It's that time of the year again. With holidays just around the corner, I'm sure we're all working away on our gift list for our loved ones. So here are some ideas of what to get the world traveler on your list:
1. VIOlight Slim Sonic Toothbrush, $16,
flight001.com
Often-bulky electric toothbrushes are tricky to travel with. But the Slim Sonic is compact, runs on a AAA battery, comes in pretty colors and is about the size of a fat fountain pen. Yet it packs an antiplaque punch.
2. Auvio Headphone Splitter,
$14.99,
radioshack.com
It’s unquestionably adorable to share earbuds with a friend, but such cuteness comes with a cost: one-ear listening. A splitter like this one allows you to share music in stereo with your travel companion.
3.Gift Certificate from Maps.com, $25
Google Maps is useful, but nothing beats a foldout map to help explore a city on foot or navigate a country by car.
Maps.com offers city and country maps from around the world (its $25 printable gift certificate should buy two) and also has reproduced antique maps for your wall.
4. Travel Stub Diary, $14.95,
uncommongoods.com
Thanks to Facebook and other social media, post-travel image-sharing is now easy. But what about those theater stubs and other tactile mementos? This book features plastic sleeves for such items as well as space for notes.
5. The Mobile Foodie Survival Kit,
$26,
plantbrooklyn.com
A hallmark of frugal travel is cooking in rented apartments and hostels, which are not likely to have the spices you’ll need for fine dining (or in my case, to cover up the flavor of burned eggs). This kit from Plant, a design shop in Brooklyn, comes with organic herbs and spices.
6. Petzl Headlamp,
$29.95,
ems.com
These headlamps (which come in many varieties, including cheaper ones, and recharge through a USB plug) are great for camping or night hikes, and for looking under hotel beds for lost items or finding the hostel bathroom without tripping over a snoring Norwegian’s backpack.
7. Muji Deodorant Case,
$16.95,
muji.us
Be done with ad hoc solutions to packing dirty laundry: this compact deodorizing bag from Muji separates the clean-and-fresh part of your suitcase from the smelly-and-nasty section. The large version can fit maybe a week’s worth of dirty clothes (if you skip bulky stuff like jeans).
8. “No Foreign Lands”, $9.99 (Kindle) and $17.09 (print),
amazon.com
This slim volume of thought-provoking quotations about traveling, from the Matador Network, a travel site, provides instant inspiration. I recommend the cheaper Kindle version, so it’s always handy. When you’re frustrated with a flight, pull it out and be reminded why you left home in the first place.
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