Travel Gift Ideas December 21, 2008

We all know someone whose luggage looks like it could tell stories, perhaps it is even you, but when they’re given themselves the world what do you give them as a gift? Here are a few inventive ideas that go beyond luggage tags, voltage converters, passport covers, and walking socks.

There are those moments between adventures (like doing laundry and repacking or waiting for your visa to arrive), who says you need to sit still though? Travel anywhere with a good read. National Geographic has an astoundingly good list of Classic Travel Books (not guides or  fiction). A friend recently told me about a good read by Peter Allison titled Whatever You Do, Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide. It is available from Amazon for $6.99 (Bargain), $9.99 (Kindle), or $11.53 (Paperback 1st ed.).

My father doesn’t travel anywhere without his MagLite Mini flashlight. Now an MagLite Mini MagLite LED model is available from REI for $25.

On the go does not mean you need to look like you’re on the run when you have an Eagle Creek Extra-Large Travel Towel ($30) to help you clean up.

L.L.Bean’s Adventure Duffles are my big trip bags of choice while my overnight and long weekend bag is Lands’ End’s 19″ and 23″ Lighthouse Duffel Bags. Also a favorite is the tag along bag of choice. I originally purchased one in every size of the Adventure Duffles upon graduating college (great gift idea, by the way). After a few years (and a few states and countries), my extra-large Adventure Duffle with wheels was in bad shape and had to be sent back to L.L.Bean for replacement, which they did without pause. At the time, they informed me that some airline carriers were changing their checked baggage rules which may mean extra charges for its weight when filled. I replaced the fallen extra-large bag with a large Adventure Duffle with wheels, but the extra-large and I had good memories that live on… like when it cushioned me when I waited all night on the floor of the El Paso bus depot. Ah, good times. I currently have the small (ideal for children and carry-on), medium (long weekends and overnights), and large (great for a longer stay or lots of gifts). I swear by my Lands’ End Lighthouse Duffel in the smallest size (19″) because it is ideal as a carry-on. My typical travel M.O. is to pack the smaller one inside the second-smallest size (23″) for a long weekend or overnight with my husband. The two of us can fit everything for a five-day getaway in the 23-inch bag and we separate them and use the 19-incher as a carry-on on the way home because we usually get goodies and dirty laundry always seems to take up more space. The smaller sizes are ideal for the small spaces in Europe and the staircases we often face in older buildings without elevators.