2024 Holiday Gift Guide: Travel Gifts for Men
Here are some of our favorite travel gifts for men.
With more vaccinations in arms, there has been a huge spike in “revenge travel.” We have included a selection of wonderful travel gifts for men on this list. It includes some gifts that guys will want to take on upcoming trips already planned.
Others will inspire future travel or bring back memories of prior trips. These are the gifts that we love to give or would love to get!
OUR FAVORITE TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN
TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN WHO BEG TO BE CUDDLED
Cozy Earth Men’s Ultra-Soft Bamboo Pullover Crew
This ultra-soft pullover crew is comfortable, versatile, and stylish—perfect for all types of seasons and climates. Moreover, it transitions easily—from sleepwear to loungewear to outdoor casual. The traveler that takes one or two along, can limit the number of different garments they have to pack for a trip.
Made of a machine washable, breathable, moisture-wicking, premium bamboo-based fabric, none other than Oprah described Cozy Earth’s loungewear as the softest ever. Lightweight and easy to pack, the pullover comes in five attractive colors. It’s a gift that he’ll surely want to wear when he returns home, too.
The Duxiana Travel Pillow
The cuddly Duxiana Travel Pillow exudes luxury in its looks as well as its materials and craftsmanship. It’s made of hypoallergenic goose down.
This fluffy white pillow is right-sized at 16×20” and folds in half to fit inside a black zippered carry bag with a convenient rope handle. It’s perfect for him to tuck in a carry-on and place on top of the “communal” one he finds at his hotel on his next business trip. It’s also handy to have when flying or traveling by car.
If you are planning to join him on a vacation, you may want to order two of them.
TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN WHO LOVE TECH & GADGETS
Philips Lightweight Noise Canceling Headphones
Airplanes can be noisy, whether it’s the humming of the engines or the chatter of other passengers and flight attendants. These Philips H9505 noise-canceling headphones allow travelers to block out extraneous sounds so they can work, listen to music, watch movies on a flight, or get some shut-eye before arriving at a destination.
If they are traveling with other friends or family, they’ll opt to use the headphones at their rental property or hotel room for similar reasons. The headphones offer excellent audio sound quality backed by Philips.
These comfortable over-the-ear headphones with soft ear cushions are fully integrated with Google Assistant (wired or with wireless Bluetooth 5.0). Moreover, the H9505 also offers long battery life, with more than 27 hours of play-time before they’ll need recharging. They weigh less than a pound with a fold-flat design that makes them a perfect gift for travelers.
OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Storage Device
This 1TB solid-state storage device by OWC is perfect for the traveler who wants to store and access large amounts of data on a trip. In fact, it is an elegant solution for those who want to be sure they backup the precious photos they’ve taken on their smartphones or cameras; it also can store videos and music.
It is pocket-sized, waterproof, and lightweight (12.6 ounces). And although It works at lightning speed, it runs cool and silently. Once he returns home, he may be tempted to use it as an external hard drive.
Offering universal compatibility, the Envoy Pro Elektron works with Macs, PCs, iPad Pros, Chromebooks, and Android tablets (including current models and those from the last decade). It comes with a three-year warranty.
OWC USB-C 5-Port Travel Dock
Many travelers—especially those with a fondness for gadgets—discover that they don’t have all the ports they need on a laptop computer to plug in various electronic devices.
This lightweight, pocket-sized OWC USB-C 5 Port Travel Dock provides an answer: It plugs into the side of a computer multiplying the number of available connectivity options. So instead of packing a bunch of different adapters and dongles, the dock adds USB-C, USB-A, SD Card, and HDMI ports with up to 100W of pass-through charging. Moreover, its own cable fits neatly into the unit so you can stash the unit into a pocket.
The dock is fully compatible with Thunderbolt 3 equipped Macs and PCs as well as iOS, Android, and Chrome OS devices. If you’re at an airport and don’t have ready access to a power outlet, it can be plugged directly into your computer.
TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN WHO ARE ALWAYS-ON-THE-JOB
Graf Lantz Dogu Tray Set for His Desk
Traveling entails deskwork both before and after a trip—whether it’s researching things to see and do, or organizing photos and mementos.
The design and styling of the Graf Lantz collection of artisanal homeware and personal accessories are firmly rooted in global travel and culture. The founders, Holger Graf and Daniel Lantz, characterize their products as a fusion of German precision, Japanese perspective, and California soul.
As one example, the Dogü Tray Set (named after the elements of a Japanese tea ceremony) is an eye-catching collection of leather desktop trays that will make travel-related deskwork a pleasure rather than a chore. Each piece is made of vegetable-tanned leather, available in either natural or black; some include a Merino wool felt insert. The pieces can be purchased individually; the bundle includes the computer tray with a lid, a pen tray, a medium-size catchall tray, a round tray (perfect for clips, cords, or rings and little things, and one felt round coaster for his cup of Joe.
Cosanti Chimes
Does he find it hard to relax? Imagine a gift that transports the ambience of the American Southwest across miles or even over oceans. Cosanti wind chimes are bespoke artistic masterpieces. Long before work-from-home (WFH) was in fashion, minimalist Paolo Soleri lived and worked in Paradise Valley experimenting with sustainable architecture and environments; he first came to Arizona as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright.
The workshop Soleri created still produces more than 50,000 elegant ceramic and bronze bells each year. The tulip-shaped one shown (one of many available online) is finished with a distinctive verdigris patina that grows even more beautiful when weathered. Its moderate size (22” long from top to bottom), perfect for outside a door, matches its beautiful pitch. When gentle breezes slap against the chime, its sound relaxes and soothes the soul, lowering heart rate and relaxing muscles. We highly recommend splurging an additional $5 for the distinctive gift box.
Looking for something really special; many vintage bells are also available on Etsy.
TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN WHO LIKE TO SIP
Chairman’s Reserve Rum 2009 Vintage
If he likes Caribbean travel and appreciates good rum, this bottle will be a special gift. In fact, it’s considered one of the best in the world with a limited production of about only 3000 bottles exported to the U.S.
St. Lucia Distillers (part of the Spiribam portfolio) is a member of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association that promotes rum as a premium category. Chairman’s Reserve 2009 bears the association’s seal attesting that it is produced with no added sugar and only a minimal amount of caramel coloring.
Created by St. Lucia Distillers in 1999, this golden brown rum showcases the art of blending. Distilled in 2009, it was returned to rest in oak barrels for 11 years of additional aging. The result: The rum is full-bodied, elegant, and sweet on the nose with flavors of molasses and sugar cane juice. Because it is a blend of column and pot fill run from the same distillery, “rum nerds” call it a single-blended rum.
TRAVEL GIFTS FOR MEN WHO ARE FOOD AND DRINK ENTHUSIASTS
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails
Food and spirits are essential elements of travel, opening doors to the history and culture of a destination. When we travel, we always try to “drink local,” whether it’s wines, beers, liqueurs, cocktails, or other spirits. If we find a unique bottle, we usually carry it home; other times, we shop local and attempt to repeat experiences we’ve particularly enjoyed—at our home bar with our in-house mixologist. Spirits make wonderful mementos of any trip.
The newly released The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails is an encyclopedic volume with over 800 pages that will appeal not only to global travelers but to anyone who is an enthusiast of spirits and cocktails. Editors David Wondrich (a James Beard award-winning author and cocktail historian) and Noah Rothbaum (an author and editor of the Daily Beast’s Half Full section), along with more than 150 contributors, have created a reference text filled with interesting and nuanced information about the history of almost every spirit you can imagine and its consumption. It’s not surprising that this ambitious volume was in the making for more than nine years.
A browse-through will complement any visit (before or after) to Chianti, Cognac or the Caribbean, or anywhere else on the globe. Given the book’s deep breadth and length (860 oversized pages with small print), it’s not the type of book you can or will want to read in one or multiple sittings. Instead, you can keep it beside your bar or on your coffee table and choose to read entries organized by geographical region, bartenders/mixologists, brands, bars, tools, and more. The book also includes recipes for some 250 mixed drinks.
Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide
Atlas Obscura is a global community (and brand) of storytellers, educators, and trip organizers/guides who promote traveling deeply rather than skimming the surface. Their newest publication, A Food Adventurer’s Guide by Dylan Thuras and Cecily Wong, is a great example of that ethos, which makes it a perfect gift for any culinary tourist.
This beautifully illustrated book includes over 500 entries describing “culinary curiosities” from seven continents and 50 states. Chef and author Dan Barber has called this guide “a must-read for anyone who eats.”
Food enthusiasts will relish learning about unique dishes, ingredients, cooking methods, food experiences, and traditions from around the world as they savor tidbits of culinary history and lore. The book is absorbing enough to read from cover-to-cover but the gift recipient may want to start at his favorite destinations. For example, the Italophile can learn about the medieval wine windows of Florence (built during the bubonic plague but revitalized during the pandemic) or the “smuggler’s salami” (actually, caciocavallo cheese) that immigrants of Vallo di Diano (Salerno) used to smuggle pork when they came to America.
Taste: My Life Through Food
An earlier adopter, we first fell in love with Stanley Tucci’s appetite when we watched the movie 1996 Big Night. Gosh, hard to believe that was more than two decades ago.
Since that time our admiration for Tucci’s talents has grown as he authored a series of cookbooks; starred in food-centric, mega-hit movies (like Julie & Julia); and hosted the hit CNN travel series, Searching for Italy. If your guy shares any of this actor/director/producer/’s passions for Italian food and travel, you’ll want to get him a copy of Tucci’snewest book, Taste.
In a stream of consciousness style, this quirky book recounts the influences of his Italian-American immigrant family that revolved around the “preparation, serving and ingesting of food.” Tucci tells how pivotal food has been in his work as well as his relationships, and shares some of his favorite recipes — all with a dose of good humor. When diagnosed with cancer at the base of his tongue several years ago, Tucci lost his sense of taste, which inspired this opus of self-reflection.
Travel Gifts for Men Who Are Nostalgic
A Woodprintz City Map
Looking for a truly unique gift that speaks to his sense of place? Does he have a favorite city that evokes special memories? Paris? Rome? Barcelona? Or it might even be the town or city where he was born, raised, or met you.
If he’s smitten with a particular destination, he’ll appreciate this personalized wooden city map to hang on the wall of his home office. To order and see a preview, all you have to do is enter the name of the city/town you choose, along with its state/province or country. The Etsy vendor will send back the artwork for your approval before you purchase.
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