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“It’s Christmas time and there’s no need to be afraid” to quote the famous Band Aid song. It’s the time of year that people panic trying to think of the best Christmas presents for their loved ones, and more often than not, end up gifting them the same old, same old..as in ugly sweaters and other useless presents that go in a closet somewhere, never to see the light of day. For travelers in your life, I offer you some awesome and unique travel related stocking stuffer gifts that they will not only enjoy, but definitely use.
Amazon affiliate links on post. If you purchase through the links, we will make a tiny commission. Others are not affiliated links, just gifts l find appropriate.
Christmas Stocking Stuffers:
Holiday Gifts For People Who Love To Travel:
This compilation of gift ideas for travelers can also be used as presents for everyone. I personally find it a bit sad that we only think to give gifts to our loved ones at Christmas time. I have always been of the belief that one should give gifts to people in our lives when we find something that would be of use to them, especially in their day to day lives.
Growing up, we never gave Christmas gifts. It just wasn’t an African thing, definitely not Nigerian. The whole point of Christmas for us was to get the family together in one place for the Christmas. It was magical because sometimes, you only saw some members of the family that one time a year, save for any other life events such as a wedding or funeral. The house would be packed with hundreds of people throughout the day, the kids sleeping on floor mats and the adults sharing available bedrooms and sofas.
That was the point, eating till you burst, talking, catching up on life and waiting for the town folk to come around singing and playing talking drums. A whole lot of dancing and a whole lot of fun. The world has changed though. Even for Nigerians, Christmas is no longer the same. People give gifts now, getting the family together is becoming a thing of the past. I miss the old days..but life goes on. Now that travel is an essential part of a lot of peoples lives, giving small travel gifts at Christmas time is thoughtful.
Christmas Stocking Stuffer Gifts For Adults Who Travel:
Kindle Paperwhite:
This is perfect for travelers who love to read. Travel often involves a lot of waiting. For luggage, for flights, for hotel rooms etc. The Kindle is wonderful for whiling away the time while stimulating the little gray cells. I have the Kindle and find it invaluable.
I wish I had purchased the Paper White e-reader to be honest, reason being that the paperwhite comes with the built-in light for reading in the dark and has Bluetooth capability so you can pair it with headphones. For mine, I had to purchase a separate light fixture. Hint, hint.. I want to upgrade :-). To make these travel gifts unique, consider personalizing the Kindles upon purchase.
Kindle Fire:
The Kindle Fire is an alternative to the Kindle e-Reader. This is a fantastic stocking stuffer gift for younger people especially. I find that older people like me love the Kindle because they solely use it for reading without distractions. Younger people like to be online, watch movies, play games etc.
The Kindle Fire is great for the kids while traveling because they are occupied, and the adults love it because they have peace and quiet. The kids edition comes preloaded with Disney movies such as Beauty and the Beast and Peter Pan. I think this is the best stocking stuffers for kids that totally benefits the giver, meaning parents 🙂 .
Netflix Subscription:
Not every gift needs to be expensive. A Netflix gift card is perfect for someone who travels a lot. You can sign in to watch your favorite shows and movies from any smart TV with internet connection. We use it all the time, especially when we travel to countries where English language programs are not accessible.
Most times when we use AirBnB lodgings like we did for part of the time in Crete, it was a blessing to have our Netflix account. The cards are available for purchase from various retail outlets such as Target, Krogers, Walmart, and even online at Amazon. Here is information on buying Netflix gift cards.
Music lovers would appreciate a Spotify subscription, this is an especially great Christmas stocking stuffer for teens, boys and girls alike. Uninterrupted music? Yes, please! If you’re still unsure what to give, an Amazon gift card works just as well because they can choose for themselves.
Bose QuietComfort Headphones:
The best noise-canceling headphones ever! Extremely useful to block out annoying voices, crying and all the other noises during a flight or when waiting for planes, trains and automobiles!
Our Christmas gift to ourselves this year as our old Bose 25 (the precursor) to this was attacked by our bigger beagle and no longer works :-(. Yes, this is a luxury travel gift, but who says you can’t gift yourself nice things.
Eastpak Backpack
This is a perfect Christmas gift for everyone, not just travelers. It’s perfect for school, the gym, and most definitely as hand luggage. With airlines restricting luggage allowance constantly, a backpack like this fits nicely under the seat in front of you and it’s lightweight so it doesn’t give you back and shoulder pain. We also find it useful for our camera equipment when we need to travel with it. The best part is that it is unisex! :-). The shoulder bag would make a nice, useful, and stylish gift for business travelers as well.
Related Reading: Christmas in Seville
Everlasting Comfort Travel Pillow:
Everything you need for comfortable travel in a bag. Perfect travel set that makes a nice and easy on-the-pocket Christmas gift.
Packing Cubes:
I will be the first to admit that my packing cubes have gotten little use as of late. I liked them at first, but l find that l like my Ziploc bags more to be completely honest. I seem to be in the minority when l talk to my friends though. They all love their cubes and travel exclusively with them, therefore I am including it as gift ideas because it’s not all about me :-). My friends and l suspect millions of people consider them useful travel gifts seeing that over a thousand people give them 5-star reviews.
Writing Journals:
Some people like me, love to write blogs online, others prefer to do it on a more personal level. For women who prefer the latter, I recommend the classic look, and for men and women who prefer a more rustic look, the other leather journal.
Compression Socks:
This is an awesome and extremely useful gift for travelers. Many hours are spent cooped up on a flight and these socks, in addition to moving around are great for blood circulation. As we grow older, anything we can do to reduce chances of swelling, DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) and clotting, especially on long flights is a good thing. Women on oral contraceptives are especially prone to DVT, so it is a great Christmas present overall for everyone.
The Gift Of Travel:
What better gift for someone who loves traveling than the gift of travel itself. Your gift can be in the form of an airline, train or even bus ticket. Perhaps someone needing to visit family but low on funds and you can afford to help them accomplish that. Perhaps you have airline miles that you could use to help them travel? There are plenty of people who wish to travel but are low on funds. You can gift them with lifelong memories. Check out websites such as Skyscanner or Travelzoo for good deals. We had so much fun on our D.R cruise.
If your loved one would rather be on the open seas, then consider a cruise. Nowadays, you can get awesome deals on cruises. Best part of a cruise of course is that you only need to unpack once, and you don’t have to worry about splashing out further cash because all is included (sometimes alcohol is not, so double check or pay the supplement fee). this year, that is our gift to ourselves. You can’t forget cruise food of course.
Echo Dot:
Take Alexa with you on your travels! The Echo Dot is the smallest of the Echo family. This means you can slip it in your pocket and save valuable space in your hand luggage. Easy to set up once you are at your destination and connected to WiFi and your phone! Before you know it, you can be asking Alexa to play your favorite music and to give you directions.
For more of the best traveler gift ideas, make sure to check our recommendations page for more inspiration.
Travel Accessory Gifts For Travelers: More Stock Stuffing Gift Ideas:
Passport Holder:
Comes in a variety of colors and holds your credit cards, boarding passes and money. l also love the fact that it has a pen holder too! Any traveler who’s ever had to go begging for a pen to fill out landing cards will appreciate this thoughtful gift. For friends and family who don’t like leather products, there is the faux leather holder on the right (Zoppen):
Bring Me Wine Socks:
This is a fun travel gift item for everyone, especially wine lovers. Sure to be used! Perfect stocking stuffer for Xmas!
Burt’s Bees Skin Products:
Perfect giftable travel size containers of skin lotion, lip balm, and cleansing cream, and more for men and women.
Money Belt:
Helps to protect your valuables and is comfortable under clothing.
Luggage Tags:
Fun luggage tags make for great stock stuffers. Available in a variety of colors to make luggage easy to identify and are reversible to keep personal information private. You can gift the cruise luggage tags for the people who prefer cruising in style:
World Travel Adapter:
A much-needed piece for travelers. It’s great to be able to travel and have one less thing to worry about. With this adapter, they can charge their whole range of electronics, from cell phones to other USB devices. Small and compact.
Domain Hosting:
This is actually a very recent addition. I have been getting a few emails from travelers or would-be travelers who want to start a blog of their own, either to document their travels or to start a hobby project and even a new side hustle or business. A perfect gift for someone like that would be a domain host gift. Readers know that l am affiliated and using Siteground for this blog and highly recommend them. You can start your own blog for as little as $3.95 per month. Another popular host is Bluehost and both work fabulously with the world’s most popular platform, WordPress. Unconventional gift for sure, but one that will definitely be used.
These are just a few ideas to help get your Christmas gift giving sorted. Another great gift in my opinion is donation to a favorite charity organization of the recipient. There are a lot of groups like Doctors without Borders, that are doing good things and welcome monetary donations. Hopefully this post on fun and unique Christmas stocking stuffers provides you with some inspiration on what to present to the travelers in your life.
For even more suggestions, make sure to visit our new Nextbite Amazon store.
Are you ready for the holidays? I for one, am already sick and tired of seeing ads for perfumes, and we’ve only just begun. Have you started shopping for gifts or are you one of those people that are done way before December?
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Really good recommendations – I’ll make sure I will forward it to my wife, in case she needs inspiration *grin*. For me, the Kindle Paperwhite is a must have if you don’t have one. I still prefer to hold a traditional book and read it, but it’s really difficult to carry them around when you travel. The small Kindle can hold more than your library ever could… so it’s a must have.
I would also love the Bose headsets – I know that these are some of highest quality headphones out there and, even though more expensive than others, are worth it. I’m hoping for some discounts for Black Friday, all the way up to the end of the year, so it’s a great time to buy them too.
Thanks Calin. You’re right, I think the paperwhite was the one l should have bought. Getting the light fixture cover cost me about 40 dollars, and adding that to the original cost of the Kindle, it makes it a wash but sometimes l am too cheap for my own good! This was our gift to my MIL last year and she loves it, but l also see her wanting to read at night in bed and yeah..shoulda bought the paperwhite :-(. The Bose I have been stalking since the big beagle chewed the 25 Bose headset in one of his insane moments. I wanted to kill him, but he was saved by his cuteness :-). I am waiting for the Black Friday or Xmas sale patiently to get 35. In the meantime, we are using the MPOW which is nice, but no noise cancellation feature, which is very much needed by us when traveling to shut out the noise. I hope you get them too. LOL! about the Mrs, say hello for me! 🙂
Not sure a lot of those things would fit in a sock- even one as big as the one I need!
I have an idea.. use the handbags instead of the stockings 🙂 🙂 :-). They’ll really love you!.
Like the idea of buying a Netflix gift card for someone who is always on the go. Nice and easy.
Exactly. It is so useful. I love downloading movies onto the phone or iPad and since we do a lot of short hops and use the low cost airlines, you’re landing just as the movie is ending, plus it’s nice to be able to watch shows and movies in your language. We love it.
That Burt’s Bees gift set looks awesome Kemkem. Plus I see why Bezos is worth $150 billion after noting a few Amazon products on this post LOL. Rocking list of gifts here.
Oh the poor man. I am going to do all l can to help him out of poverty and reach 151 billion! I don’t want him living in the streets anymore :-). Online shopping is great for me because nothing l hated worse than actually going to stores to shop :-).
I loved reading your memories of your childhood Christmases. Once you leave the US (and the annual buying frenzy that starts earlier each year) you find that Christmas in most countries is much more friends and family focused. I totally agree with your comment that gift giving should be year ’round! P.S. Bose noise-cancelling headphones have been on my list for a few years but … I may have to gift myself! 😁 Anita
Thanks Anita. I miss those days a lot. This holiday, we are staying put here in Valencia and everyone says it’s super quiet in the streets because everyone is celebrating with family which is wonderful. I see the shopping frenzy creeping up here too unfortunately which is only going to get worse. Sad! Guess what we did get ourselves for Xmas.. Yes! the Bose in Azul blue color and l have unboxed that sucker and started using it. A dream l tell you..a dream! If you, PLEASE buy through my link 🙂 🙂 :-)!