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Travel Matters | by Stephen & Andie
  • Must-Haves

22 Amazing Gift Ideas For Travelers

November 19, 2022 1
a gift wrapped in a map-print wrapping paper and a leather-bound journal with a compass on the cover

Having a hard time finding just the right gift for the traveler in your life? We’ve pulled together twenty-two amazing gift ideas for travelers to help make the imagining, planning, and executing of your favorite traveler’s journeys more comfortable, convenient, and fun.


This may contain affiliate links, which give us a small commission if you make a purchase. There is no additional cost to you in using them. We are grateful for the support we receive through your use of these links, which allows us to keep creating quality videos and posts to share with you. Thank you!


1. The Adventure Challenge

instant photos, an instant camera, and Adventure Challenge books to inspire fun adventures for the person receiving this gift

This is one of the most awesome and fun gift ideas for that special someone in your life! It comes with a scratch-off keepsake book containing fifty challenge adventures AND a Lomo instant camera, to capture the moment you completed each challenge.

2. Taschen Books

a travel-related book from Taschen is one of our favorite gift ideas to give and receive

Books are an awesome way to inspire trips. And Taschen makes some of the most visually inspiring books we’ve seen. There are plenty to choose from in a variety of price points, but this one’s our fave.

3. Scarf That Doubles As A Shawl

a scarf is a beautiful and practical gift for travelers

Andie swears by ALWAYS keeping a large, lightweight scarf in her carry on. Planes can be cold, we may end up somewhere she needs to cover her shoulders or head, and it can even double as a beach wrap in a pinch! It might be the most versatile thing she carries. Keep the traveling lady in your life cozy with this scarf that doubles as a shawl.

4. Stainless Steel Mizu Cutlery Set

a reusable cutlery set is both practical for travelers and great for the environment

The drawback to frequent travel is that it often comes along with frequent dining out and disposable takeout waste. Help reduce your favorite traveler’s footprint with a stylish reusable cutlery set! 100% recyclable and 100% BPA-free means this set is great for the environment. It includes a straw, fork, knife, spoon, chopsticks and carrying pouch, and it’s portable and compact. (warning: it may not be allowed in carry-ons)

5. FlatPak Toiletry Bottles

flat-pack toiletry bottles are a great space-saver

Hate buying single-use travel size toiletry products over and over? Same. We’ve all seen the reusable containers that you can fill with your own products from home, but take it a step further and help them save space too with these flat bottles.

6. Anker Power Bank

portable power banks are ideal gift ideas for anyone on-the-go and frequently away from power outlets

We all need our devices, and everyone needs to recharge at some point. This one’s self explanatory, and one of the most practical gift ideas for travelers.

7.  Beats Bluetooth Noise-Cancelling Headphones

noise-cancelling headphones are a traveling must-have

These are the headphones of travelers’ dreams. They fold into themselves pretty impressively, making them easy to pack. They’re lightweight and comfortable for prolonged listening, and noise-cancellation helps block out external noise, which is essential on airplanes.

8. Personalized Vegan Cork Leather Passport Cover

what world traveler doesn't want a personalized passport cover?

These handmade vegan cork leather passport covers are eco-friendly, practical, and stylish. Monogrammed with an initial of your choice, what jet-setter wouldn’t love a custom gift like this? 

9. Bombas Compression Socks

colorful compression socks are a super fun gift idea

Long flights and long days on your feet exploring new places can really take their toll. Compression socks REALLY help with lower-body circulation, and investing in a good pair for yourself or a loved one is money well spent. And have you seen cuter socks than these?  

10. Compression Packing Cubes

packing cubes are a great gift idea for frequent travelers

Packing cubes are great gift ideas for travelers! They help organize, declutter, and save space in their luggage. These are expandable, compressible, and waterproof, too!

11. Micro-fiber Backpacking Towel

a compact towel is a practical item to keep in your luggage and comes in handy for many purposes

For your backpacking, camping, or adventure traveler. Compact, super-absorbent, and quick-drying, these really come in handy.

12. Camry Digital Luggage Scale

a luggage scale makes a thoughtful stocking stuffer

Make sure they never get charged for accidentally carrying overweight bags again. This one makes a great stocking stuffer!

13. Patagonia Duffel Bag

And if their luggage is still overweight at the check in counter, they’ll be stoked they packed this Patagonia Ultralight Black Hole Duffel Bag in their suitcase as a breakaway bag to carry on.

14. Passion Planner

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A post shared by Passion Planner (@passionplanner)

One of our favorite gift ideas! For planning future trips and journaling as you travel. We live by our Planners and highly recommend them! They come in a variety of cool colors, dated or undated, and daily, weekly or monthly. Looking for more help planning a trip? Check our post on just that here!

15. Try The World Subscription Box

sample boxes filled with snacks from around the world

One of the best parts of traveling is partaking in the local food and drink, right? Try The World curates an incredible sampling of gourmet foods, snacks, and drinks from around the world, and you can enjoy them all in the comfort of your own home (when you’re not traveling).

16. Sony Wireless Mini Bluetooth Speaker

a Sony bluetooth mini speaker

For the slow-traveler, or anyone spending time in one place long enough, this wireless mini bluetooth speaker will crank things up in their Airbnb or hotel.

17. Brita Filtered Water Bottle

We try to reduce waste whenever possible, and by carrying our own refillable water bottles with built-in filters, we can avoid having to purchase plastic bottles as we travel. Brita is a trusted name in water filtration and these come in 2 sizes and several fun colors!

18. Personalized Monogram Cork Luggage Tags

personalized cork luggage tags with formal monograms

These monogrammed cork luggage tags are both unique and conscientious. Laser-engraved in black, there is a variety of monograms to choose from. 

19. Camping Hammock

a red hammock that can be folded for travel is a great gift idea for the adventurer or camper

This is perhaps a bit of a random item, but Stephen’s got a thing for hammocks and insisted we include it. In all seriousness, it’s pretty handy to have your bed with you at all times, no matter where you might end up for the night.

20. Turtl Travel Pillow

a woman demonstrates the Trtl Travel Pillow

Unlike most bulbous travel pillows, this packs almost flat and attaches to the outside of your luggage. It wraps around your neck like a scarf, has flexible internal support, and is machine washable. We never leave home for a trip without ours!

21. Nanopresso Portable Espresso Maker

Nanopresso portable espresso maker by Wacaco

We’re some pretty serious coffee heads, and this one makes us downright giddy. Manually operated, there is no battery or electricity required. Perfect for when you’re on-the-go, but desperately need that boost. We feel ya!

22. D.I.Y. Trans-Oceanic Survival Kit

beauty product gift ideas for trans-oceanic flights

Flights are known for being brutal on skin and one’s hydration levels. Why not put together a DIY trans-oceanic survival kit for your favorite traveler? They’ll love the extra thought that went into it. Some of Andie’s flight must-haves include: 

  • Pacifica face mask – 100% vegan & cruelty-free.
  • Skyn Iceland Cooling Eye Gels – Ahhhh!
  • Electrolyte Drink Booster – Replenish while supporting your immune system
  • Noshinku Refillable Hand Sanitizer
  • Lather Natural Fiber Hand Sanitizing Wipes
  • John Masters Organics Hand Cream – We love us some JMO products and think you will too!
  • Bombas compression socks (see #9!)

BONUS GIFT IDEA!

An Airbnb Experience

a screen shot from airbnb's website, advertising their experiences

Surprise your friend or loved one with an Airbnb experience! For those like us that prefer to give and receive experiences rather than material goods. Purchase as Airbnb online experience, or if you’ve got a trip planned together you can purchase an experience for the destination you’re traveling to. There’s also the option of an Airbnb gift card, should you want to play it more safe. If you’re new to Airbnb, you can join using our link to receive up to $65 on a qualifying booking! 

That about wraps it up (gift-pun intended) for our list of best gift ideas for travelers. We do use quite a few of these products ourselves and we hope our suggestions gave you some great ideas, or maybe we helped stoke your imagination with some ideas of your own. If so, we would LOVE to hear what you came up with, so drop us a line and we’ll update this post and give you a shoutout!

Lastly, if you’re looking for gift ideas for the artist or creator in your life, we got you!

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Tags:airbnbgift ideasholidaystravel essentials
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    March 25, 2021 at 7:14 pm Reply

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Our Latest Vlog:
Today we explore the Amazon jungle by night. Our flashlights reveal plenty of creepy crawlies, including unusual insects, cute frogs, a variety of spiders – including a bizarre one that looked like a robot, and Andie got her wish when we saw not one, but two tarantulas! Stephen was relieved to not run into any snakes, but later that night he was jolted awake by an an uninvited “guest” in our bed!

Only 2% of the #Amazon Jungle is in Ecuador, and part of that is in the #Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, which is where we visited during our Ecuador trip. It was our first visit to the world's largest rainforest, and we already can't wait to go back and see more!

This is the sixth video in our first-ever international series! Quito, Ecuador was the first international trip we took together back in 2011. Eleven years later, it’s where we filmed our first international series and first drone footage for our channel! 

We spent two weeks in Ecuador this time, including Quito, day-trips to Mindo and Cotopaxi National Park, the Amazon, and one of our top-3 bucket list destinations: the Galápagos Islands! 

If you’ve missed our previous Ecuador videos, you can catch up on the series here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbuSS3LLcHKhYj7iiXC3xGbaeGl3sS0zf

A very special thank you to our travel agents, Angelica and Christian, @TerraSurTravels!  
https://terrasurtravels.com

VLOG no. 69

*Please note that all info is based on our own experience and we do our best to be accurate. However any details may (and often do) change at any time, and you may find differences in your own travels. Please research all schedules, fees, rules and regulations, and other details by contacting the responsible agencies directly prior to your own patronage. Thanks!

📍LOCATION: Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Ecuador, South America

✦ PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG: 

Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge
https://www.cuyabenodolphinlodge.com/

**this video is not sponsored, nor have we received any product or in-kind consideration. We just like to provide the info and especially shout-out the small businesses we patronize.

PREVIOUS VIDEO ▶ The Amazon Rainforest | Travel Vlog | Ecuador Series, ep. 5
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:28 Lagoon Swimming
01:00 Caiman Search
01:38 Baby Snake
02:30 Claustrophobia
02:43 Night 2
03:58 Venus & Sunset
04:18 Nightwalk in the Jungle
04:54 Big Creepy Spider(s)!
04:29 Nocturnal Bird & Frogs
05:57 Tarantula!
06:27 Another Tarantula!
07:03 IT WAS IN OUR BED!

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Married in 2008, we love to #travel and explore whenever possible. Fast forward to 2020 and the global pandemic that left us "safer at home" and without jobs. In need of something to do, we quickly learned about videos and editing and started to #travelvlog! Some of the places we visit are old faves, most others are new discoveries, and we're excited to take you along with us as we share them all. Thank you for watching, and don't forget to subscribe! 

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THE JUNGLE at NIGHT | Ecuador Travel Vlog | Ecuador Series, ep. 6
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TRAVEL, FOOD, CULTURE, CLIMATE
Follow Our Mission to See ALL 50 STATES! 🇺🇸 🚐

Stephen & Andie | Travel Stuff
Oregon’s got #mood for days! Oregon is state no Oregon’s got #mood for days!

Oregon is state no. 22 in our mission to see ALL 50 STATES (plus DC & Puerto Rico)! Our first sleep and first morning of #vanlife was in Astoria, then we headed to Cannon Beach and were bowled over by the foggy views of majestic Haystack Rock. 

👉 LINK IN BIO 👈 to see more of the beautiful Oregon coast in our latest vlog, “First Night In Our Van!”

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#traveloregon #cannonbeach #oregoncoast #cannonbeachoregon #oregon #haystackrock #travelmatters #all50states #vanlife
We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why!

After buying our Sprinter in Portland we headed for the Oregon coast to spend our first night in her in Astoria. The next day we explored town and also made our way to Cannon Beach. Both were nothing short of stunning! Our drives through the state just got more and more beautiful and we couldn’t stop thinking how grateful and excited we are to be new #vanlifers. 

This is going to be an amazing year!

📷 Our first coffee on our first morning after our first night sleeping in our campervan. 📍Astoria.

📷 Isn’t she lovely? 😍 That’s Haystack Rock behind Andie. You might recognize it from movies like Point Break and GOONIES! 📍Cannon Beach.

📷 Having too much fun watching a pile of giant sea lions sleeping peacefully. 📍Astoria

📷 Loving our lives! 📍 Cannon Beach

👉 Link in bio 👈 to see all of this and more in our latest vlog “First Night In Our Van!”

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#oregon #oregoncoast #astoria #cannonbeach #haystackrock #lewisandclarkrvpark #vanlife #sprintervan #sprintervanlife #all50states
Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally share this news with you – we bought a camper van! *Join us at 12:15pm EST today (Monday)* for a live chat during the Premiere of our new vlog, where we spill the tea.

After months of behind the scenes planning and hunting, we settled on this beauty at the end of October: a 170” wheelbase, high top Sprinter, located in Portland, OR. In this video we fly to the Pacific Northwest to make the purchase and begin our two and a half week, cross-country journey from Portland back to North Carolina. But not before grabbing a rainy day lunch at one of Portland’s food cart havens – Cartlandia. Some hot grits from Grits Gone Wild warm us up to send us on our first outing in our new home on wheels.

We couldn’t be more excited, and this trip already kicks off our mission to see all 50 states (plus DC and Puerto Rico!). You’ll be seeing this cross-country trip, plus another month-long run in her over the holidays –  all in our upcoming vlogs!

Now — any guesses what we named her? 
Hint: any fans of the movie Role Models? 😜

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:

@gritsgonewildpnw 

#cartlandia

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#sprinter #sprintervan #sprinter2500 #campervan #vantravel  #vanlifers #roadtrip #roadtrippers #travelmatters #travelvloggers #UStravel #USAtravel #youtubers #DIY #Ace #kissmyvanthia #vanlifeusa
$150 train ticket from New York to… New York? $150 train ticket from New York to… New York? 

We REALLY loved our first time doing some train travel in the U.S. together! We rode the Hudson River Rail aboard the 20th Century Limited – the last two remaining, fully restored, 1940s train cars from what was “The Most Famous Train In the World” in its day. 

Our journey took us from Penn Station in Manhattan up to Albany and back. 

Sit back and enjoy the views! 👉 Link in bio 👈 to see the vlog!

📷 1: on the platform in Albany

📷 2: Penn Station, NYC

🎥 3: enjoying the VIP lounge at Penn Station pre-boarding

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#newyork #traintravel #hudsonriverrail #20thcenturylimited #1940s #vintagetrain #hudsonriver #travelmatters #travelvloggers #youtubers
California sunsets just hit different. 🌅 We we California sunsets just hit different. 🌅

We were Angelenos for literal decades and we still can’t believe how many iconic places in California we took for granted and never visited! Morro Bay is just one of them, and we’re SO STOKED that a recent cross-country road trip (big announcement on that front soon!) took us right past the area. Naturally, we looked at each other, said “Morro Bay?,” and turned the 🚐 around to head back just in time for a gorgeous sunset. 

Now we’re even more determined to hit all the spots that we took for granted and we’ll always find excuses to make our way back through Cali! Yosemite, Redwoods, Death Valley – we’re talking to you! 

What other spots do we need to hit? Shout ‘em out in the comments!

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#morrobay #sunset #centralcoast #SLO  #SanLuisObispo #california #southerncalifornia #daytrip #roadtrip #californialandmarks
We saw ALL THE MANATEES today! This was our second We saw ALL THE MANATEES today!
This was our second attempt at @bluespringstatepark within a couple weeks. We saw zero manatees the first time, and committed to returning after spending some time in Southern Florida. Turns out, we happened upon some manatees in the marina @evergladesnps, but the water was so murky we could only see parts of them… if they surfaced. 

Today was the day we got to return to Blue Spring. The weather was much cooler this time (great conditions for spotting manatees in the springs), and when we pulled up to the entrance, the sign read “MANATEE COUNT *288*” For context, there was no count on the sign for our previous visit, so… YAY! 

Can’t say exactly what OUR manatee count was, but we easily saw dozens in a short amount of time – from adorable little babies to giants! The water was crystal clear. It was so serene – watching them graciously glide through, only occasionally making a splash. Hearing that beautiful sound when they surfaced for air. Today was an AWESOME day, and we’re so thankful that we had the flexibility to come back and spend some quality time with these beautiful, unique creatures. 🥰

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#manatees #bluespringstatepark #centralflorida #orlando #florida #therealflorida #wildlife #statepark #bluespring #bluesprings #manateestatepark #bluespringmanatees #travelmatters #travelvloggers
Is this seat taken? Nothing says “classic New J Is this seat taken? 
Nothing says “classic New Jersey” like Asbury Park! We visited the boardwalk for the first time this summer as part of our DIY food tour of New Jersey. 

A killer coffee roastery? ✅
Cereal pancakes? ✅
Disco fries? ✅
$27 milkshake??? ✅

LINK IN BIO to see all that, plus a unique Jersey twist on “the slushee” in our latest vlog, now live on YouTube! 

This is state #20 in our mission to visit all 50 states (plus DC & Puerto Rico) - join our adventures! 

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:
@buddysjc
@roastd.coffee
@thetopsdiner
@coneywaffleasburypark

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#newjersey #asburypark #newjerseyfood #foodtour #jerseycity #fortlee #jerseyshore #travelvlog #travelmatters
As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid to be the orange fish. If an idea or dream scares you or feels too different, it’s probably the one you should go for!

We spotted these guys while snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands. See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#fish #schooloffish #galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #underwatervideo #snorkeling🐠 
#newyeargoals #lifegoals
We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #sealion #bluefootedbooby #tortoise #frigate #iguana #crab #fish
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