Home > News > This year’s top Christmas gifts for travellers
When all someone wants in life is to wander the world, buying them gifts for Christmas can be something of a nightmare (unless you have the cash for a one-way ticket that is). However, if you delve a little deeper, there are plenty of great things you can get a travel lover. The trick is to break it down into two key areas: gifts to inspire and gifts that are useful. Here are some of our top presents to give the traveller in your life this year.
Gifts to inspire
Travel planner: This is such a useful gift for someone who loves travel but isn’t necessarily going to go ‘travelling’ for a few months. In the planner you can put all of the places you’ve been, all the places you want to go and all the things you want to see. Essentially, it’s a way to organise your travel throughout your life, allowing you to tick things off as you see them and prioritise where you want to go. The best planners will also have category breakdowns, so you can select holidays based on what you’re looking for at any given time, such as European city breaks for example.
Scratch map: If your travel lover is also partial to some travel-inspired interior design, you can’t go far wrong with a scratch map. Invented in 2009 by Luckies of London, they have a gold foil layer that can be scratched off once the country has been visited. Underneath the foil is the nation in colour and its capital. Pop these in a glass-less frame to make a really beautiful and unique gift.
Travel guides: Part of the joy of travelling is learning about new cultures and countries, but this has to start before you begin your travels. Travel guides are brilliant for inspiring people, helping to plan a trip and learning important information about a given country. There are loads out there too, covering everything from standard tourist stuff to information about going off the beaten track.
Useful gifts
High quality camera: A more expensive gift, a high quality camera is often the tool a traveller needs to inspire them to take their next trip. Once you’re able to capture the places you visit and the experiences you have in high quality technicolour, suddenly your desire to explore the world becomes a mandate to record and communicate to others through visuals. After all, it is through powerful images that we get an understanding of cultures and events.
Care package: When you’re travelling, it’s often the comforts of home that you miss and need the most. If you have a loved one who’s currently wandering the world, send them a care package with all of their favourite things they can’t get overseas. This might be Yorkshire Tea, Cadbury’s chocolate, a certain hair product or perfume, or a good book (finding a decent book in a hostel book exchange can be a nightmare).
Trek towel: You can’t travel without trekking and trekking is hard work. Consequently, you sweat. However, lugging around a normal towel isn’t practical. A trek towel is lightweight, antibacterial and can be folded up and put in a rucksack.
Tablet: A tablet can be really useful for a traveller, especially if they go away for short periods of time. They’re more lightweight than laptops and easier to use than smartphones but still allow you to surf the net, use apps, take images, email and read. It also means you can better track your travel and keep in touch with life back home.
Subscription to online streaming services: Netflix (or Prime – whatever you choose) is the dream when you’re on the road but it’s an unnecessary expense for many cash-strapped travellers. Consequently, giving this as a gift would be very much appreciated, as it means people can still kick back and watch movies and shows on the other side of the world – a welcome break from trekking, night buses and lugging your luggage around everywhere.
Nadine is one of the directors of eShores. She left school at 16 and went straight in to a travel agency. Over the 30+ years she has worked in various sectors of the industry and has also worked as an overseas representative in both summer and ski resorts. She has also travelled to many countries from Europe to the Far East and USA.
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Anonymous
We contacted eShores having visited the website to discuss a tailor made holiday to the Sporades islands. We spoke to one of the Travel Consultants, Kadie Ryan, who was friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. We received a quote shortly following our conversation and with Kadie's help were able to book our holiday with ease the next day. We are very happy with our experience booking this holiday.
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ColinMichael
Fantastic Holiday. Just returned from a great South African holiday, Cape Town 3 nights, Pilanesberg Safari 3 nights and a week in Zanzibar. Big thanks to Chris again, his knowledge helped organise and plan this vacation. This is the second long haul holiday he has booked for us. Each holiday has been faultless even though we have changed the itinerary to suit . The Safari he recommended on this trip, Ivory Tree in Pilanesberg was 5 STAR and made the holiday, another tick on the bucket list. Eshores customer service is second to none. I recommended this company to my daughter who is presently on a Canadian fly drive with them and is thoroughly enjoying it. Based on previous experience Chris has now helped us book Australia, Hong Kong & Dubai for next February, can’t wait. All their trips are good value for money, would not have any hesitation in recommending them.
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Julie
First time booking with eshores, so far So good, everything seems to be going smoothly, our adviser Chris is really helpful and communication and itinerary’s are all great.
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Susan
Gavin truly understands what we like but isn't worried about suggesting new countries or places of interest. All his suggestions have been spot on and enriched our holidays, he is a pleasure to work with. We look forward to many more adventures.
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Paul
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DarrenBoyd
Very happy with what we booked, ( we asked for a trip/experience to Egypt), and Rachel put something together and within the budget we asked for. Once we reviewed it, we tweaked it several times for what we wanted in parts and Rachel did the rest. Very personable and pleasant to deal with. I think we will be looking at other experience holidays through E Shore in the future rather than your standard package holiday.
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Helen
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Ian
Emma did significant grafting on my behalf, and remained understanding when my requirements involved quite a bit of chopping & changing.
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Jacqueline
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Claire
Booked with eshores last year. Holiday was excellent and everything ran smoothly. We had one problem with one of the transfers in which we missed the plane and had to pay for the next flight but that was sorted and refunded when we returned home. Booked with them again for next year. Matt has been extremely helpful (and patient. We are a nightmare). Eshores are very competetive and I would not hesitate in recommending them and I hope to be using them for years to come.
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