21 Best Gifts for Travelers Sick of Quarantine & Ready to Explore 2023!
What are some good gifts for travelers in 2023? This whole Covid pandemic, with all its quarantine and travel restrictions, has been a huge buzz-kill for us globe trotters, but there’s hope that things will change in 2023. Here are some gift ideas for the traveler in your life who is ready to get out again. A while back, I made a gift list and broke it out into budget groups for my friends and family. I didn’t know how much people wanted to spend and I wanted to give them options to choose from. I can only assume that you have been looking around for that perfect gift for the person in your life who loves travel, so I thought it might be useful to share this for your benefit. As a traveler who has been on the road for more than a decade, theses are the gifts I have loved receiving over the years. Here they are, categorized by budget: Hopefully you’ll find these various gift ideas for travelers to be inspiring to you! Please Note: Many of these links here are affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I will receive a small commission for anything you buy. The price is the same for you whether you find them on your own or with my assistance. Thank you for your support! Best Gifts for Travelers Under $30 Gifts under $30 are often some of the hardest to find! These are the kind of ideas I give my young son, my nieces, my nephews and my great-great aunt in Ohio who still insists on sending me something – all of whom don’t have a lot of money to spend but who still want to make me happy. Don’t be fooled! Just because the price tag is under $30 doesn’t mean that the gift has to suck. Below are five great gift ideas for travelers that will still bring a smile to their face. Scratch Off World Travel Map (Under $30) We travelers love to mark off where we’ve been – or plan where we want to go once this Covid crap ends! These scratch-off travel maps make it easy to see exactly which countries we’ve visited by having brightly colored countries appear where we’ve scratched off. For years this has been a popular gift with many travelers and thankfully there are a number of different options. There are bigger maps and smaller, travel-sized maps. Some maps are more serious while others are extremely colorful. Some even come with flags and crazy stickers – it’s up to you! Travel Cord Organizer Bag (Under $30) This kind of thing is useful even when you’re not traveling! You know how cumbersome all the various cords and adapters are that you have to carry. From chargers to earphones, batteries to connector cables – they have to be packed somewhere. For most people, that just means stuffing in a pocket somewhere where the cables get all knotted together and lost. OR…you can get what I like to call a “toiletry bag for your electronics”. Keep it organized. Keep it in one place. Keep your cable sanity! Moleskine Travel Journal (Under $30) Travel journals make great gifts for travelers and Moleskine is one of the most popular brands on the market for most travelers. Journals are for more than just writing “Here’s what I did today”. We use journals to track expenses, make budgets, creatively draw and plan future trips. RELATED: What are the best travel journals and travel journal apps? What’s nice about this particular journal is that is designed specifically with travelers in mind. There are sections that can be tabbed and personalized including areas for budgeting, writing and even blank pages for whatever they may want. Universal Phone Camera Lenses (Under $30) While I still recommend travelers buy and carry a good travel camera, most of us still use our phones as one of the primary ways to capture a moment. What’s crazy is that nowadays the new Apple, Samsung and Google Pixel phones have cameras that rival many entry-level DSLRs! Unless you have the most recent iPhone 12 Pro, Pixel 5 or Note 20, the use of additional clip-on lenses provide added flexibility. You can be creative with picture taking using a wide-angle lens, fish-eye lens a macro lens for close-up photography and many others. Trust me, they’re lots of fun to use! Universal Plug/USB Travel Adapter (Under $30) It used to be that international travelers had to lug around heavy voltage converter when traveling between countries whose standard was 110v vs 220v. Thankfully, now that most electronic devices can accept both voltages (especially newer phones, tablets and computers), most people only need a simple plug converter. That’s where something like this comes in handy. Not only does it work for a good majority of the plugs you’ll find all over the world, it also has USB plugs so you can leave behind each specific adapter for your phone, tablet, etc. These adapters can be a lifesaver! Back to Top Best Gifts for Travelers Under $50 As you can see, there are plenty of great gifts under $30 to choose from. Increasing your budget to $50, however, opens up a whole n
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What are some good gifts for travelers in 2023? This whole Covid pandemic, with all its quarantine and travel restrictions, has been a huge buzz-kill for us globe trotters, but there’s hope that things will change in 2023. Here are some gift ideas for the traveler in your life who is ready to get out again.
A while back, I made a gift list and broke it out into budget groups for my friends and family. I didn’t know how much people wanted to spend and I wanted to give them options to choose from.
I can only assume that you have been looking around for that perfect gift for the person in your life who loves travel, so I thought it might be useful to share this for your benefit.
As a traveler who has been on the road for more than a decade, theses are the gifts I have loved receiving over the years. Here they are, categorized by budget:
Hopefully you’ll find these various gift ideas for travelers to be inspiring to you!
Please Note: Many of these links here are affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I will receive a small commission for anything you buy. The price is the same for you whether you find them on your own or with my assistance. Thank you for your support!
Best Gifts for Travelers Under $30
Gifts under $30 are often some of the hardest to find! These are the kind of ideas I give my young son, my nieces, my nephews and my great-great aunt in Ohio who still insists on sending me something – all of whom don’t have a lot of money to spend but who still want to make me happy.
Don’t be fooled! Just because the price tag is under $30 doesn’t mean that the gift has to suck.
Below are five great gift ideas for travelers that will still bring a smile to their face.
Scratch Off World Travel Map (Under $30)
We travelers love to mark off where we’ve been – or plan where we want to go once this Covid crap ends!
These scratch-off travel maps make it easy to see exactly which countries we’ve visited by having brightly colored countries appear where we’ve scratched off.
For years this has been a popular gift with many travelers and thankfully there are a number of different options.
There are bigger maps and smaller, travel-sized maps. Some maps are more serious while others are extremely colorful. Some even come with flags and crazy stickers – it’s up to you!
Travel Cord Organizer Bag (Under $30)
This kind of thing is useful even when you’re not traveling!
You know how cumbersome all the various cords and adapters are that you have to carry. From chargers to earphones, batteries to connector cables – they have to be packed somewhere.
For most people, that just means stuffing in a pocket somewhere where the cables get all knotted together and lost.
OR…you can get what I like to call a “toiletry bag for your electronics”. Keep it organized. Keep it in one place.
Keep your cable sanity!
Moleskine Travel Journal (Under $30)
Travel journals make great gifts for travelers and Moleskine is one of the most popular brands on the market for most travelers.
Journals are for more than just writing “Here’s what I did today”. We use journals to track expenses, make budgets, creatively draw and plan future trips.
RELATED: What are the best travel journals and travel journal apps?
What’s nice about this particular journal is that is designed specifically with travelers in mind. There are sections that can be tabbed and personalized including areas for budgeting, writing and even blank pages for whatever they may want.
Universal Phone Camera Lenses (Under $30)
While I still recommend travelers buy and carry a good travel camera, most of us still use our phones as one of the primary ways to capture a moment.
What’s crazy is that nowadays the new Apple, Samsung and Google Pixel phones have cameras that rival many entry-level DSLRs!
Unless you have the most recent iPhone 12 Pro, Pixel 5 or Note 20, the use of additional clip-on lenses provide added flexibility. You can be creative with picture taking using a wide-angle lens, fish-eye lens a macro lens for close-up photography and many others.
Trust me, they’re lots of fun to use!
Universal Plug/USB Travel Adapter (Under $30)
It used to be that international travelers had to lug around heavy voltage converter when traveling between countries whose standard was 110v vs 220v.
Thankfully, now that most electronic devices can accept both voltages (especially newer phones, tablets and computers), most people only need a simple plug converter.
That’s where something like this comes in handy. Not only does it work for a good majority of the plugs you’ll find all over the world, it also has USB plugs so you can leave behind each specific adapter for your phone, tablet, etc.
These adapters can be a lifesaver!
Back to Top
Best Gifts for Travelers Under $50
As you can see, there are plenty of great gifts under $30 to choose from.
Increasing your budget to $50, however, opens up a whole new quality of great gift ideas for travelers. Here are some of the best.
Travel Water Purifier Bottle (Under $50)
In the western world, we often take for granted the fact that we can drink the water that comes from our tap. That’s not the case in most other countries that we travelers visit.
Whether you’re in a hotel or in the street, it’s hard to be sure whether the water you’re drinking is clean when you travel. You definitely don’t want to get sick while you’re on the road!
That’s why a gift like this LifeStraw water bottle that has a 2-stage water filtration system is such a great idea. Fill up on the go and be confident that the water you’re drinking is bacteria-free!
Wireless Travel Router / Battery / Media Streamer (Under $50)
This has been one of my favorite travel devices! It is one of the most versatile, useful devices that I carry along with me as a traveler and a photographer.
Check it out: not only can this RavPower Filehub make a wireless network out of a Ethernet connection (for when you’re at a hotel that doesn’t offer wi-fi) as well as charge my phone in a bind, it can also help me transfer my SD card photos to an external backup drive without a computer! Seriously – this is a game changer.
No need to carry my computer with me just to make sure I have a safe backup of all my photos/videos.
World’s Most Comfortable Travel Pillow (Under $50)
I’ve bought a number of travel pillows for my travels and there’s usually two things wrong with them:
- They aren’t actually comfortable and,
- They’re so bulky that I can’t pack them easily.
That’s where the Cabeau travel pillow has shined for me.
The neck support goes above and beyond the average travel pillow to actually support my head and it can be squeezed into a travel bag for simple storage. Very handy!
Wireless & Waterproof Travel Speaker (Under $50)
There are literally hundreds of different wireless speakers on the market, which makes it hard to determine what is worthwhile.
For travelers, you want something that packs small, sounds big, and endures the elements.
Ironically, most name-brand wireless speakers don’t fit that category. That’s where a speaker like this one does well. It fits in a bicycle water bottle holder, it’s waterproof, and it even comes with an FM radio!
Portable Laundry System (Under $50)
This isn’t a gift for every traveler, but there are times when I’ve done laundry in a hotel sink or in a stream. The difference between that and doing it in the Scrubba laundry bag is night-and-day.
A travel laundry bag makes washing clothes so much easier and cleaner. Plus, it packs down to a very small pouch during travel.
The only thing I wish I could add to it is some sort of portable dryer (hang drying takes forever!)
Back to Top
Best Gifts for Travelers Under $100
Once we pass the $50 mark, we again find a number of very interesting gifts that I – like most travelers – would be more than happy to receive.
All of these gifts have a specific application that fit a specific type of traveler, so think hard about where the person you’re buying for likes to travel and how they usually travel (budget vs luxury; light vs heavy, etc.).
Pacsafe Anti-Theft Travel Backpack (Under $100)
After years of trying out different travel backpacks, I’ve finally found one that I absolutely LOVE: the Pacsafe.
Mind you, at 15 liters, this backpack won’t carry a week’s worth of clothes, but it’s amazing as a day pack.
You see, one of the biggest issues we face as travelers is taking our most valuable things with us (passports, computers, phones, etc.) but not losing them or having them stolen. That’s where an anti-theft backpack like the Pacsafe come in handy.
I’m a huge fan of the locking zippers, the cut-proof material, RFID blocking pockets and the compact design. It does look or feel like a huge backpack, but it holds my 15″ Macbook Pro without a problem. For this price, this is one of my favorite sub-$100 gifts for travelers!
Handpresso Travel Espresso Maker (Under $100)
Let’s face it: hotel and hostel coffee sucks. Can I get an amen?
While on the road, you either need to rely on an expensive Starbucks (which isn’t always available) or settle for instant coffee in some countries such as China.
OR…you can give them a travel espresso maker
