Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts for the Traveler

How do you buy a gift for someone who loved to travel? If money was no object, you could simply buy them a plane ticket to some of the world's most amazing destinations. But as reality often reminds us, this is most likely not possible. As a world traveler, my parents have come up with some creative and note-worthy gifts for me in the past, without actually sending me anywhere. I decided to combined their past creativity with my gift desires and put together some suggestions of affordable gifts for the nomadic spirit.

My first suggestion is maps. I am the type of person who can stare at maps all day and not get bored. Most innate travelers can do this as well. While a standard political map is easy to find and cheap, another suggestion is a vintage map. Ebay is the perfect place to hunt down an authentic map or a replica of an old map. Think of places that the person has visited, and try to surprise them with a unique map to help them remember their vacation by. Whenever I come home from traveling, I know I have the urge to look at a map of how far I traveled, where exactly I traveled to and what was near me while in that location.

Another idea is a scrapbook. Most scrapbooks can be purchased at your local craft store for under $20. With the magic of digital pictures, it is easy to get a hold of your gift recipients travel album. I returned home from a trip recently, and my parents asked me to email them my pictures. That Christmas they surprised me with a scrapbook featuring my trip. I love to have hard copies of my pictures, but thanks to digital technology I have fallen years behind in this pursuit. Therefore, if someone is going to do the legwork for me, I am more than grateful. Creating a scrapbook is cheap, but time consuming. Choosing the best photos, and creating a design layout can a long time, but is rewarding in the end.

When creating a great scrapbook of someone's trip, you can take advantage of your local travel agency. Pick up maps, photos or travel brochures to enhance the scrapbook design. You can also go nuts at your local craft store browsing through the endless country-specific stickers, colored paper, markers and so on.

Another suggestion is travel guides. Ask yourself what type of traveler the person is. Does he or she typically prefer tourist attractions? Or does he or she travel for the cultural experience? Once you have answered this question, take a trip to your local bookstore and put together a few city maps and local guidebooks. I know when I travel, I usually sit in bookstores writing things down, because after spending so much on a trip, I usually want to bypass the cost of a travel book. But the few times I was given travel guides; I really appreciated having the added information.

To further enhance the travel book idea, try doing some of the work for the gift recipient. If you know they like tourist attractions, do some research and circle key elements in the travel books. Bookmark pages, and highlight destinations. If you know the person is not into tourist destinations, maybe bypass the travel guide altogether and purchase a location-specific history book. Maybe you can research a restaurant or off-the-beaten-path thing to do in a city. Whenever I travel, I love to consult locals for the best dining, shopping and cultural experiences. If you are giving a gift to a traveler, you can do some of this work for them. As a traveler, I know that I would appreciate this gesture.

Hopefully these inexpensive gifts can be the perfect addition to your holiday shipping this year. If you know someone who loves to travel, but you cannot afford to buy them a plane ticket, try these simple and inexpensive ideas!