Why does buying a good gift for someone who travels seem to be so much harder than any other gift?
They usually own the basics already, they pack light, and anything bulky ends up left at home – so what else is left?
Now if you know me, you know I am an absolute sucker for Christmas. Something about cities lit up against the cold, while cheerful music in the background accompanies your last-minute shopping spree to buy a thoughtful gift for your loved ones, makes me feel cosy in ways nothing else can.
So even though it is still October, my mind is already there.
And as someone whose love language is gifts, and who also has a bit of a shopping problem, I thought to myself: what better occasion to write a blog post about it? And hopefully help you out in the process.
So today, I have put together a list of gifts for travel lovers: ideas for all your friends who love travelling and who you always struggle to find something for. They work for Christmas, birthdays or any other occasion.
A few of them are from my own shop, the rest are things I’ve used over nine years of travelling and blogging and would happily give or get myself.
So let’s get into it.
11 gifts for travel lovers at a glance
- Sleep eye mask – for frequent flyers and hostel stays
- A novel set in their next destination – for long journeys
- A guidebook – for the planners
- An instant camera – for memory keepers
- A travel journal – for people who like writing things down
- Packing cubes – for anyone living out of a bag
- A travel print or poster – to bring travel home
- A travel calendar – a reminder all year
- A universal adapter – for multi-country trips
- A power bank – compact for cities, solar for hikers
- Language classes or an app – for learners with a trip coming up
The best gifts for travel lovers, one by one
1. A sleep eye mask
Best for: night flights, overnight buses and hostel dorms. Rough budget: €10–30.
Starting off strong with what is, in my opinion, a highly underrated item. A sleeping eye mask is one of those things you don’t realise how useful it is until you try it, and once you do, you can never go back.
Believe me – I also ignored this one for years until an airline gave me one during a long-haul flight and I finally decided to give it a shot – and my life was changed. What I always thought to be a mere marketing scam was actually groundbreaking.
Not only do they help me fall asleep, but I also just sleep better with them. Night flights, overnight buses, hostel dorms where someone always leaves the light on, hotel rooms with thin curtains… nothing fazes me anymore (well, almost nothing – I once ended up sleeping on the street in Zurich).
So if you love your friends, give these a try, and I am sure they will love you later.
Pro tip: a good one that doesn’t press on the eyes or around the ears makes a real difference, and it takes up no space in a bag. And to be honest, at this point it’s a great gift even if you’re not a traveller.
2. A good book for their next trip
Best for: long journeys and airport waits. Rough budget: €10–20.
Travelling can mean a long time spent sitting down as you move through long distances, or simply wait to check in on your flight. A book is always a great gift for these occasions, to spend time in a mindful wait (and also save up on your phone battery because you don’t have to resort to watching reels instead).
As topic ideas, you could pick a novel set in the place they’re going next if you know it, something you know they’re interested in, or simply something you loved yourself.
Pro tip: one I wouldn’t personally do (or appreciate) is books from other travellers. I never understood this being gifted to someone who travels a lot… but that might be just me. Another pro tip – make it thin and light, so that it’s easy to carry around.
3. A travel guide (if they’re into planning)
Best for: travellers who like to arrive with a plan. Rough budget: €15–30.
Some people like to arrive with a plan, and for them a proper guidebook for their next destination is a nice thing to unwrap. It’s also a quiet way of saying “go on, book it,” and it can be a nice memory sitting on their bookshelf once they come back.
If they’re more the go-with-the-flow type like me, this might not be the most useful, but it’s probably a nice to have just in case and can help them out as they do their last-minute planning – probably when they’re already on the plane.
4. A polaroid or a tiny camera
Phones take great pictures, but nobody looks at them again. An instant camera or a small compact camera gives them something physical to keep, and it makes them slow down a bit when they take a photo. Instax Mini is my personal favourite!
As an alternative, a digital device that allows you to print photos from your phone is also really cool – I got gifted this one myself a few years back, and loved it. Whatever it is, make sure it’s compact and easy to carry. This is the number one rule of these kinds of gifts.
Pro tip: for a really good gift, remember to add a couple of packs of film so they can use it straight away. So many people tend to forget this part… Or, if you wanna go extra, get them a portable action camera for even richer memories.
5. A travel journal
Best for: travellers who like writing things down. Rough budget: €10-40, depending on design choice.
This is a real fun one to allow your friends to remember the trip, even months or years later. It also gives them an opportunity to relive the experience as they pick out the best stories and details to write in the journal, and overall can be a good way to share this with their loved ones as well in the future.
As a big fan of these, I actually make travel journals with covers made from my own travel photos. I have designed the inside of the journals myself with all the things I’d personally like to remember from my trips, plus QR codes linking back to tips, stories and recommendations from across the globe.
Overall, they’re just a great way to write down the things photos don’t capture: the café you found by accident, what someone said to you on a bus, how a place made you feel.
6. Packing cubes
Best for: anyone who lives out of a backpack or suitcase. Rough budget: €15–35 for a set.
These might sound a bit boring, and they kind of are. However, I do believe it’s like receiving socks as a child: back when you’re little, you don’t appreciate them enough. But as you grow older, you start to see the value in a pretty, nicely designed one that will last you a long time.
For a traveller, a packing cube is like water: an essential item that makes life extremely difficult without. Everything stays in its place and it’s much easier to find things without emptying the whole bag.
If your friend hasn’t tried them yet, they will love you after.
Pro tip: make sure they’re in different sizes and in solid colours. Nothing hurts more than a practical gift wrapped in a horrible design.
7. A travel wall print or poster
Best for: bringing places they love into their home. Rough budget: €15–40, plus a frame.
Another great idea is a travel print. As a traveller myself, I love being surrounded by places I’ve visited or places I’d like to see even when I’m at home – it makes me feel like my mind is travelling even on the days when I cannot physically do it myself. Also, they look cool.
Overall, a print is a nice gift for someone who just came back from somewhere, or who keeps talking about a place they want to see.
As someone who loves to adorn her walls with photos, I actually create prints from my own travel photos, and turn them into posters that can be framed and put up on a wall, a counter, the floor, or your bathroom – the possibilities are endless, really, and we don’t take offence. You can browse my travel photo posters on Etsy.
Pro tip: include a frame that they can hang it by, so they don’t have to purchase something on top just to be able to enjoy your gift.
8. A travel calendar
Best for: a small reminder of travel all year round. Rough budget: €20-40.
Another one I absolutely love are travel calendars. Not only are they generally useful items to have in the house, but making it travel focused adds so much more charm to it.
Every month, you’re accompanied into the next 28-31 days by a new location, which is really fun because it might be somewhere you’ve been to already that recalls memories, or somewhere you might want to add to your travel list.
My 2027 travel photo calendar has one of my travel photos for each month. This is the first travel calendar I created, and I wanted to make it special: every month, there is a specific QR code that takes you to a short “thought of the month” on the blog. Here the plan is that during 2027, everybody will be able to leave their own stories, memories, objectives for the months, or anything they like. I am so excited for it! Here it is below in all its beauty (without the monthly grids – you can see those in my Etsy shop mockups!).
9. A universal adapter
Best for: anyone doing multi-country trips. Rough budget: €20–40.
This one might seem a bit random, but proper universal adapters can be more expensive than you’d think. They definitely cost me more than I was budgeting for, and with high risk of losing them or having them stolen, an additional one is always good to have in your bag for when you need it.
On top of this, they work almost everywhere, meaning your friend will thank you when they don’t have to look up power sockets for each place they visit in advance. One less thing to remember, and one less thing to buy at an airport for three times the price.
10. A compact power bank
Best for: city explorers (compact) or hikers (solar). Rough budget: €20–60.
Maps, tickets, boarding passes, translation apps. Everything is on the phone now, so a small power bank is one of the most practical things you can give.
Depending on your friend, these can take different forms: a chunkier one if your friend is into hiking and normally ventures outside of electricity-powered areas for longer periods of time; a compact one if your friend prefers to spend hours exploring cities and doesn’t want to carry a heavy bag the whole time.
Pro tip: if you’re gifting this to someone who will likely spend a long time without power, consider looking into power banks that can be solar-powered too. These tend to be a bit more expensive, but can guarantee your friend some energy even when they’re unable to recharge for longer periods of time. I couldn’t find the exact one I have, but this is the closest match.
11. A language class or app subscription
Best for: curious travellers with a trip coming up.
This is one I would absolutely love, but it really depends on the person. As someone who adores learning, a gift like this would really get me excited about a trip and would show a lot of thoughtfulness from whoever gave it to me.
At the same time, take into account your friend’s character: do they usually try to learn a bit of the language? Do they even enjoy learning? Do they already have a lot on their plate, meaning they wouldn’t have the time? You don’t want to give them unnecessary stress about a gift going to waste.
However, if they have a trip coming up and the interest and time, a few months of a language app or a short course gives them something to work towards, and get them even more excited. Even a little bit of the local language changes how a trip feels, and they will definitely thank you later!
Personally, I have been using a platform called Preply for years now for Chinese and Russian, and I have been loving it so much. You can choose the tutor, you set your own budget, and you decide when to have classes. It’s genuinely the most convenient, fun and interactive way to learn a language and I have already recommended it to a bunch of my friends.
They’re not sponsoring me for this so I am really honest in my opinion, however you can use my referral link to get 70% off your first class and I also get a discount back. Let me know if you try it and have fun!
Pro tip: pair this with a tiny book about language essentials, that they can take with them on the trip to revise and remember basic things, or a notebook to note things down.
A few notes: what I would personally skip
Magnets and souvenir-type stuff. Fridge magnets, keyrings, little globes, anything with “wanderlust” written on it. It’s a bit boring and predictable, and honestly, they don’t need it. Most travellers already have a drawer full of this, or they like to collect them themselves.
Books by other travellers. Same thing. Most people who travel would rather have their own experiences than read about someone else’s – but that might be just me. A good novel or a practical guide, in my opinion, would probably be a better pick.
FAQ: gifts for travel lovers
What do you buy someone who travels a lot?
Something small, light and useful on every trip, like an eye mask, packing cubes or a universal adapter, or something that helps them remember trips, like a travel journal or a print of a place they loved.
What are good cheap gifts for travellers?
An eye mask, packing cubes, a universal adapter or a slim paperback all cost under €30-40 and get used on almost every trip.
What travel gifts should you avoid?
Souvenir-style items like fridge magnets, keyrings and “wanderlust” decor. Most travellers already have plenty, or prefer to collect their own.
What’s a good gift for someone about to go on a trip?
A novel set in their destination, a guidebook if they like planning, or a few language lessons before they leave.
That’s all for today, my dear unstable elements
Time flies, and Christmas 2026 will be here in the blink of an eye – so I suggest you start getting ready for it fast!
As you do this though, please keep in mind: the best travel gifts are the ones that get used, not the ones that sit on a shelf. So don’t just buy for the sake of buying – buy with intention!
If you’re not sure, go for something small and practical, or something that helps them remember a place they loved. And if you want to have a look at my journals, posters, mugs and calendar, they’re all in my Etsy shop, YourTravelStories. 😉
As for me, I won’t lie when I say that this particular festivity is my excuse to give into my shopping temptations without the guilt behind it, and I just love finding things that I know my loved ones will enjoy and getting ready to see their happy faces while they unwrap.
It is truly my favourite time of the year.
How about you? Do you normally purchase physical gifts, or do you prefer emotional ones instead, or experiences? I’d love to know!
As always, wishing you all a lovely day,
Elena
Note: all recommendations are authentic and genuine! However, some links in this post are affiliate or referral links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
