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Unique Travel Gifts
It’s a unique year and as always, you can trust that I have included something unique on this list for every type of traveler and every type of budget. So, whether it’s for someone you just met or it’s for your oldest, dearest friend, sit back and get ready to find that perfect gift you’re looking for!
Before we get to the featured unique travel gifts, here are the classics for all of you traditionalists out there!
General Travel Gifts
1 | Chester Minima Carry-On
Lightweight, durable, and surprisingly flexible, the Chester Minima is the only carry-on you need. With this bag, you can expect peace of mind with its built-in TSA lock. Additionally, it features easy maneuverability with its multi-directional spinner wheels and satisfaction with its simplicity of use. It has many colors to choose from and even offers free two-day shipping.
Read my full review to find out why the Minima is the first and only spinner bag I’ve ever owned. Also, Trimm Travels‘ readers can enter TRIMM10 for 10% off their purchase!
2 | Shacke Pak Packing Cubes
If wrinkled clothes and lost underwear keep leaving you in a quandary during or after your travels, these cubes are the solution! With their sturdy build and thoughtful design, you can trust them to do their job. They even have cute little windows so you can peek at what each cube holds without having to open them – so convenient! With lots of color options to choose from and multiple sizes in a set, these cubes make packing and organizing your clothes an absolute breeze!
3 | Kindle Paperwhite
This is the perfect gift for all those bookworm travelers out there. It’s super light, waterproof, compact and the battery life lasts forever. That means you get to carry your whole library with you wherever you go and read under the harshest of lights with ease without ever worrying about soggy pages. It’s almost tempting to say…it’s better than a real book! Now now, lest you bite my head off, let me change that to – when it comes to reading while traveling, nothing beats the Kindle Paperwhite.
4 | Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is a super neat gadget to have on you when you’re on the go. It can keep track of your fitness, help you navigate new and unfamiliar places, give you weather updates and even offers some more travel-specific functions which you can access by downloading travel apps. For instance, there are several airlines that provide up-to-date departure information as well as baggage tracking updates to your watch. Some hotels are even enabled with the feature to allow using your Apple Watch as your room key. How handy is that!
5 | Canon SX740 HS Camera
The Canon Powershot SX740 HS is so travel-friendly because of how compact and feature packed it is! With its 40x zoom, it shoots in manual and also takes great night shots. It even has 4K video recording capabilities. If you are looking for a camera that won’t be an inconvenience when documenting trips, this is definitely your best bet. I know because this camera is responsible for most of the photos on this site!
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Unique Travel Gifts
1 | Solid Cologne
Just because you are constantly on the move doesn’t mean you have to smell like it! This solid cologne is the perfect gift for all the classy men in your life who love to travel. No heavy, breakable bottles or clunky, tin sprays. Smelling divine has never been more easy – or more travel-friendly!
2 | Gluten-Free Cards
When you are diagnosed with Celiac disease, food becomes a major point of contention in your safety. World-traveler Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads set out to find a solution to this when she was diagnosed with Celiac disease in the early 2000’s. At first, she tried using the gluten-free guides available to her during her travels. When she still ended up falling ill, she decided to make her own!
Her guides and cards include lists of local ingredients, cross-contamination concerns, and options for substitutions, all thoughtfully segregated according to locations. They are all double-checked by two translators who speak the local languages and are familiar with the available foods at the destinations.
Jodi’s guides are so intuitive and carefully curated that they have even been featured in The New York Times! They are cost-effective and available as direct downloads on your smartphone.
3 | UV Toothbrush Sanitizer
Occasionally spending time in less-than-sterile places comes with the territory when you’re an avid traveler. However, whether you are staying in a shared bathroom hostel, a tent in the wilderness or a luxurious mansion, a sanitized toothbrush is oh-so-important!
This UV sanitizing case can hold every type of toothbrush and is small enough to fit into any bag with ease. It automatically begins sanitizing when closed so that you don’t have to worry about germs contaminating your toothbrush. This rather unique gift would be the perfect addition to your traveler’s toiletry bag.
4 | Kikkerland Travel-Size Laundry Bag
Travelers love seeing maps and globes to recount all the places they have visited. With a built-in pouch and carabiner, this laundry bag allows for the traveler to reminisce while providing perfect functionality. It easily holds a few days worth of laundry and the vinyl works well to keep the moisture in the bag. It also conveniently folds into a 6″x 4” rectangle and stores away in a pocket when not in use.
Your traveler could even get creative and decorate it with patches and pins from each of their travels. Once again fun AND functional!
5 | Mini Portable Speaker
If you are looking for something that is small, travel-friendly, and more hardware-dependent than Bluetooth, this trusty mini speaker will fit the bill. Using it is as simple as plugging it into an audio jack and listening to your favorite tunes.
For how tiny it is, packing a punch is an understatement with its volume and sound quality. In addition, it even has power saver mode and can last 8 hours on just 45 minutes’ charge time. This speaker will definitely delight the gadget-loving sightseer in your life.
6 | Ethique Eco-Friendly Shampoo Bar
Using a shampoo bar instead of bottled shampoo while traveling makes a lot of sense if you are trying to avoid spills and tedious 100ml liquid limits. Additionally, from its packaging to its ingredients, this brand is completely zero waste and carbon fiber neutral, making it easy on the conscience! This unique travel gift is great for both the efficient and the eco-friendly traveler alike.
7 | SteriPen Personal Water Purifier
Travelers know how important it is to find clean water when you need it. Most people buy bottled drinking water while on the move to ensure they don’t get sick from contaminated water. However, there are times like in the mountains or woods where that isn’t possible.
With its UV technology, this hand-held water purifier always keeps you prepared and is one of the most unique travel gifts. Just turn it on and dip it into the water you want to purify for 90 seconds and it’s done. It’s great for camping, hiking, and backpacking, so if an outdoorsy friend is coming to mind right now, you know what to get them. If you like choices, there is also a water purifying straw!
8 | Eat Your Coffee Caffeine Bars
We all know how important our caffeine fix is in the morning. When you’re a traveler, you are instinctively seeking and planning out your next morning’s coffee stop with relative ease. Once you add being a vegan to the list of variables though, it gets harder. Trying to explain to someone that you would like your coffee sans dairy can be challenging!
These are the moments when you should consider eating your coffee instead. These vegan and gluten-free caffeine bars let you do just that. They come in various flavors and have up to 80 mg of caffeine in each bar (that’s an 8 oz cup of coffee)! It’s one of the unique travel gifts that’s perfect for that wandering coffee junkie in your life.
9 | Traveler Keyring
Photos courtesy of Naturally Bespoke on Etsy
When looking for a unique travel gift, nothing beats a personalized and handmade one such as this keyring. It features meticulously hand-stamped coin charms stacked on a metal loop and slung on a leather band making it the perfect keepsake to give your traveler.
It’s a great way to log your travels as you visit each country on your bucket list. In case you’re wondering what happens when your list grows…don’t sweat it because you even have the option to buy additional coin charms separately!
10 | Wedge Door Stop With Security Alarm
Traveling solo is definitely a freeing and rewarding experience. For peace of mind and other safety reasons however, adding items like this to your travel arsenal is key.
This wedge door stop is not only great at keeping your door shut but also has a loud alarm that goes off when there is pressure applied to it resulting in alerting you, the people around you, and startling the intruder. With no wires and no complicated installation instructions, this gift is a no-brainer when it comes to showing your traveler how much you really care.
11 | Flight 001 4-in-1 Adapter
Yes, I know most seasoned travelers know the importance of carrying an adaptor on their travels but hear me out! This 4-in-1 adaptor is a unique travel gift because of its design. No buttons and no moving parts means it’s sturdy and reliable. Add to it the stackable, lego-like aspect and it becomes downright fun to use.
It comes with a cute, colorful infographic that indicates which parts of the adaptor you will need in each country around the globe. This helps you pack light because you get to take the parts you need with you and leave behind the parts you don’t. For a quirky take on an essential item, choose this adaptor!
12 | Compass Necklace
Photo courtesy of Fine Jewelry Lab on Etsy
If you are looking for a grand gesture, consider buying the traveler in your life a dainty, gold compass necklace. It’s elegant enough to go with every outfit so you won’t have to worry about it being a hit-or-miss. Available in gold, rose gold and white gold, it provides the perfect opportunity to say you really admire their passion for travel.
13 | TiTo Titanium Spork
Being out in the wilderness means a lot of meals on the go. It can be tempting to use plastic utensils for convenience but this ends up producing so much waste. Nobody wants to pollute the destinations they visit so consider giving your friend permanent, travel-friendly cutlery.
This spork is made of lightweight titanium and comes with its own carrying case making it ideal for traveling. This unique travel gift is a must for your sustainability-conscious friends.
Gift Cards
1 | Amazon Gift Card
If you need a gift in a pinch, or if your traveler is particularly persnickety, the Amazon gift card is the way to go. Give them the gift of choice so they can have their pick of all the items on this list and so much more!
2 | Airbnb Gift Card
Airbnbs are the accommodation of choice for so many travelers because of how hassle-free and affordable they are. If you are looking for a useful gift that your traveler will really appreciate, consider getting them an Airbnb gift card. It could help them out on their next adventure and it’s super convenient for you.
PIN IT!
I hope you found what you were looking for on this list, or at the very least, it sparked some new and unique travel gift ideas to continue with your search. If you’re looking to do some more browsing before making a decision, I would recommend checking out my other gift guides as well. No matter what you end up choosing, I’m sure the travel enthusiast in your life will appreciate your commitment to originality the most!
If you know of an item I should add to this list, please let me know. I’m always on the lookout for additional unique travel gifts! Also, make sure you keep an eye out for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday deals to get the most out of your holiday shopping!
‘Til next time…
Trimm Travels,
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