All I want for Christmas is… to be able to travel some more. But until Santa puts a round-the-world ticket into my stocking, I’ve found some more ideas for gifts for women who love travel, from stocking fillers to experiences and ideas if you’re dreaming of 2023 adventures.
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Some will come in handy once you’re on your next holiday, some will help plan those trips (realistic or fantasy), others are designed to transport you away… at least for a short while.
There are some practical ideas, as well as options if you’re moving towards more responsible travel, but there’s plenty that’s entirely indulgent too. Because while you can share this gift guide for women who love travel with your nearest and dearest, who doesn’t like a bit of self-gifting… We all need a treat!
Stocking fillers (under £20)
Eye mask & homewares
I started to trying to support some of my favourite family attractions more over the past couple of years, when lockdowns and restrictions meant reduced visitors – and discovered there’s often plenty to tempt in their online shop.
In the case of London Zoo, I’d happily take most of their shop home – not least this cute leopard eye mask. Handy for plane travel, whether you’re heading on safari or not.
If you’re not a fan of big cats, how about another animal – try this zebra mug (also available in giraffe, among other animals) or flamingo notebook to use to write travel wishlists, or keep a journal once you do escape.
Travel jewellery
What better souvenir of your holiday than a bracelet which reminds you of all your favourite places, every day – El Camino bracelets are perfect for avid travellers, as you can personalise them to your own globetrotting history.
Once you’ve got the bracelet to start, each circular bead or ‘step’ slides on to create an individual piece of travel jewellery.
And as well as stainless steel country steps, costing £10.99, you can choose cities and regions, plus your own custom options, oceans, seas, animals and adventure themed options such as waves, planes and mountains.
There are also spacers, using sustainably sourced woods and coconut, priced £6.99 for a pack of four.
Admittedly I’m cheating slightly here as a stocking filler, because the original bracelet costs from £26.99, but once you’ve started a collection, it’s easy to add new steps each year, or there are gift vouchers available too.
A scarf
I never travel without at least one scarf, and it’s often my souvenir of choice too – you can wear it at home for now, but if you buy a lightweight one, it can eventually double as sarong, mini blanket and even a towel on holiday, at a push.
Hush always has gorgeous prints – there’s a gorgeous snuggly two-sided leopard-print scarf among the range at the moment.
Or the Lina & Lily range also has some really quirky prints and colours, for something a bit different (elephants or hedgehogs, anyone?).
Luggage tag
It’s an old favourite but you can never have too many luggage tags – mine always seem to vanish between trips, plus it’s a good way to make your case stand out on the carousel.
I also love a map print, especially a vintage or retro one, so this Sass & Belle world map luggage tag is perfect, as well as this from Dotcomgiftshop.
Or you can find gorgeous prints like Opal flower prints from Ted Baker, a beach themed tag, as well as ones decorated with planes and this vegan option which proclaims, I’m Outta Here.
How about your own personalised version? Joules has several options to add your initials or these stainless steel versions come in rose gold and also let you customise with your initials.
And if you really want to make others think twice before they accidentally pick up your suitcase, it’s hard to beat these fun eye-catching options from Rubywoo & Chilli.
Virtual travel gifts
Magazine subscription
If you can’t travel, you can still dream and plan – and how better than by losing yourself in travel stories from around the world (if you fancy whisking yourself to the deserts of Oman and the mangroves of Cambodia for free, you can also do that here)
National Geographic Traveller is one of my favourites (my daughter has her own subscription to Nat Geo Kids!), along with Wanderlust.
You can get magazine subscriptions to both, plus Conde Nast Traveller, Coast and more on sites like isubscribe.
A coffee table book
There’s nothing like a gorgeous glossy travel book for a bit of wanderlust – The Travel Book from Lonely Planet is always one of my favourites, with fabulous photos, quirky facts and details about every country in the world.
Or Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List 2 picks out the 500 best places on the planet to visit. Perfect for some armchair travel planning.
If you’re trying to work out what needs to be on your bucket list after a couple of less than travel-filled years, The Bucket List has ideas for 1,000 different adventures to try, some of which you could attempt close to home.
Or there’s Destinations of Lifetime from National Geographic, with 225 of the world’s most amazing places, as well as Unforgettable Journeys, with glorious photos of 200 inspirational trips around the globe.
If it’s diving and the earth’s underwater landscapes that you love, Blue Planet II is still unbeatable.
And I love the Atlas of Beauty – combining some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes with portraits of 500 women from around the world: a reminder of the many cultures yet to discover, as well as the fact that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
The scent of a holiday
There’s nothing that transports you across space and time quite as fast as fragrance – a sudden whiff of aftersun, tropical fruit, even the perfume you wore that one memorable holiday.
It’s something which is very individual but an essential oil diffuser is a great start – this diffuser reminds me of trips to north Africa with its Moroccan-influenced design too.
A few drops of oil in the water is all you need, so it’s easy to experiment and find your perfect blend. This essential oil set contains 10 different fragrances, including coconut, mango, passionfruit and watermelon (practically a Caribbean cocktail).
Or there are some fabulous scented candles: the Diptyque range is properly indulgent and includes lavender or Figuier to conjure up the scent of fig trees.
True Grace Village Seashore and the Library of Scent Seashells candles even promise to transport you to the coast.
A travel print
The walls of my home are covered with travel prints and maps (in fact, if anything sits still long enough I try to find a map print cover or some kind of travel theme to it). So I think a print for the walls is something you can never have enough of.
Check out Mapiful, which lets you create some gorgeous personalised maps – choosing a specific destination that’s special to you, or your home city for example, as well as different styles, colours, frames and more.
There are also star maps and some cool text art – how about your favourite photo created in the words ‘I love travel’? Check out the full Mapiful range here.
Maps International has some gorgeous options too – classic world maps galore, including vintage versions but you can also find these beautiful art maps for cities around the world.
Or make it more personal with a reminder of a favourite trip, whether that’s backpacking in South East Asia or driving Route 66, as well as a personalised postcode map.
You can also find a huge range of retro travel prints – some genuine vintage poster designs, others done in that style, which I find very tempting.
I love the Tabitha Mary range and have a print of Gugh Sand Bar on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly as a reminder of our trip, but could happily plaster my home with the rest of the collection.
You can find plenty in similar styles if you have a particular location in mind: everything from great Cornwall prints including Padstow to this dramatic print of Berlin or a fantastic retro shot of Sydney.
A photobook
I love looking through old photos, but most of them find themselves gathering dust in my computer’s hard drive rather than added to an album – someone creating a photo album for me would be a real gift to treasure.
A gift voucher to encourage me to make my own is a good second best.
Sites like MyPicture.co.uk and Photobox make it really easy, with flexible designs and easy uploading too, and you can buy gift cards too (including digital ones for last-minute panic gifts!)
Gifts for 2023 travel
There are plenty of practical gifts that every traveller needs – but while packing cubes and portable chargers are always handy, they don’t really say treat.
Travel document holder
These might still sound more practical than pampering, but if you’re forever scrabbling round looking for boarding passes and worrying about lost passports, having a travel document holder makes you feel stylish (even with jetlag) and is hugely useful.
Especially given the extra paperwork you sometimes need to travel these days, from passenger locator forms to proof of vaccination and test!
To be super-organised, this gorgeous blue travel wallet has tabs to organise your passport, tickets and currency further.
If you prefer a more eye-catching print, this Sara Miller orchard wallet has space for passport, currency, boarding pass and a handy zip pocket.
And Not on the High Street has a fabulous range from bright recycled leather travel wallets to vegan leather wallets that you can personalise with your own wording.
Hand luggage bag
You can never have too many bags – and my favourites double as a shoulder bag at home as well as away.
I’ve got several designs from the Mia Tui range, including the Mini Jen, one of the travel bag collection, which all have a pocket on the back to slip over the handles of your suitcase.
And while it’s slightly less glam, this CabinMax Metz Backpack is the perfect size for Ryanair carry-on, designed precisely to the airline’s measurements, and comes in some fun prints including a jungle design to brighten up low-cost flights.
A hammam towel
Far better than any travel towel I’ve tried, hammam towels come in gorgeous colours, fold up small, get every softer the more you use them… no surprise that my collection is constantly growing.
The yellow and turquoise combination of this hammam towel makes me think of sun and sea, but you can pick from almost every colour combination – I love this tempting sea green, blue and turquoise version too.
A tech organiser
Like a travel documents wallet, it’s something which doesn’t immediately seem exciting but would get a lot of use.
Between portable chargers, wires galore, earphones and more rattling around in hand luggage, it’s handy to have one piece of kit to organise the lot.
To make it more exciting to unwrap, find one that’s not purely functional – and ideally not basic black either: this Bagsmart Organiser comes in pink, or the sleek Thetag organiser has orange piping to brighten up the black.
If it’s for someone who always travels with big headphones, this Thule organiser is another good option if not the most exciting design.
Voucher for travel
If you’re looking for a gift for someone who loves travel, the best gift has to be travel itself. Or a contribution towards their future travels, at least.
How about a gift voucher for a site like Get Your Guide with a whole string of tours and experiences?
If you’re likely to be staying closer to home, membership to English Heritage or National Trust guarantees some fun days out.
Or you can buy a complete experience from Tinggly – you could give a getaway, including a short break in the UK, as well as specific experiences.
If you’re not sure what they’ll love most (or where they’ll be able to go), Best in the World covers the world’s top 600 experiences, plus there’s also the taste the world gift for foodie travellers.
Responsible travel gifts
There’s more to responsible travel than a reusable water bottle – although a Larq self-cleaning purifying water bottle or a decorative Chilly bottle are always good to have to hand.
The question of how to travel more responsibly and sustainably has been growing ever more important for many regular travellers – and the pandemic has brought home just how travel impacts the world for both good and bad.
For anyone who wait to get travelling again but is worried about the carbon footprint, sites like Ecologi have gift options to benefit eco-friendly programmes, including tree planting.
If you’re looking to support communities who’ve been badly affected by the loss of tourism, I’m a big fan of Lendwithcare which helps people work their way out of poverty through loans.
A relatively small amount can make a huge difference, and you can choose particular countries or to lend to female entrepreneurs.
PIN FOR LATER: THE BEST GIFTS FOR WOMEN WHO LOVE TRAVEL
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Images: main image/magazines/gift voucher courtesy of Depositphotos, product images courtesy the retailer, all others copyright MummyTravels
