet. In our experience, if the tablet is going to be used by one person at a time a 7 inch is fine. If two of you are going to try and watch films on it however, 10 inches does make life easier.

In the Android corner our pick of the 7 inch options is the Google Nexus 7 7-inch Tablet (2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC). We love its great screen, ease of use and latest Android operating system. It’s fabulous value for money and a top performing tablet.

If you are looking for a 10 inch version, we like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1inch Tablet. Again, the screen is great, it is easy to use and it is fabulous value for money.

If you know that only Apple will do, your small option is the Apple iPad Mini 16GB Wi-Fi.  People love it as it is very compact, easy to carry around, responsive and has a high quality screen.

If you are going for a really special Apple lovers gift, then their latest, biggest, fastest tablet is the Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi 32 GB. I suspect opening this will cause much excitement and an immediate demand for a plug socket, which brings me on rather neatly to our next Christmas gift idea.

3. A charger for multiple devices

We assume it is not just us, but whenever we travel there never seem to be sufficient plug sockets to simultaneously charge the multitudinous devices we carry. That and we have half a suitcase full of cables, chargers and adaptors. You can avoid (a) arguing over which device has priority for charging and (b) paying excess baggage fees by having a multi device charger.

We like this one EasyAcc 25 Watts 5V / 5A 5 x USB Wall Charger Multi Port USB Portable Charger battery charger for iPhone, iPad, Samsung Tab, iPod, Smartphones, 5V Tablets, Bluetooth Speakers & Headset, Power Cord Length:1.5 M. I thinks it’s the snappy name.

Anyway. It charges up to 5 devices at one time and it works with US voltage.

4. Compact Camera

A compact camera is a great thing for travellers. You can stick it in your pocket and always have it with you. If you are thinking, pah, they don’t need one of those, they have a phone, consider this; would you rather be holding a cheap compact camera at arms length to get a very amusing selfie in a strange city, or your very expensive and highly annoying to be without smart phone? Also, the camera probably has a better lens and bigger aperture and will take better pictures. We like the Nikon COOLPIX L27. Its compact, light and great value for money.

5. Speakers for your phone / MP3 player

If you would like to listen to your music your music in your hotel room, light portable speakers are a great buy. We like the Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker System as it runs on the mains and on batteries, weighs in at 1.4kg and will deal with any phone or mp3 player either by a Bluetooth or a wired connection.

If you are buying a gift for someone who truly loves their sounds you could go up a level and go for the Bose ® SoundLink ® Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II. The extra money gets you another lightweight portable system with Bluetooth or auxiliary connection to any device, along with Bose sound quality. It’s also rechargeable so although more expensive than the first option think of all the money you’ll save on batteries……..

6. Really good headphones

We don’t mean the massive noise cancelling headphones they always advertise in those magazines in the back of plane seats. We mean earbuds as they are much easier to carry around than big headphones, but way better ones than you get with your i anything or any other device. We like Sennheiser CX 300 II Precision Noise Isolating Ear-canal Phones. They are comfortable, offer great sound quality for the money and because they fit so well they stop sound leaking out and annoying other people and sound leaking in and annoying you. Trust me, mine have served me well through many a journey.