There’s nothing quite like a bit of retail therapy, and if there was any year we deserve to do some therapy and treat our loved ones (and, let’s face it, ourselves) 2020 would be it! And for all of us travellers, 2020 has presented the additional heartbreak of cancelled travel plans. So if you’re wanting to cheer up a fellow traveller (or yourself), we’ve put together some great gift ideas for the silly season that can be used at home (and for future travels). 

Tesalate Towels

Tesalate make eye-catching and colourful beach towels, with the bonus features of being sand free. These towels are also light-weight and quick drying, making them perfect to take on the road. You can check out our review.

Tesalate have also recently expanded into gym towels, which are not only lightweight and quick drying, these workout towels have the added feature of zinc in the fabric that acts as an antibacterial agent, making them effective against bacteria and odour-free. With many people working out more these days (working off those covid curves!), these towels would make a great gift. You can see the full range of beach and workout towels here. And for 10% off a first-time purchase, use the code THANKS10 at the checkout.

Tropicfeel Shoes & Gear

Tropicfeel are the team behind two record-breaking Kickstarter campaigns for their all-terrain travel shoes. Their shoes are not only great for everywhere and everyday adventures, they are good for the environment too, being made from recycled plastic bottles. And if their sustainable, all-terrain shoes don’t excite you, Tropicfeel have expanded their range to clothing and backpacks. Personally, I’m super excited for their new project, Shell (which is still live on Kickstarter and hopefully due for release in March 2021). If you want to find our more about Tropicfeel shoes, check out our recent post.

Cooking classes

One thing many travellers (us included) love about travelling is the food. Just because we can’t eat delicious pasta in Italy, tapas in Spain or sushi in Japan doesn’t mean we have to miss out on those culinary delights altogether. Gifting cooking classes is a great way to bring one of the best aspects about travelling back home and you can ‘travel’ to a new destination each night in the kitchen. 

Kindle Paperwhite

There’s nothing like settling in with a good book during a long journey, but lugging around books is not practical most of the time. And with many people reviewing their clutter during lockdown, it’s a good opportunity to ‘Marie Kondo’ the book collection, and instead store thousands of books on the popular portable e-reader, Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite is also waterproof, making it even more traveller-friendly, and perfect for poolside retreats.

Sudio earphones

Podcasts, playlists or phonecalls… we are all spending more time connected to our phones and computers. Sudio have a range of earphones for all wants and needs. With great aesthetics, sound quality and different features, there is a model for everyone, and the perfect accessory for travelling. They also have attractive speakers that make a great visual and audible feature for the home.

A mini-vacation

While international travel may be off the cards for a while, Aussie interstate borders are slowly opening, so why not send your loved ones on a mini-vacation? There are some ah-mazing places to visit in Australia, like this tiny house with a mirrored bathhouse.

Travel Jewellery

Jewellery often tells a story and represents a happy memory, so why not get your loved one a piece of jewellery that will remind them of an epic holiday they’ve had (or one they hope to embark on)? Cityscape rings or pendants are sure to catch the eye and bring out some stories. Or why not turn the map of your favourite place into a piece of wearable art? 

Language classes

When international borders reopen (fingers crossed sooner, rather than later), wouldn’t it be great to say more than just ‘hello’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in another language? In fact, now is a great time to start learning another language for that future dream holiday. Give the gift of a language class so your loved one not only has a new hobby to pass the time until they can travel again, but also gain the confidence to try a few phrases while they are abroad. 

Photo Prints

Know someone with a phone/camera full of travel photos? Why not let them proudly display some of their favourites by printing them out with a photo printer? Or go big, and order them a large canvas print from an online printing store for them to display some of their favourite travel memories (this one might take some sneaky work to get said photo off their phone/sd card to order it without their knowledge, otherwise a gift voucher might be the best bet!).

Hopefully these gifts will soften the blow 2020 has hit us travellers with and they can be  enjoyed now and when travelling afar starts up again! Which of the above gift ideas are your favourite? Can you think of any others we’ve missed? Drop your suggestions below!

This post contains some affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission when you purchase through these links. As an Amazon Associate and an Airbnb Associate, we earn from qualified purchases and bookings. Where we’ve received products to review, our views and opinions are entirely our own.

Title image by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash