Travel. The word itself evokes a restlessness for adventure. Wanderlust is as old as time, drawing people from one point to another to explore, discover, and commemorate the journey with keepsakes from their destination. Since the beginning of time, we have traveled, enjoyed our experiences, and returned home with souvenirs and stories that last a lifetime.
Americans take over 2.29 billion trips each year, and approximately 93 million of those trips are international. We love to celebrate our trips with souvenirs and other travel gifts. A common goal of any travel gift is to evoke the feelings we experienced while traveling – curiosity, boldness, and wonder – and recreate them in our daily lives.
What is a World Traveler?
A world traveler is someone who travels widely and often. Also known as a globetrotter, this individual is seen as having a level of sophistication born from traveling extensively. A world traveler is a voyager at heart, open to exploring the world around them, and is inspired by new people, new cultures, and new experiences.
Why Become a World Traveler?
People travel for many reasons. Some travel to find themselves, while others travel to lose themselves in a place that doesn’t dictate their time and activities. There are opportunities to learn about other people, cultures, cuisines, and environments. People travel to expand their minds and challenge their perspectives.
Reasons People Travel
- Adventure
- New languages and customs
- To see beautiful places
- Visit friends and family in
There are so many reasons to travel, and the seasoned traveler realizes that not all have the same opportunities to explore the world for a variety of reasons. That awareness is the main reason travel gifts are popular – instilling the excitement for travel even when one’s journey doesn’t bring them far from home.
What is a Travel Gift?
Travel gifts have been part of the journey since the beginning of time. When early explorers ventured from their home shores to chart unfamiliar waters, they returned with travel gifts for friends, family, and most importantly, the patron who sponsored their voyage. Some of the earliest-known travel gifts could be their maps, developed as they charted their course into the unknown and back to familiar shores.
Map gifts are still popular to this day. Maps originated as a means to communicate the existence of distant lands, describe and measure waterways, and determine distances by charting stars. Contemporary high-quality map gifts intricately chart the course of our travels, whether at home or abroad, and reflect the lands and waters of our adventures. Map gifts celebrate our adventures and remind us to keep exploring, experiencing, and collecting these elegant wood map gifts to chart our memories.
A high-quality wood map gift is the sign of a knowledgeable gift giver. The thoughtful gift giver understands the value of a travel experience and strives to replicate that value in a long-lasting memento. A map gift is a daily reminder of the new experiences and joy found in the travel destination and the journey to get there.
Travel Gifts Come in all Shapes and Sizes
Travel gifts are some of the best things about traveling! Whether you are buying a gift for your favorite world traveler or returning home from your own journey with souvenirs, travel gifts are the items that connect us to our adventure with just a glance. If you are looking for the perfect item for a globetrotter in your life, keep reading for some of the best travel gifts to make their journey brighter (and maybe a gift or two to keep your next trip comfortable).
Pampering Items Make Great Travel Gifts
If you travel frequently, you understand that often the journey can take its toll, draining your energy and leaving you depleted upon arrival. Pampering items make perfect travel gifts for frequent travelers because they allow the journeyer to spend less time recovering and more time enjoying themselves. When looking for the perfect travel gifts to turn exhausted and tired to refreshed and rejuvenated, you don’t need to look too far.
Perfect Pampering Travel Gifts
- Luxurious Bathrobe
- Shaving kits
- Hand and body creams
- Massagers
Delayed flights and jetlag can be a drag, but with these items, excursionists can arrive prepared with a few pampering items and waste no time getting on with their adventure! They can freshen up with a shave or hydrate their skin with a luxurious cream and catch a second wind, giving them the energy to keep moving and create more opportunities to explore. With the gift of a quick shoulder and neck massage, they will feel like a whole new person, which is the ultimate travel gift.
Best Travel Gifts for Women
Most of us have a friend who is the curious type, always seeking adventure, wanting to travel and keep moving. You may even find that your well-traveled friend is more difficult to buy gifts for than your other friends. No judgment: they just take a little extra thought when coming up with that special-occasion gift. The perfect travel gift for your wayfaring friend may be the one that greets her at home and reminds her of the journey for many years to come.
Celebrate Travel With Her
- Personalized luggage tag
- Charm bracelet
- Wood chart map gift
- Journal
- World map file folders
Celebrate your friend who travels! The glorious experience of travel – the highs, the lows, the exhilaration, and the despair. This experience will most certainly include the desire to redecorate her home to emulate the décor of the culture found near her most recent vacation destination. Embrace all of her experiences and find a way to validate her bucket list progress with an amazing travel gift.
Level up your gift-giving game and present your favorite world traveler with a high-end wood map of their latest travel destination. They will gaze at the exquisitely etched points of interest on the map gift and recall the roadways they followed and the people who made the journey that much brighter. From the Hawaiian Islands to Ireland to the Puget Sound, your globetrotter will value their map gift above all.
Best Travel Gifts for Men
Your guy friends may seem easier to buy for, but truly, their travel expectations aren’t far from those of their female counterparts. Men want to arrive refreshed and hit the ground running as well, making some of those pampering items excellent travel gifts for men. While men will enjoy conquering the travel itinerary, a few luxury items will make slaying the journey a bit more comfortable.
Travel Gifts for Him
- Wood chart map gift
- Touchscreen leather gloves
- Noise-canceling headphones
The perfect travel gift for a man to return home to is a high-quality wood map of the vacation destination he just checked off his bucket list. If a trip to Italy was all he talked about for years, celebrate his homecoming from the Mediterranean with a beautiful, intricately detailed wood chart of the region that now graces his dreams and calls him to return. A map gift is a high-quality hand-crafted reflection of his perfect experience and the fulfillment of years of yearning to get to that extraordinary land.
Travel Gifts for Kids
Turning that youngster into a world traveler at an early age? There are great gifts that can accompany them on their journey and make the trip more enjoyable for them (and for you). There is much to be said for exposing children to different cultures at an early age, and travel gifts are a fun addition to any adventure.
Best in Travel for Kids
- Headphones
- Backpack
- Personalized passport cover
- World map or globe
- Kid’s travel journal
Whether they are on the road or in the air, the opportunity for kids to benefit from travel is endless. They can record the sights, sounds, and feelings they experienced with a journal. With the appropriate map gift, they can follow along and learn more about their travel destination.
Children who travel develop a respect and appreciation of other cultures at a young age. They are able to strengthen their bonds with family and receive a well-rounded education from their life experiences. The joy they find in travel ignites a lifetime of curiosity, building self-esteem, confidence, and flexibility.
Best Travel Gifts to Take with You
While some gifts are perfect mementos of your journey, remaining at home for you to reflect on daily and smile with the memories of journeys past, some travel gifts are perfect for the journey itself. These travel gifts are sure to be a hit and will have priority placement in that carry-on bag that never leaves their side. Luxury gifts are nice but don’t sleep on the basics to make a travel experience exceptional.
Travel Gifts to Take on the Journey
- Chin-supporting pillow
- Packing cubes
- Sleep mask
- Infinity scarf with secret pocket
- Passport cover
Travel gifts make the perfect inspirational present. They may inspire thoughts of travel or cause someone to commit to time off work and purchase the tickets for the trip they’ve been dreaming of. The gift of going anywhere is in anyone’s grasp – the perfect travel gift to get there comfortably is ours to give!
Is your bestie heading to the UK to explore castles and pubs? Slip a United Kingdom cribbage map gift into their luggage. Not only will they be welcome in every pub, but they will make plenty of friends along the way! Great travel gifts allow your friends and family to bring the comforts of home with them anywhere they roam.
Best Travel Gifts to Celebrate the Journey
Whether you are celebrating the milestone of a friend’s first international trip or your annual trip to the Great Lakes, there are fantastic travel gifts to memorialize every journey. The most important part of any trip is to have the courage to go, explore, learn, and be open to new cultures and experiences. Being brave and curious is as much to celebrate as the trip itself!
Best Gifts to Celebrate the Journey
- High-quality wood chart map gifts
- Travel-themed phone case
- Travel-themed subscription box
- Travel coffee table book
Celebrating the journey continues long after you have returned home. Sharing the stories of your adventures with friends and family keeps the traveling spirit alive within you. Your renewed spirit will be an inspiration to all who come in contact with you, and your excitement to plan your next trip will continue to run high!
Traveling with Friends
There are some excellent benefits of traveling with friends. One of the best parts is the stronger friendship that develops from the experience. You will share unique moments and learn new things about your destination and each other throughout your travels. In addition, you can talk about the trip together and share the stories that sprang from your adventures for years to come.
Reasons to Travel with Friends
- Shared expenses
- Shared experiences
- Builds stronger relationships
- Safety in numbers
When you celebrate your travels, your wandering spirit becomes infectious, and those around you become inspired to come along on future journeys. Traveling with friends is a unique opportunity, providing occasions to strengthen bonds of existing friendships while encountering new people and sharing real-life experiences. It’s also the perfect chance to get out of your comfort zone and be the fun, vacation version of yourself!
Best Travel Gifts for Group Travel
- Leather keychain with visited country tags
- Matching T-shirts
- Personalized matching tumblers
- Personalized tote bags
Giving your friend group elegant wood charts that celebrate the place you vacationed together is next-level gifting. The expertly etched points of interest from your trip to the Baja Peninsula will evoke memories and storytelling for years to come. Your adventures together are memorialized in the topography of this nautical chart, reminding each of you of the unique journey you shared.
The freedom to travel across our own country and across oceans to visit others is a gift to treasure. Each day, a map gift that keeps our travel memories top of mind allows that treasured experience to inspire our next journey. Start a collection or add to nautical décor with a high-quality wood chart.
Is it time for another adventure? Give them the gift of a nautical wall clock. All talk and no action when it comes to scheduling that next journey? Inspire them to put in that time-off request with a cork map for their office desk. And continue to serve up reminders until the next adventure is booked with a wood map serving tray – the perfect map gift to keep travel on the brain!
Each travel gift keeps the memories and stories of your adventure alive and brings a smile to those who hear them. The gift of travel is an experience in and of itself, and to be able to celebrate the journeys others have taken, and will take, is a special bond we share. Having come from explorers, we all have a spark of wanderlust within us, and celebrating our individual and shared experiences is a travel gift we all give each other.