I’m always looking for new items to make my travels and more convenient, so I thought I would share some of the more convenient things that I take on my trips. If you’re looking for a gift for the traveler on your list, there may be a few items in this list that you want to consider.
11 Gifts For the Traveler on Your List
1. SpiBelt:
I bought one of these for my trip to Costa Rica and found it invaluable. It’s small enough that you can hide it under your clothes without it looking bulky, and it’s big enough to carry your iPhone, credit cards, some cash, and even your passport if you don’t want to carry a bag with you when venturing out for the day. I also found it great for my beach workouts, to hold my iPod so I could listen to music during my workout.
2. Money Belt:
I use my money belt while in transit to keep my travel documents, passport credit cards and extra cash on my person. I’m always extra cautious when in airports, bus stations and train stations of the people around me, and you can never be too careful with your personal documents.
3. Passport Cover:
If you know someone who travels a LOT, this would be a perfect gift! For frequent travellers, their passports get handled a lot and are therefore also at risk of being damaged when putting them in and pulling them out of bags and pockets. A passport cover will help avoid this type of damage.
4. Vapur Water Bottle:
This is the perfect travel water bottle! I never travel without mine. It’s folds up to be small and compact when empty and comes with a convenient clip so you can connect it to the outside of any backpack or day bag for easy access while on the go.
5. Britta Water Bottle:
I don’t have one of these yet, but it’s on my wishlist for my next trip. It’s always nice to have good tasting water while traveling, and never a bad idea to filter out any micro particles that may be floating around in any water source. I drank the water almost everywhere in Costa Rice, but I did wish I had one of these for extra filtration. If you buy one as a gift for someone, you may want to also consider including some extra filters.
6. Travel Sheet:
Sometimes when traveling, you can’t avoid ending up in a hostel or hotel that isn’t always the cleanest. For these instances I carry a travel sheet so I can put a barrier between me and any potential germs. It folds up really small, is light weight and easy to pack around. I highly recommend this if you have a backpacker or new traveler on your list who is traveling on a budget. It’s always a score to find a $10 hostel, but sometimes you get what you pay for… Travel sheets are available in single and double size.
7. Apple World Travel Adapter Kit:
A great gift for the Mac user on your list. This kit will elimiate the need for any other power adapter for any Apple products you might be traveling with. It’s designed to work with iPod, iPhone, Apple MagSafe Power Adapters, Portable Power Adapters, and AirPort Express.
8. Apple Airport Express:
It’s not too common that I travel to places that don’t have wifi, but occasionally you end up at hotels that have only a wired connection available. In these cases, I take an Airport Express with me. It’s small and light to pack and very convenient when you don’t want to be limited by a cable. The Airport Express also has the removable plug so you can use your Apple World Travel Adapter Kit with it as well.
9. Apple iPad or iPad Mini:
This is still a wishlist item for me. I’d like to add one to my travel kit for reading e-books, to save space and weight in my pack currently taken up by books. If you don’t have a need to take a laptop with you on your travels, an iPad is a convenient tool for writing emails and doing online research during your trip, as well as uploading photos to Instagram and more. And of course, there are countless useful travel apps you can download on your trip.
10. Canon Powershot G15 Digital Camera:
If there’s one point and shoot camera I would recommend for great photos, it’s this one. I’ve taken this camera with me on a couple of trips now, as an alternative, compact option to my DSLR for day trips that involve adventures like zip lining or waterfall hiking. You can either have full control over the camera settings, or you can pop it on automatic and let it do everything for you. Either way, I’ve always come out with amazing images.
11. Timbuk2 Small Messenger Bag:
I LOVE my Timbuk2 bag! I can fit my DSLR and an extra lens, a sarong for the beach or temple visit, and there are inside zipper pockets for my wallet, phone and personal items. AND, my Vapur water bottle clips to the strap no problem. Another thing I love about this bag is that the liner is waterproof, so if I happen to end up in tropical rain, as long as the bag is closed up, my stuff stays dry! This is a great all-purpose bag for life in general, I use mine all the time, not just for travel.
What’s the difference between spi belt and money belt? I have a travel pro (I think) money belt that I put my PP, cards, & extra cash in to hide under my clothes. How would I use the spi belt differently?
Hi Toffler,
The SpiBelt is smaller. I use it when I’m on the go day to day and don’t need to carry as much stuff with me. I also use it when working out on the beach and don’t have pockets for my keys. It’s small and comfortable and I barely notice that I’m wearing it.
When I’m in transit and moving through airports etc, I use the money belt because it holds a lot more, like travel documents as well as cash, credit cards and passport. The SpiBelt is really just a smaller, compact money belt. I use both.