We’re helping with your holiday shopping this year with our 4th annual best gifts for travelers list! We have unique lists of affordable gift ideas for every type of traveler in your life.

_{Note: We earn a small commission from links in this post. Thanks for supporting the Travel Squad Podcast!}

2023 Best Gifts for Travelers

1. A trip! Two trips we recommend are the New River Gorge Rafting Weekend June 7-10, 2024 (call and use code TSP for 20% off) and the Napa Valley Wine Weekend November 1-4, 2024 (use code PAIDINFULL for $200 when you pay up front)
2. Trip Itineraries – Give the gift of NOT having to research and plan 😉
3. Wireless Earbuds
4. Amazon Fire Stick
5. Air Tag
6. Foldable Wireless Phone Charging Stand 
7. Power Bank
8. Silicone Toiletry Set
9. Compressible Packing Cubes
10. Shoe Bags
11. Laundry Bag
12. Jewelry Case
13. Phone and Cup Holder Suitcase Attachment
14. Travel Weekender Bag
15. 4 Pack Mini Silicone Pouches
16. Travel Luggage Protector
17. Passport Book Cover 
18. Wool Socks
19. Ultra Comfort Travel Pilllow 
20. Airplane Footrest
21. Dr. Scholls White Casual Shoes
22. Portable White Noise Machine
23. Seamless Thongs
24. Travel Mini Umbrella
25. Airplane Sweater
26. Carabiner Clips
27. Pill Organizer
28. Liquid IV – Use code TRAVELSQUADPODCAST for 20% off
29. Travel First Aid Kit  
30. Foldable Water Bottle
31. RDIF Card Holder
32. Change Purse 
33. Cross Body Sling/Purse
34. Ring Doorbell
35. Carbon Mini Carbon Monoxide Detector

Gifts for Travelers in 2022 – By Type of Traveler

We’re  getting you ready for the holiday season with the best gifts for travelers of all kinds. Whether you’re shopping for someone with an upcoming trip and want to get them something to use on their trip, or you’re buying for someone that loves travel and wants to bring those memories into their everyday life – this ultimate list of gifts for travelers has you covered!

We included links to all products, most available on Amazon, to make shopping easy. And in the annual podcast episodes we detail why we like it, how we use these things, and who could get good use out of the gift.

1. Luxury Traveler – Personalized Leather Sunglasses & Watch Case 
2. Business Traveler – Laptop Travel Backpack, Hooks onto Carry On Luggage
3. Female Traveler – Mini Blow Dryer, Straightener, and Curling Wand
4. Male Traveler – Men’s Leather Duffel
5. Practical Traveler – Lightweight Turkish Towel
6. Unique Travel Gift – Portable Vanity Lighting System
7. Everyday Traveler – Coin Purse
8. Frequent Traveler – World Travel Plug Adapter
9. To Bring Travel Home – City Themed Homesick Candles
10. Little Travelers – Adventure Fund Piggy Bank
11. Foodie Traveler – International Cook Book
12. Road Tripper – Collapsible Cooler
13. RV Traveler – Hammock
14. Photography Traveler – Smart Rotating Phone Tripod
15. Solo Female Traveler – The #1 Dress for Travel
16. Hiking Traveler – Hiking Backpack with 2.5L Water Bladder 
17. Couple Traveler – Personalized Push Pin World Map
18. Airplane Traveler – Foldable Pillow, Blanket, Eye Mask Kit
19. Party Traveler – Waterproof Clip On Bluetooth Speaker
20. Nature Traveler – Binoculars 

Gifts for Travelers in 2021 – By Type of Traveler

1. Turkish Towel https://amzn.to/3FIBY5y 
2. All Trails Pro membership https://www.alltrails.com/pro 
3. TSP Itineraries https://travelsquadpodcast.com/travelitinerary 
4. A trip or experience
5. Around the world in 80 cocktails https://amzn.to/3mMNsMP 
6. Dry bag https://amzn.to/3mN6ToP 
7. Poopuri https://amzn.to/3AvjyBv 
8. Noise cancelling headphones https://amzn.to/3iWnUvx 
9. Amazon Kindle https://amzn.to/30kDScB 
10. Mini sound machine https://amzn.to/3DDZrDp 
11. Backpacking umbrella https://amzn.to/3iXOTa7 
12. Sleeping eye mask https://amzn.to/3v9hwpF 
13. Garmin GPS https://amzn.to/3jf7kYf 
14. Go Pro https://amzn.to/3v3l5hg 
15. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K https://amzn.to/3aCte2x

Best Gifts for Travelers in 2021

1. Wall Map with Pushpins – https://amzn.to/3lWMaNc 
2. Travel Planner Journal – https://amzn.to/3oay78D 
3. Travel Bracelet – https://amzn.to/35dwheB 
4. Travel Hanging Toiletry Bag – https://amzn.to/3k9Bpqm 
5. Digital Portable Hanging Scale – https://amzn.to/35j4OIo 
6. Small travel jewelry box – https://amzn.to/3dF0JSR 
7. Sterling Silver Compass that says “Enjoy The Journey” – https://amzn.to/2HlINAk 
8. “Stash It” Stainless Steel Water Bottle – https://amzn.to/3dF0TJX 
9. Whisky Globe Decanter and Glasses Set – https://amzn.to/31lnari 
10. National Geographic book on Destinations of a Lifetime: 225 of the World’s Most Amazing Places – https://amzn.to/34dr9Ij 
11. Anker Portable Charger – https://amzn.to/3m303td 
12. Life Straw – https://amzn.to/2TdqShS 
13. Waterproof Travel Organizer- https://amzn.to/2H9pjzs 
14. 1000 Places to See Before You Die – https://amzn.to/3m7JhcF 
15. Travel Themed Suitcase Piggy Bank – https://amzn.to/2TbWc0x 
16. Sixteenth-Century Italian Replica Old World Globe Bar – https://amzn.to/3o4ohFo 
17. First Aid Only 299 Piece All-Purpose First Aid Kit – https://amzn.to/2H9pCu6 
18. You are my Compass • Sterling Silver Love Jewelry – https://amzn.to/3o9wisA 
19. TSA Luggage Locks (2 Pack) – https://amzn.to/2FIbMxS 
20. Travel Stamps & Stamp Book – travelstamps.com
21. BONUS! Travel Squad Itineraries – https://travelsquadpodcast.com/travelitinerary

Travel is such a special thing to bond over and make for some of the most sentimental and appreciated gifts. So whether you are looking for frequent travelers gifts, or something special from the heart, look no further than our best first for travelers.

Best Gifts for Travelers – 2023 Holiday Edition – Episode Transcript

3 (44s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast. Today we are sharing our fourth annual Best Gifts for Travelers episode. It is our favorite time of the year. I

0 (55s):
Don’t know about y’all, but I love giving and receiving travel related gifts. There’s so many products to make our travel lives easier, and we’re all about them. I love hearing about them from you guys, and I love sharing them with you. And so for all of the helpful, useful products I use while I’m traveling, I just keep them in my suitcases or my backpack so that when it comes time to travel, I just know where everything is and I pull them out. And I get really excited to use them all when we travel and take advantage of that.

2 (1m 23s):
And a lot of times too, you know what I really love is when we love a product, we will let you guys know. I mean, we are not trying to purposely bombard you on our Instagram stories, but when we tell you about a great travel gift, it’s because it has made our life easier, right? And now Christmas is right around the corner here. So we figure no better time than now to get you guys thinking about the traveler in your life or if you are the traveler in your life, something for you. ’cause who doesn’t wanna buy themselves something too, right? Or put this on your wishlist for family or friends to get you. So we’re gonna talk all about our best travel recommendations and items here in 2023.

2 (2m 3s):
So we’re kind of breaking it up into categories a little bit. So we’re gonna have gift ideas for the techie traveler, the organized traveler, people who are looking for comfort, the best gifts for that, health related, things like that. So we’re gonna be discussing and diving into all that and giving you our very best recommendations.

0 (2m 23s):
But before we get deep into this episode, we wanted to announce that we’ve actually started a Travel Squad Podcast newsletter. Woo woo. So it’ll keep you in the loop about upcoming episode group trips, travel plans that we have, our favorite travel products, Itineraries, and any deals that we can actually share with you guys. We’re gonna link the signup in our show notes. So be ready to sign up today and confirm your subscription, which is really important, so that when it goes live, you’ll receive the newsletter.

3 (2m 57s):
How exciting. And as we come up with new products for Travelers, we’ll put those in the newsletter. Alright, so let’s kick this off with some Holly Jolly joy of travel as one of the best gifts to give any traveler. I mean, I know you two often forego actual gifts and you give each other Trips.

2 (3m 20s):
Yeah, we’ve been doing that for a long time in our relationship, and we tell this to people all the time. We don’t do birthday gifts, we don’t do Christmas gifts. What we really do is save that money and put it towards travel, which I guess is gifting ourselves that way, right? And keeping with that theme of travel as a gift Kim, why don’t you tell us the big news that we have for everybody here about that too?

3 (3m 44s):
Well, Brittany had her announcement about the newsletter. I have a huge announcement about our second hosted trip that we will be offering. And this time we’re going luxury. We’re going to Napa and we are going wine tasting. So here’s the deal, November 1st through the fourth of 2024. So that’s more than a year away. We are going on a three day trip. First night is in San Francisco, the second two nights are in Napa. And for the price of 1800, it includes everything, not your flights, but once you’re there, every single thing from the transportation to the wine tasting, the hotels, the dinners, the breakfast, the lunches, the hot springs, woo, it’s going to be absolutely amazing.

3 (4m 35s):
It’s gonna be a whole weekend of wine. We’re looking to build about a group of 15 and a little Christmas bonus for you all out there. We have a couple of promo codes that you could use since we are just announcing this. For the first five people to book, you will get $100 off of your booking. And if you miss that one, we have another booking that can’t be combined. But a second promo code for you here paid in full is the promo code. And if you pay in full, you get $200 off of your booking. So a little gift for whoever you’re giving it to and a little bonus gift for you.

0 (5m 12s):
Love that. That’s so exciting. And I’m so excited that we’re announcing our second group trip.

2 (5m 18s):
And if you guys have forgotten, our first one is going to be our West Virginia Whitewater Rafting in New River Gorge National Park. We’ve put posts up about this on our Instagram, it’s listed on our website for approximately, and we say approximately four 30 per person, because it really depends on the accommodations that you choose at the place in which we’re gonna be doing the white water Rafting. You know, depending on if you kind of want a rustic cabin, a little bit more luxury laid back, et cetera. But with that price. And it is adjustable based off of your accommodations of booking. It’s obviously gonna include our Rafting excursion, floating excursion.

2 (5m 59s):
And this is taking place June 7th through 10th in 2024. So almost a little bit of a back-to-back travel action happening. Squad meetup on these trips in 2024. And I can’t wait. I’m super excited and

0 (6m 13s):
We hope that you or a friend of yours can make it if you’re gifting this adventure. While we’re also talking about gifts of travel, we wanna make sure you guys know that we do have Itineraries a available, and this will save you both time and money. All of our Itineraries include the hotels to stay at recommendations for restaurants, driving distance and mileage between attractions and even how much time to allot for activities. And there’s so much more. And we just wanna point out a few that we have. We have our Banff and Jasper one. This is our newest itinerary. We actually just did this trip this past summer, and it is the perfect trip if you wanna visit the Canadian Rockies. And the best time to visit is in summer.

0 (6m 56s):
So now is the perfect time to start planning because all of these things you wanna book in advance, all of the hikes that we have listed are linked to all trails. We have a provided a map overview of all the stops we’ve made, Packing lists, Squad tips, and there’s just so much more.

3 (7m 11s):
And here’s a little Squad tip for you too. If this year’s been tough, it’s been tough on a lot of us. We also have free Itineraries that you can download for single day trips in various cities across the US so you can gift an itinerary and not have to spend anything on it yourself. And

2 (7m 29s):
To find those Itineraries guys, just go to our website, Travel Squad Podcast dot com, you’ll see the dropdowns for the Itineraries. And then you can see all the different places that we have. And again, like you said, Kim, the free ones, which we really want to put a shout out to for those single day Trip Itineraries in big cities in the United States. Really great ones for you guys too.

0 (7m 51s):
Yeah, I’ll be making one for Rome once we come back from that trip. But some other ones that we have that are pretty popular is Japan. That’s our most popular itinerary. Bain, which covers Madrid, Barcelona, and Toledo. And then Utah, which covers Utah’s Mighty five, which are all national parks. So definitely go check those out.

3 (8m 10s):
Alright, let’s move on to another category. This is the techie traveler. And I feel like we’ve had a rise in the amount of tech products that make travel easier. We’re actually using one right now, and this is Wireless Earbuds, if you remember, or actually just on my recent trip, I use the headphones that the airline gives you. They’re super, super old school, black pull apart, plug into the front part of ’em. They suck, they’re terrible. The sound does not come in very well. So if you bring your own Wireless Earbuds, you not only could log in there on a lot of the modern screens by Bluetooth, but you can also use them as you’re walking around the airport, as you’re chilling in the lounge when you’re on, say a bus transfer, a ferry transfer, the Airbus come in handy and you want the Wireless ones because no one wants to be dealing with cords when you have a million other things to carry around.

2 (9m 8s):
I wholeheartedly agree with you Kim on the cord issue and not even just when you’re sitting on the plane and then you’re dealing with the mess that they give you, right? But I can’t tell you how many times, like I wanna watch something specifically on my phone, whether I’m just waiting in the airport or not. And obviously I always go to my trusty backpack to pull out my headphones and I know what zipper I put it in, but it’s always a mess trying to untangle the cord. I really, really hate it. And ever since I got my Wireless Earbuds, I absolutely love it. It’s made my life and traveling so much easier not having to deal with that. And what I really like about ’em is these ones, of course, they are just Bluetooth accessible, so they work with Droid, apple, all of that.

2 (9m 51s):
So these are really, really good product for that techie traveler.

0 (9m 55s):
Another techie traveler product that we want to talk about is my favorite one. It’s probably the one I bring with me every single trip. And that is my Portable charger, the Power Bank. And I happen to use it a lot because I’m typically the one that’s navigating directions. I usually have the all trails map up on my screen while we’re hiking to make sure that we’re following the right map. And that drains my battery a little bit faster than just the typical day in life. And so I always bring this on every single hike. And while we’re traveling around cities, when you have Google Maps up and you’re trying to get around a new city and you’re looking for destinations and you’re taking pictures all day because you’re looking cute while you’re traveling in London or Paris or wherever you are.

0 (10m 39s):
So this Portable Charge bank is amazing. It is for BC’s. And I highly recommend always having one to keep your phone charged. You’ll never know when you’re gonna need it.

2 (10m 50s):
This is an item that I always have in my travel backpack too. You can’t leave without this, right? You’re traveling, you’re taking photos, you never know when you’re gonna need power or how much you’re gonna go through running through it. So the travel bank is very useful and I absolutely love it. And one thing that we didn’t say here too, of course, is in the show notes and on our website for this episode, we are going to link these specific products for you that we are talking about. So rest assured you could go into the show notes or to our website, click on the link, you can see exactly what you’re talking about and should you actually purchase through our links, we just wanna let you know that you help support the Travel, Squad Podcast in those endeavors.

2 (11m 31s):
But nonetheless, these are really great products for you guys that we’re going over.

1 (11m 36s):
Hey squads, have you ever wanted to make a podcast? Spotify for podcasters lets you make one super easily distribute it everywhere and even helps you earn money. It’s all in one place and it’s free. Here’s how it works.

2 (11m 49s):
Spotify for podcasters lets you record and edit audio right through your phone or computer. So no matter what your setup is like, you can get started creating today, then you can distribute your podcast on Spotify. And everywhere else podcasts are heard, what’s

0 (12m 4s):
Cool is they also have video podcast capabilities. And when you wanna take your conversations to the next level to q and ass and polls are the best ways to get them talking. We’ve started using polls on our episodes and we love seeing your guys’ feedback.

3 (12m 17s):
With Spotify for podcasters, you can generate income for your show with ads and subscriptions. And best of all, it’s totally free with no catch.

2 (12m 24s):
Ever since we discovered Spotify for podcasters, we feel like we’ve had more engagement with our audience and are getting more listens through the Spotify network. We highly recommend you give it a try. Download the Spotify for podcasters app or go to spotify.com/podcasters to get started today.

3 (12m 42s):
Another item that is really good to bring, if you are going to be a staying somewhere a little bit longer like an Airbnb or maybe you have a timeshare for a week or something like that, Amazon, Fire, Stick. I’m sure we all have one, but you don’t wanna bring your one from home. Disrupt your setup, maybe lose it when you’re out. Get one specifically for travel that you can leave in your bag, plug in when you’re staying somewhere. I was just traveling in Greece for a week and there were some nights where all I wanted to do was just turn on season two of the Murs and find out what was going on with the trial and just chill out. Like get a Euro, sit on the bed, relax and having an Amazon Fire Stick came in so handy.

2 (13m 26s):
I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. I mean, you just have that fire stick set up to your accounts that you have. ’cause it’s like, okay, if you’re staying at an Airbnb two, maybe the TV’s a smart TV or they have a Fire stick or any other device that will allow you access to you know, your favorite streaming services, but what a pain it is to actually have to go and find it. Be like, what episode did I leave off on? And try to find it in the middle of all the seasons and everything like that. So this just keeps your TV or movie watching in some form of continuity when you travel. And I really love it because yeah, you know what, maybe we’re looking at our phones when we’re in the airport train, plane, whatever, but when I’m in a hotel room or where I’m actually staying, I don’t wanna watch TV or anything like that on my small phone.

2 (14m 11s):
I want it on the big screen and you just plug this right in and you are good to go.

0 (14m 16s):
Another techie traveler product is the Air Tag and I’ve jumped on this bandwagon hard. I got one for Jamal and I right before we went to Africa and I was like, I do not wanna lose our bag with all of our safari clothes in it on our way. So you just place it in your Luggage, you can even put it in your backpack, can use it in a lot of different instances, but it is just, you know, a tracking device. And so air tags are specific for iPhones. I know tiles are specific for Samsung or Galaxies, but definitely check them out. You can track to see where your, where your Luggage is. So if you land in your destination and they say they’ve lost your Luggage, hopefully that never happens.

0 (14m 59s):
But if it does happen to you, then you can look on your phone and you can see exactly where it is. Did it get lost in transit or is it there and you just can’t find it at that airport? If you can get close to it, that’s great because you can put a pinging on it on your phone and it’ll make actually like a little chirping noise. So it’s easy to find. So super useful. I always travel with it anytime I go anywhere. Now

2 (15m 23s):
It gives me such comfort when I check a bag, which we rarely do, but some trips are conducive for the fact that you have to check it to know like, alright, when I’m sitting on the plane I can actually see, yeah, my Luggage is on board or it’s coming down when I’ve landed and I’m looking at my phone to get its positioning device. I’m like, oh, it’s made it here. It’s making its way to the carousel. And you said something Brittany, that I just want to touch upon. Yes. Originally these were Apple specific products, they linked to your iPhone. But I actually just saw an article, I don’t know the confirmation of when it’s gonna happen, but for those Android users out there such as myself, air tags are gonna be compatible with Androids here very, very soon. Apple just released an article saying as such, that official date, I do not know, but it is happening.

0 (16m 8s):
Oh wow. Wow. That’s great to know. And another way you could use the Air Tag too. I just had a friend and she just wanted to take her kid to Disney World by herself. It was without her partner. So just her and her three four year old kiddo. So she put an Air Tag in a bracelet and put it on her kid so that if her kid got lost at Disney World, she could find her. And I thought that was pretty cool. So that’s another way you can use the Air Tag.

3 (16m 32s):
That is so funny.

2 (16m 35s):
Yeah, and I also wanna say too, I mean I’m sitting here talking about me being an Android user and just how excited I am for this product. I don’t have the Air Tag tied to my phone. Brittany’s phone has both the air tags tied to it. So if you are traveling as a couple married boyfriend girlfriend, until that actually comes and Androids are compatible with it, one iPhone can connect to two and you can keep track of it too. So it’s very useful in that respect. Also,

3 (17m 2s):
It has a lot of uses, but I think what’s really cool is that it’s only 30 bucks. I was expecting these to be like AirPod prices, but they’re very affordable. So no matter who you’re buying for, whether it’s someone you’re actually close with or even a hostess gift, like say you’re going, you know, you’re host of a party is going on A trip, it’s the perfect gift at at a decently low price. Yeah,

2 (17m 25s):
We can’t say enough good things about air tags. I I am really solid on those. But the last item that we have as a perfect travel gift for the techie traveler is a Foldable Wireless Phone Charging Stand. Now this thing is absolutely amazing. Basically it is exactly what I said, but it’s a Foldable Charging stand that you can just touch your phone up to without plugging it in. It charges it. If you have your smartwatch, it has a little bank for you, your smartwatch to sit on top too. And then it starts Charging it. So all of your important tech devices that you’re gonna need while traveling, whether it be for your Google Translate, Google Maps, et cetera, photos, this is a one-stop shop for you to go ahead and charge your devices.

2 (18m 14s):
And it folds really compact for when you travel too. So it doesn’t even really take up a lot of space.

3 (18m 19s):
I think what’s coolest about this, yes it can charge like your watch and your AirPods in your phone all at once, but the folding mechanism of it and you just stick it there. So if you’re, imagine you’re sitting on a plane, you have your tray table out, you set up your Foldable charger, you stick your phone right to it. So your phone is Charging as it’s propped up. You don’t have to hold it, you don’t have to sit it somewhere and it falls down when somebody puts their seat back like it is perfect. And this is going in my cart for my own Christmas gift this year.

2 (18m 53s):
Yeah, I love it. This is actually a really, really unique one and I, you know, I didn’t even think about it from that perspective of the use of it, honestly as a stand on your tray table on a plane, it’s perfect for that. And then you can just plug it in your phone. And device, of course doesn’t need to be plugged in ’cause it’s a Wireless charge, but of course the actual folding device needs to, so just plug that in to your USB port that you have in your seat and you are good to go.

3 (19m 19s):
And again, it’s only like 30 bucks. Th this kind of thing in my head, I feel like it should be like a hundred bucks.

2 (19m 25s):
I know, but th so many things are ridiculously overpriced these days. But I’m so stoked to actually see that a lot of cool gadgets are reasonably priced and this is one of them.

0 (19m 35s):
So next we’re gonna dive into the organized traveler. This is a person that loves to be organized to have all of those different things to keep their lives and their travels organized as well. And the first product we’re gonna talk about is the Toiletry set. This Toiletry set is an 18 Pack. It has different size bottles and this set is so aesthetically pleasing, it’s beautiful. There’s enough containers for your shampoo, your conditioner, your face wash, your lotion, there’s a little spray Bottle and then there’s even these little canisters or little containers for you put creams and other things in there as well. So this is actually on sale a lot of the time and you can see it as low as like 10 bucks, which is so great.

3 (20m 21s):
But even the full price is like 13 bucks. And I can confirm this is amazing. I bought this for my grease trip. It is amazing the Silicone tubes when you’ve used all the product in it actually then squishes down so you can save more room on the way back. I used every piece of it and I highly recommend this Toiletry Pack.

2 (20m 40s):
Well, not only does it have the really cool items for you to use to put your liquids, creams, gels, et cetera in it, but of course they’re all TSA compliant size. And when I say that, of course I know they don’t have TSA in London, but you’ve heard us talk about London, that’s a different story. But at least when you’re traveling within the United States and other places internationally, you know this is your proper Liquid size. And what I really like about it is everything also comes so to where it fits actually in a plastic bag. So God forbid, if anything were to pop, spill, et cetera, it’s gonna contain it. So it keeps it all organized into one and I really, really love it. My squeeze tubes now that I have for my shampoo conditioner, they are running a little bit on the time of replacement and it’s not, the ones I have is not from this.

2 (21m 29s):
So this is high on my list now and I’m glad you mentioned it to us on how useful it was to you in Greece. And that’s why it’s made the list here for us.

3 (21m 36s):
It also comes with labels. So you can label every Bottle with what’s in it and it comes with a little funnel for easier pouring into the Bottle.

0 (21m 45s):
I mean it can’t get any easier than that.

2 (21m 47s):
The next item on our list for the organized traveler is going to be the Compressible Packing Cubes. Now the key word in here is Compressible. We’ve done lots of Instagram stories on this. They’ve come and useful for us. We’ve told lots of our friends family about it, they’ve used it, told us how great it’s been. I used to be of the mindset, oh Packing, Cubes, whatever, you know, yeah, they kind of help you organize, but they really don’t do much Compressible. There is an extra zipper around it to push everything down. So you fit it in there and then you just get so much more space. And I can’t tell you how many times on the last few trips where I felt like, man, I’ve packed a lot that I would need to check a bag.

2 (22m 28s):
I haven’t had to do it because I’ve put ’em in the Compressible Packing Cubes.

0 (22m 32s):
And it’s super helpful with winter travel because you have, you know, your puffer jacket and that just takes up a lot of space. But you put this in the Compressible cube with some other jackets and you zip it up and you compress that bad boy down. And it is fantastic to for winter travel.

2 (22m 49s):
And what I really like about these two is there’s Bags in the set of different sizes, right? So there’s a smaller size for maybe Socks and underwear and then it gets a little bit bigger and bigger and bigger and maybe there’s about four different sizes in the set for you guys on that one.

3 (23m 5s):
I gotta say, I think there have been past episodes where I wasn’t the biggest fan of Packing Cubes, but I am on the Packing cube bandwagon now. I have these Compressible Packing Cubes, they’ve saved me on numerous trips. But be careful because they do compress so much that you might overpack.

2 (23m 24s):
It does tend to make you overpack that much I cannot deny. But speaking about Packing and organized travel, we’ve mentioned this one before. It’s been on previous editions of the holiday travel gift ideas, but it’s an oldie but a goodie and it can’t be missed here. It’s going to be the Packing Shoe Bags. I love these ones too because of course you can get them in multiple sizes for girls who maybe have a little bit smaller of a foot or even if they have a larger foot, it doesn’t really matter because then you know, we’re hiking a lot. We have boots, so you have them in different size, male female kind of sizes, different variations here.

2 (24m 6s):
And these are really great for you to just kind of throw your shoes in your backpack or in your Suitcase and not really have to worry about it getting anything dirty. It’s a designated Shoe bag for you and I love it. Yeah,

0 (24m 18s):
This Pack comes with four in it and there’s two different sizes. So you get two of each size. The smaller size is perfect for me. The larger size is great for Jamal and it can fit both of our different sizes of hiking boots in them. I love that when we get home and your shoes are dirty, you could take those Shoe Bags, you could put them in the wash. They’re washable, they’re reusable, they’re, you can zipper them up. So it keeps everything clean. I do not go on A trip without these

3 (24m 45s):
Laundry. Bag is also useful. That’s the next one here we wanna share. You need a Laundry Bag when you are on a, especially on a long trip, when you have a lot of dirty clothes by the end of your trip, you don’t want it mixing and mingling with your clean stuff. And just like you said about the Shoe Bags Britt, when you come home and you dump your whole disgusting full bag of Laundry from your Laundry Bag straight into the washer, I just feel like I can conquer the world. Like I don’t need a day to unpack. I’m, I’m already doing Laundry and I just got home.

0 (25m 19s):
Love it. And one squat tip I have for you guys is we always throw some dryer sheets inside so it helps keep our Laundry smelling fresh and it’s fantastic. So if you aren’t doing that, definitely that’s a tip for you. And

2 (25m 33s):
Throw them in your Shoe Bags too while you’re at it, put it into the Laundry for the dirty clothes in the Laundry Bag. But throw those in there in your Shoe bag too. Keep it a little bit fresh ’cause you’re confining everything. But yeah, great squat tip Britt,

3 (25m 44s):
I really wanna share this next product and it is a Jewelry Case Organizer for travel. We have mentioned Jewelry cases before. Britt you for one year for Christmas, actually you got me a square cube size one that has a hard shell and that one’s really great if you’re bringing a couple bracelets, earrings, a few different things. But what I noticed is that in that one the necklaces would get tangled. This one is a whole other level and it doesn’t take up much space. It folds pretty small, like maybe a small clutch wallet size, but it folds out very large. There’s clear pockets, you can see what’s actually in it. There’s a soft cylinder piece to put your rings on with a button that closes them down so they can’t fall off.

3 (26m 30s):
There’s holes to put all your earrings in. And best of all, there’s like four little slots to hang your earring on and then it stuffs it in a little pouch right below. So they don’t move, they don’t get tangled, they’re easy to pull off, they, they don’t mix with each other. I love this Jewelry Case. It’s under 20 bucks I think when I got it, it was more close around 15. Highly, highly recommend this one.

0 (26m 56s):
Yeah, it looks super cute and it looks like it packs down really easy. So because it doesn’t have that hard shell, you can probably fit it into some other places in your Luggage.

3 (27m 5s):
Yes, exactly.

2 (27m 7s):
Well the way it folds down too, it looks like it could even just fit in your backpack. No need to put in your Luggage and risk maybe having your Jewelry get lost or taken out. So it’s really compatible and nice in that respect too. It

3 (27m 20s):
Fits a lot of stuff too. Like if you’re going on a week long trip to Greece where you have a ton of outfits that you wanna look cute for and you need to bring some Jewelry to accessorize, highly recommend this one.

0 (27m 31s):
So this next product is a Cup Holder. And so you actually attach it onto your Luggage. You know when you’re early mornings, 5:00 AM flight, grabbing your coffee rushing to the airport, you attach this onto your Luggage and you can slide your phone and your drink in it and keep you hands free.

2 (27m 50s):
Well not only just your Luggage, I mean this is really good to actually attach the the Cup Holder and you, when you say Cup Holder too, yes it has that circular spot for your Cup, your thermos, whatever, doesn’t really matter your coffee in the morning at the airport, but it also has a little side spot and slot for your phone, right? So it’s not slipping your phone in the circular area, it’s the real slot that’s really made to design to fit your phone. So I really love that aspect about it too. But again, not just for Suitcase baby stroller, bike scooter, anything like that. I mean if you’re going to a location that’s conducive for bike riding, you know, bring this with you and attach it to your bike, it’s a good spot for your phone to be in.

2 (28m 30s):
That way it’s not in your pockets. You have to worry about it for out. You’re maybe in Hawaii or someplace cool and just riding your bike and you want to pick up an amazing coffee or or drink or anything like that. This is perfect for that and I think it’s actually really cool. And more specifically how it has that specific slot for the phone. I really love,

3 (28m 50s):
There’s been so many times I’ve taken an early morning flight and I have so much shit to carry. I have a water Bottle, I have the coffee, I have my phone, I have a Sweater and it’s like if I could just attach this to my Suitcase and have two less things to carry and you know you always need your phone too, so you’re always bringing it out. So it’s usually in your hand and you want it easily accessible. This thing is amazing. It comes in tons of cute colors and it’s only like 10 bucks. So it’s a also a great gift for stalking or someone that’s more of an acquaintance type area or just like a, you know, a low investment gift. But you’re gonna get a lot of use out of it. So next one here, I’m sure we’ve all been seeing on TikTok these super cool Bags that hook on to the handle of your Suitcase.

3 (29m 37s):
So I have been really, really looking into getting one of these because I always struggle with, do I bring my backpack because I need more space but I also need to Pack my Purse because I want my Purse when I get there, but I don’t wanna have to carry all this and my Purse doesn’t fit in my backpack. So what this is is a black tote that you can use it as an overnight bag. It is that big. It has a bottom compartment for shoes to keep them separate because that’s always what takes up the most room in your Luggage. And then it has a huge big area inside where you could fit your Purse, a laptop, a Sweater, a book, a ton of other stuff to go with it. It has outside pockets for like your phone or your charger or a wallet for example.

3 (30m 20s):
And the coolest thing is, is that it straps right on to the top of your carry-on or your Suitcase. So you don’t actually have to carry anything else like a Purse or a backpack.

0 (30m 29s):
And it comes in a lot of different colors. Of course it comes in black, it comes in a, a beautiful cream, a light blue purple. There’s so many different colors that you can choose from and it’s pretty affordable too. The prices range from like 30 to $40 depending on the color you get.

3 (30m 45s):
We are keeping you organized with this next one. This might be a product you don’t think you need, but I’m gonna tell you why you do. So this is a four Pack of Mini Silicone Pouches. They’re about the size of the palm of your hand and they’re the perfect little pouch to put hair ties, bobby pins cords. And the reason i I believe in this product so much is this last trip that I went on, I had cords everywhere. I had a charger, I had a charger for my Portable charger, I had a charger for my AirPods. There were so many cords flying around my backpack that if I had had these Pouches before that trip I could have saved myself a lot of pain and suffering and going crazy with all the cords.

2 (31m 34s):
Well not even with all the cords. You know what I really like about this And, and, and I’ll be honest, you know minus the court aspect ’cause that’s its main intended use. But I’m just thinking and how many times have we had this conversation about in other countries they don’t really have dollar or $2 bills. Of course they’re equip the local country’s equivalent of that, right? And they give those things out in change and coins. And so this could actually be something really good for a guy to put in his pocket and really have it be his coin pouch so to speak. Yeah, you gotta keep it upright but multi-use in that respect. So if you have this on your trip for your cords, utilize it for that aspect too.

2 (32m 15s):
And it’s actually really, really great.

0 (32m 17s):
This next product we have on this list, I actually need to buy this for myself and it is a Travel Luggage Protector. So it goes on the outside of your Luggage to protect your Luggage. And you know, I used to not believe in things like this, like why do I need a one extra product but one, this one’s really cute because we made, it has a a little graphic of a map on it. It it’s black, it’s sleek, it’s great. But one of my trips I checked a Luggage and a zipper came off of it. So the front, very front small pouch of my checked Luggage no longer opens and closes. It’s just open all the time and it’s annoying.

0 (32m 58s):
And had I had a Luggage Protector or cover that probably wouldn’t have happened ’cause it probably wouldn’t have got caught in anything.

3 (33m 6s):
I have had multiple suitcases that I’ve checked that when I get them back there’s scrapes all over them and that nothing is more upsetting than when it’s a brand new Suitcase and it comes down the conveyor belt all scuffed up. But I’ve also had zippers break off my current carry-on sized bag. It’s had a broken zipper for quite a while actually and it has about four inches where you know when you zip a zipper and then it opens. Anyway that’s been happening because I stuff it so much to use a carry on for a week long trip and I it, I mean it’s still working for me so I haven’t pulled the plug on a new one yet.

3 (33m 46s):
But travel Protector keeps everything in when it does explode and I definitely need one of these,

2 (33m 52s):
Well minus the protection aspect of it. ’cause you can never know what they’re actually doing with your Luggage once you surrender it at the airport and give it to somebody, right? I mean you could ask anybody, there’s probably somebody that they know that has a story of it potentially being ruined as you ladies have described. But I really think they’re great Luggage identifiers when it comes out on the conveyor belt for you, right? Because so many luggages look the same. And I’m not gonna sit here and say people don’t have Luggage protectors and covers, but very few people do. And it is a great identifier to know, yes that is actually my Suitcase and nobody else is accidentally going to take it and you can just spot it a mile away.

3 (34m 32s):
Another item that we designed and is available in our Etsy shop is a Passport, Book Cover. Everybody needs one of these. Protect your Passport. You’re gonna have that thing for 10 years. Keep it in good condition because if it doesn’t scan anymore you have to get a new one. And we all know about the passport process these days is a pain in the ass. So get a Passport, Book Cover. There’s tons of options out there. We have quite a few on our Etsy shop. I really, really like the all black one with the white plane that looks like it’s headed straight for you. It’s simple, minimalistic but still super, super cute and will protect your passport book.

2 (35m 9s):
I honestly don’t know how people travel without a Passport cover book, right? I mean you’re just kind of raw dogging life a little bit with your passport when you go through the airport and travel without it. You could spill anything on it when you put it in your backpack or pocket. It’s subject to potentially be bent, like you said, if it gets ruined and can’t be scanned ’cause it’s bent, et cetera. So these are great protectors for it. I know Brittany and I have one, I know you have one Kim, I don’t really know anybody who doesn’t. So really, really practical and you know eventually in time anything that is a cover is gonna wear out. So if yours is wearing out or if you happen to don’t have one or just wanna update your design, definitely check out our Passport book covers on our Etsy shop.

3 (35m 51s):
This is the perfect gift for someone that just got a new passport. It’s not their first Passport ever. They’re all excited. They need a book. This is a great gift for that person.

2 (36m 3s):
Absolutely wholeheartedly agree on that.

0 (36m 6s):
So the next Gifts that we’re gonna talk about are all comfort related. We are at the point in our lives now where comfort is life and we wanna be as comfortable as we can while we’re traveling, while we’re on vacation, all of that sort of stuff. So that’s the next section that we’re diving into and we’re starting it off with talking about Wool Socks and every single hiking trip we go on, I hype up my Wool Socks like nobody’s business and Kim, every single time we go on a hiking trip, Kim is like, oh I’m getting this blister. Oh do you have a blister bandaid? Oh my feet hurt. And I’m like, even with Wool Socks and Kim goes every single time we talk about this and I get excited but then I go home from the trip.

0 (36m 48s):
We’re not going anywhere for a while so I don’t buy them. And this happens every single time. I can’t tell you how many times it’s happened.

2 (36m 56s):
Well I’ll tell you what, this is either a sign that Kim needs to buy it now or we just need to step up and buy Kim this gift for Christmas. I don’t know which one it is.

3 (37m 5s):
Well we are meeting up this weekend for A trip that does involve hiking and I will be purchasing on Amazon today so I have them in time. I am a changed woman.

0 (37m 17s):
But beyond hiking the Wool Socks are actually really great because they wick water away, they help keep your feet dry, it’s perfect. Even in humid places you would think it’s super hot. But they actually are pretty self-regulating and so they help prevent blisters. I cannot say enough about Wool Socks, I love them and I can’t wait for you to jump on the bandwagon. Kim.

3 (37m 37s):
Next up we have the coolest travel neck Pilllow that you will ever use. It’s from a company called Take-on and it’s one of the most unique designs I have ever seen in a travel Pilllow. And after carrying it all around grease on ferries, on planes, in lounges, on benches, I can attest to the comfort of this thing. It’s like kind of shaped almost like a sea and it has this delicious memory foam type material in it that is so damn comfortable. What’s really cool about it is you can wear it in so many different ways. Like you just kind of wanna put your head to the side and doze off.

3 (38m 19s):
You can set it on your shoulder, you wanna use it in the back to give yourself your backpack neck there. You can even use it as a lumbar Pilllow, a cushion. I know when I was on the flight back from London, it’s a nine hour flight, my ass was killing me so I put it right in that spot of your tailbone and I just stuck the C part under my butt one C part up on my lower back and it made all the difference. Like this Pilllow is unreal.

0 (38m 49s):
I love that it comes with a case too because I just shove my eye mask and my earplugs in that same bag and so when I pull it out I have everything that I need in there and it can go down onto like the handle of your Luggage so it makes it hands free.

2 (39m 6s):
I really love everything that you talked about at Kim because it really is multi-use. We all just got this Pilllow ourselves utilized it on our first big international trip. And you know again this isn’t your normal travel Pilllow that almost looks like a donut and has a little opening to kind of fit around your neck and maybe you get a little bit of support. Again, you could put it in all sorts of positions. But what I really like is I feel like you know, if we’re really traveling in coach more often than not, right, well I should say most people are always traveling in coach versus business or first, right? It is so hard to find a comfortable position for your neck trying to sleep. This one is really great because we often we’ll tilt ourselves to the side and those traditional pillows don’t give you that support.

2 (39m 50s):
This one does. I love it and I suffer the same problem as you. I’m actually shocked to hear that you have this problem Kim, but I have the problem of about two hours, three hours into a flight, my entire butt is sore, numb, the seats aren’t comfortable. And you’re right, you can just kind of like roll that out and let that be your little butt cushion too. Even if you want some really multi-use. And I love it.

3 (40m 13s):
I even used it as a Footrest because my feet don’t fully touch the ground on a plane. So it gave me just a few extra inches to stretch out and get comfortable. And I will say one other thing about this in the pictures on the Amazon listing, you’ll see that there’s kind of a fabric strap that you can wrap around your jawline and around your head so that it holds the Pilllow in place. I actually mostly did not use that piece of it. I felt like it stayed very well on the shoulder where I needed it to. I didn’t need to wrap it around my face and the comfort did not disappoint.

2 (40m 49s):
That’s awesome. And the last thing I wanna say about it too is there is a YouTube link about this Pilllow that will tell you all its uses and actually how to use it. Because when we say it’s not your traditional design, it definitely is not. Like when I first looked at it and saw it, it kind of threw me off a little bit. But there is a YouTube video that shows you all about how to use it properly and its Mini uses.

0 (41m 14s):
One thing that you did mention Kim is that you’re a shorty and that your feet don’t always touch the ground while you’re on an Airplane. And this next product that I wanted to talk about is actually a foot hammock and it’s one that you has these straps and that you connect them together and then you put it over your tray table and I bring it on every long flight, anything over like three hours, I’m bringing it folds up really small, has a little carrying case and I just used it on this last flight back from Germany to San Diego. It was nonstop. It was about 11, 12 hours and it’s perfect for me. It makes it so much more easier to sleep when my feet are a little elevated and it just gives me more positions to adjust into than just having my feet down and dangling or trying to like curl myself up into a ball.

0 (42m 3s):
So I personally love it and use it. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone over, I would probably say like 5, 6, 5 7.

3 (42m 10s):
I also have the Footrest and absolutely love it.

2 (42m 13s):
So this is a gift for the short queens and kings in people’s life. Exactly, because I actually bought this too and you know it doesn’t work as well when you are tall. So that I agree. So take that with a grain of salt and keep in mind, you know really 5, 6, 5, 7 and below, this is the perfect item for you to kind of get that comfort. ’cause Brittany raves about it and I know you do too. Kim.

3 (42m 38s):
The other thing that I rave about and I got Brittany onto are these Dr. Shoals white platform tennis shoes. Okay? Every lady out there knows that when you’re walking around say like me, I walked around all day in Athens grease in these shoes. I want something that’s gonna look cute with my outfit, right? But I also at this age have had enough blisters to know I want something comfortable. And I actually discovered these shoes looking on TikTok, what are the best shoes for travel? What are the most comfortable shoes for travel? These had rave reviews. So it’s a platform heel, but they’re doc not heel platform entire bottom.

3 (43m 20s):
And they’re Dr. Shoals. So they have a built-in amazing insole for comfort. They’re white, all white pretty much. They have a little bit of beige touches but you really can’t see it that well in the Shoe. They’re so comfortable they go with dresses, rompers, athletic wear, I love them. I cannot say enough good things about them.

0 (43m 39s):
Yeah, I wore them a lot of days while we were in Germany, especially to October Fest and things like that. And we did a lot of walking while we were there and at the end of the day my feet didn’t hurt, which was a huge plus because when we went to Spain earlier in the year, I did not have very comfortable walking shoes. And this made all of the difference. Like literally comfort on your feet just makes you feel so much better.

3 (44m 4s):
Comfort and cuteness you. This is the winning pair. They do come in around 70 bucks but I’m telling you right now, they are worth it. They’re the perfect gift if you are buying for a friend. So you guys are going on a girl’s trip, perfect gift or say you know, this person’s going on A trip, they’re gonna be walking around a lot like a solo trip for example. Perfect gift for them.

2 (44m 29s):
What I will say about it too is they do have have different styles. I know both you ladies are going kind of with the little classic white style that they have, but I just want to say these are a perfect mix of comfort and style. They are very, very stylish shoes. So to that I’ll give them credit. And I’m also kind of really waiting for that Dr. Men’s line to come out with kind of a little bit of a style because I’ll tell you what, sometimes walking around, you know I feel like it’s a little bit different for you know, women of course to find stylish shoes that are comfortable, right? ’cause it’s really more fashion. But as I’m getting older, I understand the need for comfort too. And I’m waiting on you Dr.

2 (45m 9s):
Scholls, for that men’s line on these.

0 (45m 11s):
So this next product I wanna talk about is a Portable, White Noise, Machine. And sleep is so important when you’re on vacation. When we went to Germany this last month, I actually brought my regular sound machine but you have to plug it into a wall and that takes up space. And if you’re in a different country then you have to have the converter for that and a space on that as well. And, but let me tell you, I sleep like a baby when a white noise machine is on. So I decided to go ahead and purchase a Portable, White Noise Machine. And it’s really small, it’s like the size of your palm, you charge it in advance, it lasts for several hours. I think it can stay going for about 30 hours.

0 (45m 52s):
So you can get a few nights sleep with it on and it has like 13 different noises. It’s very compact and I love it because in hotels you don’t know where you’re gonna be in a hotel. You don’t know if you’re gonna be near the elevator, you don’t know if it’s being noisy, you’re not. You don’t know that If you want the window open, open what the outside noise is gonna be like putting the sound machine on makes me sleep so well, I get great sleep with it on. So I would highly recommend traveling with one. And mine just came in the mail this week.

2 (46m 23s):
We’re looking at it right now. Brittany charged it. Kind of like first thing. So as we’re recording, we have a straight view of this one right now. And like she said, we haven’t used this one on our trip yet ’cause we have been using like a regular sized one that we have in our bedroom that we’ve packed. But the compactness of this, it’s just gonna open up more space. It’s gonna be a little bit lighter. But all the benefits that she just talked about, you’re gonna have when you’re on A trip. And these things are fantastic. White noise machines on love,

3 (46m 49s):
Super affordable too, coming in around 10 to 15 bucks depending on which one you get. But it is perfect for like a stocking stuffer. Or if you’re going on A trip with someone that you know might be a little bit noisy or you know you’re gonna be in a noisy area, perfect gift for a situation like that. This next one is my bread and, but I have been talking about these since the very first episode that we put out. And this is a microfiber thong. They’re Seamless, you don’t even know you’re wearing anything. It feels like absolutely nothing on your skin. They’re the most comfortable underwear for women on of all time.

3 (47m 33s):
I know there’s some people out there that like to wear granny pennies, but for the people that are cool with Thongs, these are the most comfortable underwear ever. Take my word for it. You’re gonna want them. And the coolest thing about this is they come in big packs, six packs, all different colors of packs. So we always tell you Pack enough underwear to shit yourself three times a day. Get a couple packs of these, get ’em in the same color, no one will ever know you did

0 (48m 2s):
Love it. Kim,

2 (48m 4s):
How do you feel these last you on a nice 10 to 12 hour flight? ’cause you know, I hear the opposing arguments sometimes from travel community people that like when you’re on a plane, yeah, maybe the granny panties are a little bit more comfortable because you know who wants a thong on for that long on a flight, right? So how, how would you rate these ones then Kim on that end?

3 (48m 27s):
I would rate them very high. Honestly. They just sit right on the top of your crack. They don’t go into it and they’re so thin, they’re so soft. Like I could wear these to sleep just wearing this. And that’s saying a lot.

2 (48m 42s):
I love it. It even has an everyday use beyond just the travel aspect then. So just buy ’em all up.

0 (48m 47s):
This next gift that we’re gonna talk about is a Travel, Mini Umbrella. And I really feel that a lot of people don’t wanna bring umbrellas because they don’t wanna take up that space in their Luggage or their backpack. But this one is so small, it comes with a compact little case and it’s perfect to fit even inside of your small like cross body bag. Even you can stick it in your Purse, you can stick it in your backpack. And I feel like traveling with an Umbrella, especially when you know you’re gonna be in a destination that possibly could rain a lot. Hawaii is a great example, or Germany, this last trip. You wanna travel with Umbrella and have that comfort of not getting wet while you’re walking around the city all day.

3 (49m 29s):
Mexico City is another place that is known to have random rainstorms. I brought my Mini travel Umbrella with me on that trip, put it right in my crossbody bag just like you said. And on the very last day we were there, it started raining. All of a sudden I was the only person that had an Umbrella. No one even knew that I had one on me. ’cause it’s so small, it just fits right in your Purse and everyone was trying to come under there with me. So highly recommend this one

2 (49m 56s):
Keyword is though they’re Mini, so you can be selfish and tell people, whoa, whoa, whoa. There’s only so much space I have it. You know, you need to get your own. Next. Talking about comfort here is going to be an Airplane Sweater for you guys. Now I know what you’re thinking, like, oh, an Airplane Sweater. But we know this planes can be either really cold or on this last one, it was actually really hot. I, I won’t even lie about that. But more often than not, I think we can all attest to the fact that it gets really cold on a plane and you never know what it’s going to be. Brittany has her own specific travel Sweater that she wears really all the time for her. And so I feel like any person just kind of needs that general comfort Sweater for the Airplane.

2 (50m 37s):
And we actually have several Airplane sweaters on our Etsy site for you guys to go check out all really cool designs. But nevertheless, what amazing comfort it is to kind of have a really comfortable sweatshirt and Sweater while you’re on a plane when it’s freezing and that little blanket that they give you is not enough.

3 (50m 57s):
The one that we’ll link in the show notes is a zip up hoodie with this really cute mountain and forest kind of design on the front and the back of it. It’s one of our top selling products. Highly rated people rave about it and it’s so cozy. There is nothing better than the feeling of the inside of a brand new Sweater.

0 (51m 19s):
Oh I

3 (51m 19s):
Know. It’s so soft. And once you wash it once it’s gone. So if you have A trip coming up to a colder destination now that it is the colder season or you know, like Jamal said, you’re just gonna be on a plane and you know they get cold, this is a perfect gift. And then lastly here, for comfort Carabiner Clips, I have talked about these Clips before and the reason I’ll say their comfort is because they do what they’re intended to, right? They’re Clips that you can clip onto things and then clip other things onto them. And when we were in Banff earlier this year, I was using a Carabiner clip to hook to the loop on the top of my backpack and hook on my water Bottle so I didn’t have to hold the water Bottle.

3 (52m 4s):
I was able to be comfortable with my hands free, but I was still able to bring my water Bottle and you know, have hydration without a a water bladder. I also hooked a bunch of other things on there like hair ties, my Sweater even at one point. These things are a classic and like we’ve all seen them and we get them at Merch tables here and there. But if you don’t have one, I highly recommend them because they will change your travel life.

2 (52m 30s):
Well, not only just on your backpack, something very easily could fit on your Suitcase that you might be able to clip on there. And I mean we were just talking about a travel Pilllow earlier and the one that actually has a case, Brittany had her travel Pilllow one time hooked to her backpack without a Carabiner fell off. She’s lost it before. This is a perfect item too that you can use and just kind of clip on your travel Pilllow or any other item. Just make sure that you don’t lose it when it’s in tote if it’s not gonna be able to fit in your backpack or if it’s that water Bottle or even hair Clips as you were talking about. I really love that like so like practical like oh let me just have like a hair clip available. Not that I use them or I should say hair Clips, hair ties. Not that I use them ’cause I don’t have long luscious hair, but I see the practicality.

0 (53m 15s):
Well this next section we’re gonna dive into is all about keeping yourself healthy while you travel. And so that first thing I’m gonna talk about is the Pill Organizer. I am a believer in this. I actually have this, I keep one in my carry-on bag. This one that we’re linking actually comes in a Pack of four. You can use it, you can gift it to other people, but I like have one in my carry-on bag. I have one in my car, one in my Purse, I have it everywhere. But when you open it up, you open it up and there’s two sides. And on one side there’s two larger compartments to put pills or medications in. And on the other side are six smaller departments. And so I use it to put Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Benadryl, Immodium in case that happens even some melatonin.

0 (54m 3s):
So it has a, it’s like my just normal like pharmacy I guess for when I travel with my carry-on bag and I never go anywhere without it and I keep one in my work bag as well. So definitely would recommend.

3 (54m 18s):
Next up Liquid IV. Everyone needs this no matter what type of A trip you’re going on, gonna be partying a lot, it’ll help with hangovers. Gonna be doing a lot of air travel, it helps with dehydration. Gonna be doing a lot of hiking, helps you, you know, get those electrolytes that you need when you’re out there for a long time. And the best thing about Liquid IV it was already amazing but now they have sugar free flavors that are equally as amazing.

2 (54m 45s):
I really love that too, the fact that they have the sugar free. So that’s actually really awesome. But I do love all of their flavors but for all of the reasons that you mentioned, it really does come in handy ’cause I feel like a lot of people when they’re traveling, sometimes they don’t realize how little water that they’re actually drinking. And I’ve really noticed that of course when I’m on a plane and there is actually science too with you with the altitude and actually feeling dehydrated et cetera. But you know for us we’re always kind of like active on trips, you know, hiking the traveling aspect. We were just at October Fest in Germany. I mean what better way to kind of really rehydrate and get your electrolytes than through Liquid IV. I mean they do have a proven track record of actually being able to show scientifically that it does hydrate you.

2 (55m 31s):
But also we’ve talked about this before. We’re gonna go ahead and say it again. This is an everyday use but it’s also great travel use. If you want Liquid IV actually go to Liquid IV dot com and you can use our promo code Travel Squad Podcast for 20% off your order. So don’t buy it regular pay full price. Use our promo code and you’re able to get 20% off for an everyday practical purchase.

3 (55m 55s):
This would be a good one for stockings. You can buy one bag and split them up against multiple stockings. Or if you wanna do like tiny gifts for teachers or if you’re getting a big group of friends together and you wanna make a little bag of different gifts, this is perfect. Pop a couple in there.

2 (56m 11s):
I really like that. I didn’t even think about breaking it up for stockings. That’s so true that you can actually do that. It’s awesome. Give ’em little testers and samples.

3 (56m 19s):
Stockings are the best. I think you can take a few things on this list and build the most epic stocking ever.

2 (56m 25s):
The next item on our list is actually going to be a first Aid Kit. This is very practical when you are traveling, I know we just kind of really talked about the Pill Organizer, but that’s you putting your own personal pills and things like that in there. But the first Aid Kit is going to include things like eye wash, bandaids mole skin for all your bruises and blisters that you get Kim ’cause you don’t have your Wool Socks. It even comes with an emergency blanket. And you may be thinking, well how big is this first Aid Kit for a blanket? Now we’re talking about those foil ones that you see that they give to runners that are really kind of like NASA level blankets that are designed to actually keep you warm, things of that nature.

2 (57m 5s):
So this is perfect When you travel, anything could really happen. Of course perfect for home, office, car workplace doesn’t really matter. But we definitely always have some of these things here from this first Aid Kit when we travel. ’cause you just never know when you’re gonna need it.

0 (57m 20s):
Yeah, it’s actually a two in one. So you get the large Pack for your home, but then it comes with a smaller Pack that you can use. And in that small Pack it’s, there’s like 43 pieces in there. So I just throw that into my hiking bag along with the safety blanket and that’s what I use when we travel and when we go on hikes and then I just restock from the main compartment, which is great.

3 (57m 41s):
Another good item to have in the health category is a water Bottle. We all like to bring a water Bottle when we go traveling, but the one that we’re featuring on our list this year is actually a collapsible water Bottle. So it extends out to fit 18 and a half ounces and then it compresses down to the size of your AirPod container. So when you’re not using it, you can save space, pop it out, fill it up. It also has a little hook on the side so you can hook it onto like your backpack or your Suitcase and it comes in a ton of cute colors.

0 (58m 14s):
I think there’s a super handy because when water bottles are, you know that hard stainless steel and they’re empty, you literally can’t put them anywhere else other than like in a side pocket or in your Luggage and they take up all that space. But if it collapses down, saves space. And then it’s lightweight too. So that is a twofer.

3 (58m 31s):
There’s so many times I’ve gone on trips where I decide not to bring my stainless steel water Bottle because I don’t wanna carry it around even when we’re going like walking around the city, right? Once the bottle’s empty, like you said, you have to carry around an empty Bottle and I just don’t wanna do that. So I’ll end up buying water bottles and they’re like $5 each. You throw ’em away and then you buy another one for $5 and that sucks. So I am going for the Foldable, Water Bottle from now on.

2 (59m 1s):
A lot of times I’m with you on that Kim because I don’t like to carry my water Bottle for like the whole day. And then I think to myself, well shit, do I need to bring my backpack now? Because I’d rather carry something on my back than actually hold my water Bottle in my hand. But these are really cool ’cause like you said, when you’re done you can just kind of compress it down. But these are really Compressible enough that they could legit fit in your pocket. So when you come across a spot where you can actually just fill it up with some water versus buying a new water Bottle, et cetera, these are fantastic for that

3 (59m 32s):
Next section. If you have the paranoid travel in your life, then we have all the products that you’re going to want to give them for safety and security to make them feel comfortable on their trips. Also, really good list right here for the solo traveler ’cause safety and security is so important in those situations.

2 (59m 53s):
Before we get into this ladies, I just want to say, who do you think is the paranoid traveler of us three

0 (59m 58s):
Jamal?

2 (59m 59s):
Me?

0 (59m 60s):
Yes,

3 (1h 0m 1s):
I would disagree. You know, I don’t know because Jamal is paranoid, but Brittany, you’re the one that brings all the things.

0 (1h 0m 8s):
What do you mean? I bring all the things

2 (1h 0m 11s):
She’s over-prepared because anything could happen. I guess you

3 (1h 0m 14s):
Have your Pepto, you’re Imodium, your bro.

2 (1h 0m 18s):
Hey those are clutch honestly. Like if Brittany did Pack that I would feel the paranoia ’cause I would be like dwelling on that.

0 (1h 0m 24s):
Okay. But our safety and security section that we have on our list has nothing to do with gut health or medication. But while we dive into the safety and security portion, the first item that we have on our list is actually a travel size slim leather wallet. It’s RFID blocking. It’s like 12 to 10 bucks depending on what color you get comes in so many different colors and it’s perfect because when you are on A trip, you only take a few different credit cards and cards and stuff like that. So you just slip these in. It’s you’re not bringing your whole big bulky wallet and just slips easily into your cross body Purse or your pocket and it’s perfect to use while you travel.

0 (1h 1m 8s):
And

2 (1h 1m 8s):
We’re not talking about just any wallet, right? RFID blocking technology on it. And if you guys aren’t familiar with what that is, of course everything nowadays are credit cards even or Passport cards and passports themselves have microchips in them, right? So these are designed to be cases that actually are able to block people who are trying to remotely hack it. I mean you hear so many things these days with how technologically sophisticated people are in getting hacking. I mean, I just read an article too that even like USB chargers and airports like on the seats and stuff like that, if you’re Charging your phone with your USB, they can hack devices on it, right? So what better way to kind of enhance your protection then to get this type of wallet that has the RFID blocking technology.

2 (1h 1m 55s):
That way they can’t hack and take your credit card or payment information while you’re on your trip and just ruin it even more. I really love these. They’re sleek and they offer great protection. Someone

0 (1h 2m 4s):
Actually gifted one to me because they knew I was an avid traveler and it turned into my everyday little wallet. I don’t use a big bulky wallet, so I just use this every single day. Even when I am traveling or not traveling,

3 (1h 2m 17s):
I have the same one.

0 (1h 2m 18s):
Next step on the list is actually a small black Change Purse. And what I love about this is it’s sleek, it’s cute, and you can keep your coins organized. We just came back from Germany and we went to October Fest to use the restroom. At October Fest you have to have 50 euro cents or a Euro coin. So we’re collecting all of our euro change. It adds up quickly in other countries in the US we’re such credit card based and in Germany they are so cash based in some of like the areas. So you’re constantly using cash, getting change back. This helps keep it organized so that all of the change is not falling to the bottom of your Purse or falling outta your pocket.

0 (1h 3m 0s):
And I would highly recommend getting one of these.

3 (1h 3m 2s):
Another accessory that’s a really great gift and great for travelers is a Sling bag. This is super trendy as well. It’s a little bit larger than your typical cross body, but smaller than a backpack. It’s that perfect mid-size there. And then it has this gorgeous thicker strap on it that goes across your body. Super on trend right now. I mean if you think about like the Lululemon cross body sports Bags, it’s that kind of a vibe. But it’s perfect for traveling because you need a little bit of a larger bag to put your souvenirs in if you’re going or your water Bottle or like all the pamphlets that get handed out to you when you’re going to different museums and things.

3 (1h 3m 48s):
This is the perfect bag for it. And there’s a ton of different styles, ton of different colors. We have nudes in like a light faux leather looking red, which is super on trend for fall. This like cloudy dark gray, like there’s a lot of really cute colors here and it’s less than 30 bucks.

2 (1h 4m 5s):
You know, the one that we have linked of course is actually for girls. But I am seeing so many things these days, especially where that kind of little man throw across Satchel is coming really in clutch. I don’t know if I have the demeanor to pull it off, but for the men that do look for one of these also kind of in male styling and format, because these are actually really, really clutch to have in terms of keeping everything close to you protected and everything like that when you’re traveling. ’cause the last thing you want to do is lose documents, wallet, et cetera. And I think these Cross Body, Sling purses, Bags, they’re really great for that. Next on our list is something that most Americans actually probably have or something similar.

2 (1h 4m 48s):
But nevertheless, if you don’t, it is a really great gift to give or even get for yourself, which is a Ring Doorbell everyday practical use. We know this, but especially if you are traveling a lot and on the road and just kind of want to keep tabs on things to make sure like, hey, is my house safe? Is anybody coming to my front door? Did a package get left and have a neighbor come and maybe hold it for you? You really have that capability with the Ring Doorbell and I think it just gives you that peace of mind and comfort when you’re traveling in on the road.

3 (1h 5m 22s):
I gotta say, I was surprised to see this one on the list because I was like, wait, you can bring your Ring Doorbell with you and like how does that work? But you’re right, it’s for peace of mind while you’re away. So that you know, is someone breaking into my house? Did my package get delivered? Should I, you know, tell the neighbor there’s something weird going on out here. I think you could also think about like little cameras for your pets too, if you were gonna be away just maybe one night. But the Ring Doorbell is so smart for those longer trips too.

0 (1h 5m 52s):
Yeah, we actually tap for our neighbor and she caps it for us. And so whenever she sees that she gets a product delivered, she goes ahead and texts me saying, Hey, I just got a package. Deliver any chance you can go next door and put it inside. And so I go ahead and do that. So it just kind of gives you peace of mind, like making sure everything’s safe,

2 (1h 6m 11s):
Peace of mind that you get with the Ring. Doorbell is absolutely essential. That’s why it has made the list.

0 (1h 6m 17s):
And the last item that has made our list, final item of our list is a Mini Carbon Monoxide Detector. It’s good to bring when you travel to hotels, Airbnbs, even RVs or camping sites. And it on the little display screen, it displays the temperature, humidity, and the Carbon Monoxide concentration on the screen. So if you are paranoid or you just want safety, this is a great one to bring with you.

2 (1h 6m 46s):
Where’s Zaina for this conversation? OG Squad member Zena, I can’t tell you how many times we would travel and she’d be like, you think they have Carbon Monoxide detectors here? And ’cause she’d read stories of about, you know, people dying of Carbon Monoxide. ’cause of course it’s an odorless and of course it can kill you. Things of that nature. So this would be the perfect gift for her. Maybe we should even really get it for her for Christmas or put it in her stocking or something. But I love how you say for the paranoid traveler, and it kind of really is. But again, it’s one of those things when you go to other countries too, honestly, with respect sometimes you don’t know what regulations and how things are done or how safe. So this does give you that peace of mind of knowing when you’re staying somewhere that everything is akay.

3 (1h 7m 29s):
I’ve actually noticed on a lot of Airbnb listings, even here in the US that they say they do not have Carbon Monoxide monitors there.

0 (1h 7m 37s):
Yeah. And it’s very popular to bring because of Airbnbs. And I thought it was pretty cool to bring to for like an RV as well. Like I would’ve never thought that. But that makes a lot of sense.

3 (1h 7m 46s):
All right, Squatty. So there you have it, our 2023 Best Gifts for Travelers. Depending on what type of traveler you are, there’s something here for everything and every budget. So happy shopping and happy holidays.

2 (1h 8m 0s):
And I just wanna reiterate again, you know, great travel gifts, but also a lot of these great everyday practical uses too. And don’t forget to go to our website, Travel Squad Podcast dot com, check out all these links or even in the show notes to see the exact products that we’re talking about here for you guys today.

3 (1h 8m 17s):
Alright, Squatty, thank you for tuning in to the episode this week. Remember to keep the adventures going with us. Be sure to follow us on Instagram YouTube TikTok at Travel Squad Podcast, and send us in your questions of the week.

2 (1h 8m 29s):
If you found the information this episode be useful, or if you thought we were just plain funny, please be sure to share it with a friend that would enjoy it too. And as always, guys, please subscribe, rate and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes.

0 (1h 8m 43s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode. We have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you.

2 (1h 8m 47s):
Bye squadies!

15 Gifts for Travelers 2021 – Episode Transcript

3 (57s):
Welcome to episode 108 of the Travel Squad podcast. Today. In this episode, we’re going to take a deep dive into the best travel gifts for travelers as we’re coming up on the holiday season here, it’s a couple of days away from November. We’re going to be shopping here for the traveler in our lives. And this episode is going to give you the 1 0 1 and a sense on the best gifts to get that traveler

2 (1m 20s):
Who doesn’t love gifts. I do. And as an avid traveler, people love to Gift me things that are related to travel over the years. I’ve collected a scratch off map for national parks and another scratch off map for worldwide destinations. I’ve gotten packing cubes, a travel journal, this like really cute little travel jewelry holder and so many other cool things related to travel, but that’s, what’s really cool about it. There’s so many options that you can get for a traveler that can either make their life easier while they’re traveling, or just kind of bring travel memories back to them. Yeah,

1 (1m 52s):
Absolutely. And I loved putting this list together with a squad because these gifts are the gifts that travelers want. We’re all avid travelers. We know what you guys want. So these gifts are practical useful, and we really can’t wait to share them all with our squatting.

2 (2m 6s):
This is not the first episode that we’ve ever done on travel gifts. We did one last year around the same time that’s episode number 55. We had a ton of really cool stuff related to travel that we recommended. We link to everything where you can buy it on Amazon. We’re going to do the same thing in this episode, but with a whole new set of 15 gifts

1 (2m 25s):
Off of that list, I purchased Kim. Some of those items that we put on our original list, cause she really likes some of them. And I was like, let me make note of that and buy them for her for Christmas.

2 (2m 34s):
Yes you did. And I also purchased some of them for myself.

1 (2m 40s):
So number one on our list is Turkish Towel. I don’t know if you guys have ever used one. We actually recently got ours recently and I brought them on a recent trip to Austin because Austin has a whole bunch of water holes and like swimming holes during summer. And so what I like about them is that they’re really soft and they pack down really small, much smaller than a normal beach towel.

2 (3m 2s):
They also dry really fast. And you can wear them like as a sarong

1 (3m 6s):
And they’re stylish. Yes.

3 (3m 8s):
One of the things that I really like most about the Turkish Towel, other than the fact that you can take it with you and it packs down, I mean, that is solid. It’s not big or bulky, but here in San Diego, we see this a lot, especially any traveler who’s going someplace. That’s beach oriented. These are really good towels for the beach because you lay them down. And my biggest pet peeve about the beach is the sand. I’m not going to lie. These towels are legit because you can actually shake them out and the sand in a way wicks off of them versus other towels where you could shake it all you want, the sand still stays on there. You’re laying on it. It’s uncomfortable. These are legit sand wicking, towels and great for the beach also.

1 (3m 45s):
And you could take them to a variety places, the beaches, a great one, but you could take them to a lake picnics just to sit down on like a picnic towel. Almost

2 (3m 53s):
Take it with you on a hike.

1 (3m 54s):
Yeah. On a hike or hot tubs. Options are endless.

3 (3m 58s):
Does anyone know specifically how they make these to actually be the sand wicking? And they dry really, really easily too in fast?

2 (4m 6s):
I have no idea. It’s some kind of sorcery

3 (4m 9s):
Had some sort of technology that we just don’t know because I guess maybe we’re not so ERs or craft people in that sense, but it’s wild. And that is a really good product for all sorts of purposes.

2 (4m 19s):
Number two, on our list, you will need this one. When you pack your Turkish Towel, you’ll be using this one out on the trails. This is going to be an All Trails Pro membership.

1 (4m 29s):
I actually got the All Trails Pro membership earlier this year and they are constantly having sales. They often have sales that are 50% off. So I got it at a discounted price, 50% off. And what it does is it allows you to download the trail maps offline. And so will, you can pull up the app, look at the downloaded trail that you have and then see where you are on the trail, which is a game changer, especially if you’re prone to getting a lost. And you know, if you’ve listened to some of our previous episodes we’ve gotten lost before.

3 (4m 59s):
Well, you said what the All Trails Pro membership is. Why don’t you tell people who don’t know what the All Trails app is, what it does that way they could see the value in that pro membership.

1 (5m 9s):
So All Trails is an app that you download and you want to have like a log into, and basically you look up any area that you want to hike in and it gives you all of the best recommended hikes. And they put them like number one out of 30. And it’ll tell you how many hikes are in that area. So you can do it by national park. You can do it by area combat, do it by forest. It’s a great way to find a trails that you might do while you’re on a trip.

3 (5m 34s):
Well, not even just listing out the trails that will tell you how many miles is it, how long it should take you to do how strenuous it is. People who have the app can actually comment and say, oh, here’s a bit of advice. Or people have been writing this. I didn’t find this to be true. This that. So it’s almost kind of an exchange in a way of advice and information about the hike and trail itself. And then you get that membership and then you actually have a GPS in a way following you as that, all that hazard. There’s a little bit more to the pros. They’re not

1 (6m 5s):
Also, it does have pictures. So you can look at all of the pictures from the trails to compare because sometimes what you search on social media, isn’t truly what the trail looks like. What you’ll see is true pictures from normal people on All Trails,

2 (6m 18s):
The reviews, because people will say, oh, I was just there last weekend. And it was really muddy or saw snake or it was closed. And so you get like almost real-time updates of what the trails like

1 (6m 29s):
A lot of the time, it will give you updates on if there is any fees to enter the area or like to be at the trail head. So it’ll give you information like that. And they also have a cool section called waypoints and it’ll pinpoint places on the map. And it’ll say like at this place you’re going to veer, right? Or at this place, you’re going to see this rock. And then you’re going to go, you know, 200 feet and make a left or something like that. So it kind of gives you like these way points. So you know that you’re staying on track

3 (6m 55s):
Because even when you’re on a trail, sometimes it’s hard to make sure that you stay on the trail. So that’s actually legit. It will tell you to look out for this. And this is where you need to make the right or left. And otherwise you may miss it. Quite honestly, we have many a times.

1 (7m 7s):
Yeah. So since getting the All Trails Pro membership, I’ve used it several times. I would recommend it, especially if you’re an avid hiker,

2 (7m 14s):
The regular price of it is only around 30 bucks. So if you get it on a sale, then it’s even cheaper than that. And that’s 30 bucks for a year. Number three on our list is our favorite. These are our Travel Squad Podcast trip itineraries. We have a ton of these out. Now our most recent one is a week long trip exploring Utah’s mighty five national parks, but we have smaller ones like a little American Southwest road trip that takes you through the grand canyon and horseshoe. Ben, over a few days,

1 (7m 42s):
We have another one on big island, Hawaii, which is just exploring the entire island while we were there. We have one on grand Tetons and Yellowstone.

2 (7m 51s):
Ooh, that one’s a good one.

3 (7m 53s):
Yeah. And we have many more. So do check out our website, Travel Squad, Podcast dot com. I hate to say it. Maybe it’s a shameless plug, but we are mentioning this. Not only just for us to plug it, but because people who have bought in it have given us honest, awesome feedback about it, how much they’ve liked it. Everything is in here from recommendations on what hike to do, how long it’s going to take, how long it should take you from one point to the next, where to stay, where to eat. What’s the optimal route for you to take on this trip. So it’s really, really comprehensive. So do go onto our website and check it out. And that traveler in your life is going to love this. Especially if they are national park or nature people. Cause a lot of these itineraries are geared around that.

2 (8m 30s):
Yeah, absolutely. These go for $30 originally, but keep your eyes open because we may just be having a holiday sale.

1 (8m 37s):
Absolutely. And you know, our podcasts, we always hear feedback from our listeners that we provide so much insight on just our regular podcast platform, but this dives even deeper because we’re talking about like what Jamal said exactly where we stayed. Even if we stayed with someone in the area and we didn’t stay in a hotel ourselves, we still probably did a little bit of research. And we’re sharing that with you as well. So has a lot more than what just our podcast offers. And our podcast has a lot of insight just in itself.

2 (9m 4s):
And this goes along really well with number four on our list, which is a trip or experience. I think what you should do is buy your loved one, your traveler friend or family member. And I tend to vary. And then for number four, book the trip for them and take it together. That’s amazing.

1 (9m 21s):
The best tip I’ve ever had,

2 (9m 23s):
That’s the best gift.

3 (9m 24s):
I mean, rather than exchanging gifts, why don’t you guys plan a trip and do it together or something for them? That’s one thing we’ve told this to many people throughout our lives, Brittany and I quite honestly, we do not get each other anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, Christmas gifts. We save that money and we put it towards travel. Now, some people may not be really into that or not as couples, but even if you’re buying a trip for someone who is not your significant other, just the traveler in your life, whether it be a niece, nephew, your child, whoever, that’s a really good gift to buy them because everyone always remembers their travel experiences. So you’re not just giving them some little novelty. You’re literally buying them a memory

1 (10m 3s):
And maybe you can’t afford an entire trip, but you might be able to buy them experience from the trip. So maybe if you know, they’re going to France and they want to go to the Eiffel tower, maybe you can pick up those tickets for the Eiffel tower or a sunrise camel track. If they’re in Dubai or, you know, these zip lining tour that they were looking into, if they were going to Costa Rica, because although you’re not paying for the entire trip, you’re paying for an aspect and a memory that they’re going to share forever.

2 (10m 28s):
And it doesn’t have to be a big international trip. It could be something the next city over and you want to do like a hot balloon ride or just go to this cool museum and give yourself a reason to take a little day trip.

3 (10m 40s):
Yeah. And what you were saying, Brittany too about vide or let’s not also forget Airbnb experiences. Now, if you guys aren’t familiar with that instead of Airbnb having a host and you stay at a place, literally people will take you around their town or city. And they’re literally your guide for the day taking you to places that are on the off beaten path or maybe someplace that’s popular, but just giving you the tour itself. So using Airbnb experience vide, or whether it be international or even here, domestic, you could look online, search the city, see all those types of activities and you can just buy them that voucher for that tour, that experience. And it goes a long way to enhancing their trips and memories from it.

1 (11m 17s):
So number five on our list is a book actually, and it’s called around the world in 80 cocktails.

3 (11m 25s):
I

2 (11m 25s):
Have this book actually.

1 (11m 26s):
So Kim, why don’t you tell us a little bit about this recipe book

2 (11m 29s):
It’s really cute and it will really get you inspired, especially in a time where you may not be able to take that trip. What you can do is bring that trip to you through alcohol

3 (11m 40s):
Always makes it more fun with alcohol. And now this is around the world than 80 cocktails. Yeah.

2 (11m 45s):
Yeah. So for example, for Cuba, they may have a pina colada recipe in this book and they’ll have information about Cuba and, and what you could do there and the place, but then it has the recipe for the pina colada. So I suggest you take it one step further. You get this book, you also plan an evening where you can make cocktails and food from that same region. Make it,

1 (12m 7s):
Yeah,

2 (12m 8s):
That actually sounds nice. I’ve never even done that. And I own the book,

1 (12m 11s):
But this seems like even just like a good coffee table book. Like if I saw this sitting on someone’s coffee table, I would be intrigued to pick it up. It also be good on like a bar as well. So

2 (12m 21s):
You can on my bar,

1 (12m 22s):
It’s on your bar.

3 (12m 23s):
Why have I not seen this over at your place? Number one and two Kim, I’m disappointed you haven’t invited us over for that very suggestion you just had,

2 (12m 30s):
Well, it’s happening. I’m gifting. You both an experience.

3 (12m 34s):
Excellent. Excellent. But so of the 80 cocktails that basically I’m assuming picks very prevalent common countries and talks, not talks, but gives a recipe to maybe their national drink or a drink that is very popular in that country then yes. It’s not just run of the mill. Like all here’s a random drink, right? It’s specific to that country for a reason.

2 (12m 54s):
Yeah. And there could be the same country appearing more than once. If there’s different regions of the country, they’re known for a specific drink. It’s cool. It’s a really cool book. I definitely recommend it. It’s super fun.

1 (13m 5s):
Yeah. I’m looking it up on Amazon right now. And you can kind of look into the book a little bit and it shows you a picture of the cocktail in that region, like in that area. And then some history about that region. Like this one is showing Belgium, the ingredients, how to build it and then a bartender’s tip as well.

2 (13m 22s):
There you go. You can not only travel through alcohol, but you could perfect your bartending skills.

3 (13m 28s):
Number six on the list, a dry bag. We’ve mentioned this before several times when we talk about beach locations, we recently had an episode on Zion national park where we hiked the narrows, talked about the Dry bag. It’s very, very essential for certain aspects of a trip, depending on where you’re going. And basically what this Dry bag does is almost considered like a backpack or maybe even it just goes over the sleeve, like a purse depending on the style of it. And it’s a beach carry bag, but it keeps your essentials dry, such as your phone, your change of clothes. This is snacks super important to keep those dry out, getting wet,

2 (14m 5s):
Keep them in.

3 (14m 6s):
Absolutely. So, so great for if you’re going boating, kayaking, going to the beach lakes, rivers, or like I said, even hiking the narrows and Zion national park for that matter.

2 (14m 17s):
That’s a good one. And if you have taken one of our previous gifts and purchase someone and experienced on the water, a good supplemental gift would be the Dry bag to go along with it. Okay.

1 (14m 26s):
And dry bags have different forms. Some of them are backpack form and they fold down in onto each other. So they’re super lightweight. Some of them just go over your shoulder. So there are a lot of different options. I believe that the one that we have linked for you is the backpack version, which is going to be the most comfortable, especially if you’re going to be like hiking or in the narrows or something like that.

2 (14m 45s):
Number seven on our list is extremely important when traveling as a group and this is Poopuri

1 (14m 51s):
Because Kim it up.

2 (14m 52s):
Oh, no idea.

3 (14m 53s):
I say, I find it essential for when Kim leaves the bathroom. So I’m glad that she brings it. And I’m glad that she’s the one who kind of intro to,

2 (14m 60s):
You know, anything about Poopuri you spray before you go. So if you’re using it when I’m coming out, that’s why.

3 (15m 7s):
Okay. But no, this is essential just in general. And even, you know, if somebody is not traveling in a group, I think this is a great product to even just have in your home. If you’re a family or anything like that. And like Kim said, you go to the restroom before you go, you just spray it. And the toilet bowl helps alleviate the sense that may come if you catch my drift in a way. So

2 (15m 26s):
I don’t want to catch that drip at

3 (15m 27s):
All. I didn’t mean that I didn’t mean that drift, but see the Poopuri will help you not catch that drift. Right. So really good at that. And it’s a really good gift, especially if the person in your life who loves to travel travels with,

2 (15m 39s):
I actually got this for Brittany and Jamal one year for Christmas, it

1 (15m 43s):
Saved her friendship, Kim,

2 (15m 45s):
It might’ve saved your marriage to,

1 (15m 48s):
But anytime we share a hotel and you know, there’s three, four of us in the hotel room, this is essential. It is absolutely necessary that someone in the group

3 (15m 59s):
It’s always a good laugh because sometimes the Poopuri, isn’t always in the restroom. Maybe it’s the first time someone’s going since we got there. So somebody is going to be the first one to go in and break the who has the Poopuri and then you know exactly what they’re about to be going and doing. And they’re too

2 (16m 14s):
Definitely not brushing their teeth. That’s for sure.

1 (16m 16s):
Hey travelers, let’s take a quick detour to talk all about our traveler itineraries that we’ve created just for you. We now have six different trip itineraries one week in Kauai

2 (16m 27s):
And American Southwest weekend or road trip

3 (16m 30s):
A week in Yellowstone and grand Teton, national parks,

1 (16m 33s):
A road trip adventure featuring all three of Washington. State’s national parks,

3 (16m 38s):
Big island, Hawaii, and an Arizona trip that features all three of Arizona’s national parks.

2 (16m 44s):
We are obsessed with these. These itineraries are 20 to 30 page PDF guides with every detail of the trip laid out. We’re talking where to fly into the exact route to take where to stay park entrance prices, where to eat and driving distance between attractions plus what things to see and do even the hikes we recommend and their mileage and the time to allow for each one and so much more.

1 (17m 5s):
We have story highlights on our Instagram at Travel Squad Podcast, where you can see the full guides. We’ve done all of the research and have taken these exact trips, taking out all of the guesswork from the planning. So all that you have to do is show up and have fun

3 (17m 19s):
Purchase your comprehensive Travel Squad Podcast, itinerary on our website at Travel Squad, Podcast dot com, best of all, they’re on sale right now for $30. So travel on over and get yours today.

1 (17m 31s):
Number eight on our list is Noise cancelling headphones, and these are perfect for noisy flights. If you like to listen to things while you sleep, it can be used for a lot of different things.

2 (17m 42s):
They’re perfect for, if you want to watch a movie while you’re on a plane, you plug into your phone or use Bluetooth through your phone and watch that cancels out all of those, you know, safety readings that they do and the crying baby.

3 (17m 54s):
Well, you shouldn’t cancel out the safety readings from the start though, Kim, but the crying babies, the noise from the engine, cause you always hear it in the plane. I mean, planes just by nature are loud. And that’s why I love the noise canceling headphones. I used to hate the old headphones. You have them in your ears and I’d have to put the volume all the way up because I couldn’t hear anything because of the residual background noise. That’s coming from the plane itself. Everybody else around you who’s talking, or like you said, the baby crying, no disrespect to crime babies. That happens. It’s a reality, but it makes that experience a lot more enjoyable when you could cancel that out. And even if you’re not listening to anything, I just want a little bit more quiet. You can just put them over your ears and it helps you on a nap, especially if you’re on a plane

2 (18m 33s):
And to go along with your headphones. Another form of entertainment, I would say number nine on our list is an Amazon Kindle. If you are traveling on a long trip and you bring a nice big book and you finish that book, then you’re out of reading material. Or at the very least you have to carry around this big book. I love the Kindle because it’s like, it’s small. You can load as many books on there as you want. You don’t have to lug one around it’s it has lighting so that you can read it in the dark or in sunlight. It’s fricking amazing for readers.

1 (19m 3s):
Yeah. And they have them created now so that they look like paper and like you’re reading off of paper rather than, than reading off of a computer or a screen. And so that makes it a bit better as well.

2 (19m 14s):
It’s really good for students. Say, you need to do a little studying while you’re on this trip and you have your Kindle right there and you can handle that. And still you don’t have to give up your travel.

1 (19m 23s):
Sometimes even the library does downloads to like Kindles or nooks and things like that. So you can download right from the library, rent it.

2 (19m 30s):
Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know that.

3 (19m 32s):
Number 10 on the list is a Mini sound machine. Now why don’t want to you ladies say the reason why this is on here. I got a feeling. Kim is the one who put it on here for a specific reasons. Especially for us traveling as a squad. I have to imagine, am I wrong?

2 (19m 48s):
Well, sometimes there are noises that you need to drowned out in order to sleep.

3 (19m 54s):
I’ve been woken up by you in the middle of the night, from the noises coming from the bed. So

2 (19m 59s):
I don’t know, but, but sometimes people snore. Sometimes there’s traffic outside. Sometimes there’s noisy people in the hallway of the Airbnb. I personally cannot sleep in pure silence. Actually, when I was house sitting for you guys, when you were on a trip, I was sleeping up there in that room and it was so quiet that I was like, I got to get out of here. This is crazy. I should have brought my portable sound machine, which is what is a really good gift for any traveler that always sleeps with their fan on this is a perfect gift for them.

1 (20m 27s):
It’s also good. If you’re traveling with children, my sister uses a Mini sound machine. Anytime she puts my nephew down for a nap and she takes it traveling with her. She will bring it to California every time that she’s here. She says it works amazing. She’s been using it since he was a baby. So he’s used to that like white noise sound, but it’s perfect for that.

3 (20m 44s):
I think what’s really great about this product too. Kim, as you mentioned at stuff for traveling like, oh, noisy hallway in a hotel, somebody snoring, Brittany, I know it’s not me. Right, but it’s great in general because these Mini sound machines have lots of different things. You could hear crickets chirping, you could hear waves crashing along the beach. I mean, there’s so many different sounds. And if you aren’t able to travel and you just want to be reminded of, Hey, I’m somewhere I’m out in the woods, camping put on the crickets and you hear it. And that noise, I want to be by the beach. You have that beach sound crashing waves. So it’s just reminiscent of a place maybe where you want to be. And you can’t be in that moment. And especially in the day and age of COVID, if people are traveling less, those sounds can remind you of where you want to be.

3 (21m 26s):
Also,

2 (21m 27s):
You can bring the travel to you.

3 (21m 29s):
Yeah. That’s why it’s multipurpose. I think it’s great all around. Yes.

2 (21m 32s):
It’s definitely number 11 on our list is a really unique product, a Backpacking umbrella. First of all, I think an umbrella, a travel size umbrella is a great gift overall. I was just in Mexico and it was a beautiful sunny day. And then all of a sudden it started down, pouring in the streets were flooded and I brought my travel umbrella and popped it right out. Boom, boom,

1 (21m 54s):
My God. The same thing happened in the last two trips that we took one to Chicago in July. It was the end of July scorching heat. We’re sweating, going to the Cubs game. And it was like so hot outside. We go back to our hotel and all of a sudden there’s thunder and lightning and there’s rental downpours. Like out of nowhere, it caused the game to like be on pause for a while because it was raining so hard. We wanted to go to a pizza place down the street from us. And we were like, trying to time it like, okay, if we go right now where you get drenched, but like, let’s watch the weather’s if it lines up a bit. So this would have been clutch for that. And same thing just happened in Austin too

3 (22m 33s):
Hot ass day in the middle of the day, thunder storms, lightning, heavy, heavy rain, and not just like light rain, all I’m going to get wet. You know, like torrential downpour.

1 (22m 42s):
We passed a sign on the freeway. When we were driving into Austin, it was a freeway sign. It was up. And then we passed it after the storm and it had broken half and fallen down. Oh my

2 (22m 51s):
God,

1 (22m 52s):
That’s how crazy it was. And it was middle of August.

3 (22m 54s):
So clearly we were not prepared. You are prepared. Kim, tell us more about the umbrella.

2 (23m 0s):
So this specific umbrella that we added to the list is for Backpacking. So it actually will hook onto the straps of your backpack. So you don’t have to have it in your hand. That’s clutch. It’s amazing. And we’ve definitely been rained out on trails before. So if you’re going on a long trail or you’re going in a time of year where the weather is prone to rain, or maybe you just straight up, no, it’s going to rain. This thing is amazing. It’s actually super cute too. And not only for rain, but for shade. There’s so many trails that do not have shade. You’re going to get sunburned. Yeah, you’re wearing sunblock, but Jamal knows how that goes. And so this big black umbrella sits right over you and gives you shade the whole time.

3 (23m 39s):
It could be any color actually, but black as a guest, what you have then

2 (23m 42s):
The big black one,

3 (23m 43s):
I bet you do. But I’m looking at the photos online. It looks legit. It looks like it has a multipoint system where it connects. Because even when we’re holding an umbrella by hand one, that’s not supposed to connect to your backpack. Right. You get Augusta when you only have the one contact point in your hand and it kind of shakes, it looks here that you can connect it in multiple places so that it would stay sturdy even also too.

2 (24m 4s):
Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

1 (24m 6s):
This umbrella has UPF 50 plus UV protection. So it’s definitely going to help in sun exposed areas, especially when you’re Backpacking might have to get this for Jamal just for everyday life.

2 (24m 19s):
I think he would look so cute with this.

3 (24m 21s):
I’m actually looking at the photos and I think to myself, I don’t want to say it looks funny cause it doesn’t. But at the same time, I would have no shame rocking this at all. That’d be great.

2 (24m 30s):
Any summer hike that you know is not going to have shade. E I think you’d rather take the umbrella than the sunburn.

3 (24m 37s):
And then if somebody was for whatever reason, why to make fun of it, I’d be like, dude, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. I mean, this looks legit,

2 (24m 43s):
Kind of reminds me of those little hats that you can wear with like an umbrella on the hat, but it’s obviously much bigger than that, but just as cute.

3 (24m 52s):
Very nice.

1 (24m 53s):
So number 12 on our list is a silk I’m asked and Kim must’ve added this to the list because Kim loves just leap and luxury,

3 (25m 2s):
Not just an eye mask, a silk one silk one.

2 (25m 5s):
Yes. You’ve got to go silk, be comfy. You know, traveling is a bit of a luxury. Even if you’re doing it in a budget way, it’s a luxury to get to explore this world. And so why not lean into that a bit and get yourself a silk eye mask on my most recent trip to Mexico on the flight back, it was a day flight, but the night before we’d gone pretty hard for the wedding after party. And I was tired. And also there was a guy sitting by the window who did not lower his shade. So the sunlight is bright, it’s coming in. So I slipped on my mask and I slipped into sleep and I slipped back into the USA and it was amazing.

1 (25m 41s):
And the one that we’ve linked in our show notes does come in three different colors, black champagne, fancy champagne or pink.

3 (25m 50s):
I’ll go with the black on that one. Those other colors don’t seem like it would be conducive for me. But yeah.

1 (25m 56s):
And that’s one of the reasons why we picked this one because it does have black. So that’s gender neutral or it has more options for the ladies.

2 (26m 4s):
Men can wear champagne and pink as well.

3 (26m 6s):
I rock a pink shirt all the time. I just don’t know if I want to rock a pink. I’m asked, is it all I’m saying? So number 13 on our list is a Garmin GPS. And now we’re not talking about a Garmin GPS that you have in your car for navigation or driving. This one is a nice small handheld one it’s waterproof. This is more for when you’re out in nature, doing hikes, doing exploring. And we personally don’t have one, but we hike a lot as you know, and a lot of people that we are in connection with in the hiking community, they have this and they just continue to rave about it.

1 (26m 38s):
You can also see high and low elevation points for store way points along a, which is really cool to see.

2 (26m 45s):
It’s perfect. If you’re going to be Backpacking for multiple days or going on a really long remote height,

3 (26m 51s):
Or if you don’t have that All Trails Pro membership and get lost. Here you go. You have your GPS. We’ve gotten lost ourselves like we were saying earlier. So I mean, this is going to come really, really in handy for you. If you are an outdoors person and exploring nature,

2 (27m 4s):
There’s tracking features on it too. So if you are say going out alone, or maybe just you and one other person, you can send your location to someone. So they know where you’re at.

3 (27m 13s):
You can feel confident knowing you’re going to get rescued. If you get lost or injured for that matter,

2 (27m 17s):
Ladies, you can buy one for your boyfriend and just not let him know about the tracking feature.

1 (27m 22s):
So number 14 on our list is the GoPro. The newest model that they’ve recently released is the hero nine. It’s a waterproof it’s made as an action camera. It has a front LCD and touch rear screens. It has great ultra high Def video, amazing old, a lot of photos. And we do have a GoPro of our own and we’ve used it when we’ve gone snorkeling even to go underwater. We’ve also used it when we went to a water park in Dubai, just to get the action shots as we’re going down. Those funds slides,

2 (27m 57s):
Oh my gosh. I wish we could post this video because it’s like this massive water slide in. Jamal’s like, it’s a big one. It’s a big one.

3 (28m 6s):
Oh, we were coming up on a big fall and our tube was kind of in reverse and I was the one looking back. And so it’s a great video to have, and I’m glad we had the GoPro to capture it. Even if you don’t buy the latest model here, which is the hero nine, any GoPro I think is great for any traveler or Explorer, you have those little handheld moments here of, you know, someplace on a hike or doing some sort of crazy activity. Whether it be that snorkeling skydive, even, even for that matter. Or if you love to go on roller coasters, have it. When you’re on the rollercoaster film, it there’s so many good uses for the GoPro that any traveler is going to love this, especially any traveler who likes to document what it is that they’re doing. Because sometimes that cell phone is really big for your hand to film something.

3 (28m 48s):
And depending on what you’re doing, you can’t even do it in a water activity setting.

1 (28m 52s):
That was one of the things I was going to say is GoPro has a lot of accessories. Like they have chest mounts, they have mountains to go onto helmets. They have suction mounts. They have ones that are protective for underwater. So they have a lot of different accessories so that you can use it in any sort of outdoor activity.

2 (29m 7s):
And then to wrap up our list with number 15, we’re going to do something a little different here and recommend an Amazon fire stick. Why are we recommending an Amazon? Firestick you may be asking yourself because we’re supposed to be encouraging you to travel and go out and explore. But at the end of a night, after exploring all day and you come home and you want to get a good night’s rest, so you can hit it hard in the morning. Sometimes. I mean, I like to fall asleep with Netflix on, so you can easily bring this, plug it straight into the TV, have all of any subscription platforms that you already subscribed to watch TV and then get moving the next

1 (29m 42s):
Morning. Yeah. And there’s a lot, you can hook it up to Netflix, YouTube prime, video Disney plus apple TV, and even like HBO, max. So you have a lot of different options. As long as you have the subscriptions to those platforms.

2 (29m 54s):
It’s good for families too. If you have children and you want to give them something to do while maybe your planning, the itinerary, we’re making the lunches or something before you head out and just plug in some TV and let them watch and move along.

3 (30m 6s):
I think one of the biggest practicalities of having this as experiences that we’ve had when we’ve traveled more specifically, when we’re staying at Airbnbs, for example, the TV, it’ll be a smart TV. It’ll have the apps for Netflix, Hulu, whatever it is that you want on there. And then we’ll ask the host, oh, well, do you have a login for it? No, you’ve got to use your own. Okay. Which is totally fine. But then you have to really remember, I need to log out. So whoever comes in here next is it using my platform, doing this, doing that. And so you don’t have to worry about that. And even if you go someplace, whether it be a hotel for that matter or an Airbnb, anywhere else, they don’t have a smart TV that has apps. You just plug it right into your HTMI. And here you go.

3 (30m 46s):
Now you’re watching TV when you’re relaxing from your day of travel. So I think it’s really practical in that sense. Also,

2 (30m 51s):
I remember one time we took a week long trip to Hawaii. It was extremely busy. Every day we were up every night, we were going to bed late. And, and the very last day we wanted to watch the most recent episode of Jersey shore. And we didn’t bring this and the smart TVs were there, but they didn’t have this access, not even to log in. So we’re on our laptop trying to find it and blah, blah, blah. And eventually we did get it. And so we had like two hours to relax before we went to the airport, but this would have came in clutch in that moment. I own one of these already, and I have two TVs in my house. And so I only have one. So I’ll actually just unplug it and replug it back in, depending if I’m in the living room, my bedroom and it’s super easy, it just comes right back up.

1 (31m 33s):
Yeah. I’m definitely looking into getting one of these cars when we were just in Austin. Recently they have the plugin available and it would have been just been nice to like relax and watch something that we wanted to watch. Not just what was on TV. Yeah.

2 (31m 45s):
Yeah. I like to have that on, even for YouTube just to put on like music videos or something when I’m getting ready in the morning,

3 (31m 51s):
Like I said, super practical, even like you said, even though we’re talking about traveling, when you’re traveling in a hotel or someplace, that’s not your own, let’s not kid ourselves. We do want TV or music or something. So this is great.

2 (32m 1s):
So there you have it, 15 amazing products that any traveler will love. We have things that are going to bring travel to you or take you to travel. And this is our second annual list. So go back to our previous episode, if you want to see even more travel gifts for the people in your life, but this is a solid list right here, anything on this list, feel free to get me.

1 (32m 21s):
And we’re going to link these in our show notes. And we also have a section on our website at Travel Squad, Podcast dot com and we’ll list all of these out with the links to them.

2 (32m 31s):
And that was our list, but we are not done yet. Now we have our very special questions of the week.

1 (32m 44s):
So question number one is, have you ever traveled during the holiday season and what tips do you have for that?

2 (32m 50s):
Ooh, holiday season travel. I’m actually considering right now, a holiday season, like Christmas new year’s trip, but I am thinking like, damn, the holiday season is very expensive. It’s a lot of people, but I do have tips. I do have tips.

1 (33m 5s):
Give me the tips,

2 (33m 6s):
Give it to me. I, one time flew on Thanksgiving and it was an absolute shit show in the airport. So I would say get there very early.

1 (33m 15s):
Yeah. See, do you want to get there early, especially for the lines here already lines, if you don’t have global entry or TSA pre, and

2 (33m 22s):
Even if you do the lines are still going to be crazy.

1 (33m 24s):
Yeah. In comparison sometimes maybe not Thanksgiving, but sometimes it is cheaper to fly on the actual holiday. Like Christmas, it can be cheaper to fly on the holiday because it’s more expensive to fly like a few days before or a few days after. But on the actual holiday, sometimes those prices are cheaper, but Jamal and I have traveled during the holiday season, we actually took our honeymoon back in 2015 and we went on a European river cruise on the Danube river. We went to several different countries and areas. And one of our favorite things was in the European countries. They had a lot of Christmas markets and these Christmas markets have traditional crafts or gifts or food or desserts.

1 (34m 5s):
And so we loved going to them to see all of the things that they had to offer. So I would definitely recommend traveling during the holiday season. And especially if you’re going to go somewhere, that’s really festive. And that really celebrates the holidays in that way. We ended up in France for new years in Shawmanee in the French Alps.

2 (34m 23s):
Oh, that’s nice.

1 (34m 24s):
It was really, really beautiful. And they take new years, very seriously. Every single restaurant in town and our hotel was offering anywhere from five course to 15 course menu for dinner. Some of them had like beverage pairings with them champagne. So they take it very seriously out there.

3 (34m 42s):
And what I really liked about traveling during that time specifically to Europe is that Europe is cold during that time. Most people are not traveling as tourists and especially because it’s holiday season, they’re spending time with their family, right? So the people that you see there are locals. So it’s a more localized experience and less tourists in that sense. So that’s really fun. But see, when we got this question, I was trying to decipher where they talking about taking trips or were they talking about really traveling during the holidays? Like you said, for Thanksgiving or during Christmas and what it’s like at the airport. So I’m trying to discern this question, but I think regardless of when it is that you travel during the holiday season, airports are always going to be crowded. But if you aren’t actually celebrating the holidays, not that you don’t, but just decide I’m doing my own thing this year.

3 (35m 26s):
It’s a good time to travel because most people are not traveling as tourists in that.

2 (35m 30s):
And I think the biggest tip for holiday season travel is to book it early. The prices will continue to go up closer. It gets, there will be less options because it’s all getting booked up. And so if you’re going to book your trip, you should probably have already done it. I mean, this episode is coming out in October. You should be booking your trip right now.

1 (35m 49s):
So question number two is what’s your favorite travel gift that you’ve ever received? This is a hard question.

2 (35m 55s):
I think I know what your answer is going to be. You

1 (35m 57s):
Think

3 (35m 57s):
So? Yes for me. Cause I’m trying to think of my answer

2 (36m 0s):
On this should be obvious to you. Oh, I’m offended.

3 (36m 4s):
You got us.

1 (36m 7s):
I know what she’s gonna say. She’s going to say the, oh no. I thought I knew. I thought you were going to say like an ornament that you’ve gotten us.

2 (36m 15s):
Yeah. Last year I got custom made Travel Squad, Podcast ornaments, and I gave one to Brittany and Jamal and apparently it didn’t touch them,

3 (36m 24s):
Catch me. But the one gift that you talked about getting us was the Poopuri and that’s why I thought you were just trying to make a joke and make a good laugh over here account.

1 (36m 31s):
But when I saw this question, I was actually thinking like something that someone’s brought back to me from like another country. That’s how I took that.

2 (36m 38s):
The only thing anyone’s ever brought back for me, a shot glasses. I don’t know why people think I need so many shot glasses, but I have a lot from places I’ve never been.

1 (36m 46s):
And this question can go a lot of different ways. I think another way that are interpreted too is a travel-related gift. And one of my favorite gifts, Jamal doesn’t normally get me gifts. We don’t usually get each other gifts, but one Christmas he did purchase our travel map and it’s customized. And it says for the travels of Jamal and Brittany Marusha and it came with all of the pins to put in so we can color code it, places that we’ve been places that we want to go, our next trip and all of that. And it was really nice to have it customized to us.

2 (37m 16s):
That’s really sweet. I know you guys are often pinning and unpinning things as you take these trips.

3 (37m 22s):
My favorite thing about coming back from a trip is putting in those pens,

2 (37m 25s):
All the gifts I’ve gotten related to travel have been cool. I mean, you guys got me packing cubes and that amazing jewelry holder, which comes in clutch,

3 (37m 33s):
They were Flamingo packing cubes. If you remember correctly. And I know you’re in love with

2 (37m 38s):
Yeah, definitely. And I have some maps as well. I love scratching them off. I mean, honestly, anything you get travel related for a traveler, a traveler is going to go wild for it. So I love everything I’ve gotten. No one has gotten me a trip though, and I would love to get one of those.

1 (37m 54s):
So you can find Kim at lush, DS on Instagram, DM, her asked her where she wants to go or surprise or where the trip.

2 (38m 2s):
All right, squad. He’s, that’s what we have for you this week. Thank you so much for tuning in with us. Please make sure to keep up with us on Instagram and YouTube at Travel Squad Podcast and send us in your questions of the week. We’ll answer them on the next episode.

3 (38m 15s):
If you found the information in this episode to be useful, or if you thought we were just playing funny, please be sure to share it with a friend that would enjoy it too. And as always guys, please subscribe, rate and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes,

1 (38m 29s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you.

20 Cool Gifts for Travelers 2020- Episode Transcript

4 (55s):
Welcome to episode 55 of the Travel Squad Podcast, that top 21 gifts for travelers.

1 (1m 2s):
So it’s the end of October. And the holidays are just around the corner. And this list of gifts that we created are gifts that travelers actually want and will use. I actually have a few of these items myself and I love them. So we wanted to share all of our items with you guys.

2 (1m 19s):
Yes. And regardless of the time of year, it’s always, always, always a good time to buy somebody a gift because everybody loves gifts. Generosity never goes out of style. Energy, always returns to the main source and what a beautiful thing for a traveler to take your spirit with them all around the world.

3 (1m 36s):
Every year around this time, I start to get questions about what do you want for your birthday, which is November 16th, by the way, and what would you like for Christmas? And usually I can’t think of anything on the spot, although I know my Amazon cart is exploding with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, but now since we have this episode, I can just forward the link to this episode and say anything on this list we’ll do because all of these are some amazing Travel Themed gifts that are guaranteed to make me or any traveler in your life. Happy. So let’s get into it. What is our very first gift on the list?

1 (2m 12s):
Our first gift on the list is a Wall Map with Pushpins and it’s super awesome. It’s a framed world map. It comes with pin. So you can put in destinations, you’ve already traveled to, and you can actually even customize it to say the travels of Brittany and Jamal, for example, or whatever your guys’s names are or whoever you’re buying it for. So it’s more personalized.

4 (2m 34s):
And Brittany gives that example because this is one of the products we have. And it is actually one of my favorite, if not my favorite travel products. So number one, right off the bat, it’s such a beautiful map. You put the pushpins in where you’ve been. And I know when Brittany and I come back from our vacations, that’s the first thing we do even before we unpack it’s in our den downstairs. When you walk right through our, we always go put in that pin and you could really think of this almost like the famous scratch off maps. Now we don’t have a scratch off one. We have the pushpin one and my personal preference. I do like these more because you could put the pin in specifically the scratch off ones.

4 (3m 16s):
You can go over a border, scratch something incorrectly. And so these ones I find to be a little bit more neat,

3 (3m 23s):
Oh, hating on the scratch off map. I happened to have a scratch off map, but you know what? I have scratched off borders.

1 (3m 30s):
I didn’t really like specifically trying to go to states that you accidentally scratched up,

3 (3m 35s):
But it definitely scratched a little bit of Montana thinking it was Colorado. And guess where we went this year, Montana.

4 (3m 42s):
Well, that’s why I said it. Cause I know that story. Number one, but two why I like the pushpin is ours has a key on it too. So pins of this colors where we’ve been pins of this color is where we want to go pins of that color. Some of our favorite places. So you can really categorize it.

2 (3m 57s):
And this color pen is our next trip.

4 (3m 59s):
Yeah. And so it’s on the wall. Everybody sees it and it’s such a great conversation starter piece when everyone just sees all those pins pushed in there. Yeah,

3 (4m 7s):
That’s really cool.

2 (4m 8s):
You know what? I just want to give a shout out to Kim for her love, knowing no borders and going across all borders on this.

3 (4m 17s):
According to my map, I’m going to be visiting the Yukon pretty soon.

4 (4m 23s):
Kind of fuck that up. When he scratched off Alaska, then haka.

1 (4m 27s):
Oops. So the next item we’re going to talk about is a Travel Planner and it’s a journal and it can actually hold up to six trips. And it’s really cool because it allows you to plan for the trip, budget, your trip, research, the places you want to go, even write down your packing list and things that you want to do while you’re on your trip. So it’s really a fun way to keep track and journal your travels in a way

3 (4m 51s):
I can totally see Zayna being into something like this. You love to journal.

2 (4m 55s):
I do. I do in some of my most treasured possessions are my journals from just one when I was in high school and two, when I was in my early twenties and I was traveling all over the world. And so I have trained tickets. I have the Euro rail maps. So if you want it from 2007, if you want it from 2008, I got it all.

4 (5m 14s):
And you can almost turn this journal into a scrapbook in a way, you know, you make an itinerary out of this. You talk about your trip. And I remember Zayna as we were kids too. Do you remember how mom, when we went to Lebanon, all those times would make us keep a journal. And this is in such a nice, beautiful bound journal versus an old like spiral spiral notebook. Yeah. That’s exactly what we had to write them in. So these are more personable and really, really nice and great way to catalog your trips. And like I said, make a scrapbook.

1 (5m 43s):
And like I said, it holds up to six trips. And for each trip it gives you five pages to use, like, as you want. So you can attach pictures or postcards, write down fun facts, or just generally describe your experience. And I think that’s super awesome way to document your trip as you go

2 (5m 58s):
As well. And I just want to throw out there that there are things that you think you’re going to remember. And for the most part, you are going to remember the big things, but it’s so interesting. And it’s so fun for me to go back to my journals and just see something that I wrote that I have not thought about in years. And just seeing like two sentences, it takes me back and I’m just like, oh my gosh, if I didn’t have this written down, this memory would be lost forever. And even if it’s not in my journal, just hearing one of the squad members say something that I forgot about that took place years ago, it just takes me right back and it makes me laugh. So there’s nothing quite like a journal.

3 (6m 33s):
Couldn’t agree more. That’s also how I feel about pictures.

4 (6m 36s):
So number three on our list is a Traveler’s charm bracelet. Now I, as a male, wouldn’t be wearing one of these. It wouldn’t be my personal style, but I’m sure about it. I’m sure of as cool as they are. It’s not my personal style. Not judging anybody who does, but if you’re

2 (6m 51s):
A male, you can wear it anyway.

4 (6m 53s):
Yes. That’s exactly what I was going to say. But these are more suited to you ladies here. And why don’t you tell us a little bit more about them? I mean, they are really, really cool and I liked them a lot.

1 (7m 2s):
Yeah. So there’s little charm pendants. There’s an airplane. There’s a globe. There’s a compass. And it has a little quote that says life is short. The world is wide.

3 (7m 10s):
And especially now during COVID, when you can’t necessarily go to all the places you wish you could, this is just a nice reminder on your wrist. That like, you still love travel, travel still a part of your life, and you’re wearing it on your wrist. Literally

4 (7m 23s):
Showing it off to the whole world.

2 (7m 25s):
Yeah. Every time you see a compass, every time you see a globe, every time you see an airplane, you put that visualization in your head and you become that much closer to taking your next trip because your mind is going to seek ways to figure out how to make that visualization come to life.

1 (7m 40s):
That resonates with me.

3 (7m 44s):
It’s a very deep charm bracelet. Okay. Number four on our list, I’m really excited about this one. This is a hanging travel toiletry bag, which doesn’t sound very exciting. But for someone that likes to be organized and have all their shit on a trip with them, I love it. I actually got one of these as a gift from a friend for my birthday last year, the one I got was pink with flamingos on it because I love flamingos. But the one we have listed in the show notes and linked out is just a plain black one. But this is awesome because it folds up really small, but you can put everything in it from makeup to shower, stuff, to medicines, to hair, stuff, to like literally everything you need all in one spot.

3 (8m 24s):
I love it.

1 (8m 25s):
And there’s lots of different compartments. So you can organize it the way that you need, which makes it super usable and you can hang it. So when there’s lack of counterspace at some of the hotels, you can just hang it up on the towel rack and get into it that way.

2 (8m 38s):
I mean, we’re three girls and one guy, we never have a lack of counter space. So, but anyways, I just bought this myself guys because we came back from Washington. And I remember telling Jamal that, oh my gosh, because he needed something that I had in my toiletry bag. But I have several because I don’t have one big enough to fit everything in there. So when Jamal asked me for it, I was like, yeah, I have it. But I have no idea where it is. And so then Kim was like, girl, you gotta get your shit together. And so I came home and I bought

3 (9m 8s):
This, get your shit together.

2 (9m 10s):
It’s razors in there too. Cause you never know when you’re going to need to shave.

4 (9m 13s):
Absolutely.

3 (9m 14s):
Oh, I can tell you stories about say that, but That will save you all.

1 (9m 23s):
So the next item on our list is a digital luggage scale. And how many times do you pack a bag before the trip? And you’re like, shit, does this weigh too much? How much does this way are they going to overcharge me? So if you have this digital scale, you can pre weigh your bag at home and not have to dig everything out of your bag at the airport and shove it in your carry on. So you don’t have to pay,

3 (9m 44s):
Which has happened to us several times.

4 (9m 46s):
Well, this scale would have been real useful when we were in Machu Picchu because when we were in Cusco about to go on the Inca trail as a very, very first squad trip, do you remember ladies? They gave us that scale to weigh our bags. Cause we were only allowed to take a certain amount of weight for our porters to carry. But you don’t remember you because you had a freakout Zaina on that one day when we

2 (10m 9s):
Take it out because we couldn’t get underweight on the street.

4 (10m 12s):
Well, those snacks came in clutch. I just want to remind you. So always leave the snacks at number one, but they gave us one that was like a scale that hangs in the grocery store when I’m weighing my produce, right. It had the needle and everything. This one’s a nice, beautiful digital one. So you can have this one at home or even take it with you when you go on your trip, because if you’re buying souvenirs or anything that you want to bring home, you have this and you’ll definitely know, do I need to disperse some of the weight and not have to pay that extra check luggage fee for being overweight? Yeah.

2 (10m 42s):
Yeah. Boot checked luggage fees for being overweight

4 (10m 46s):
Period.

3 (10m 46s):
Also BU to embarrassingly pulling crap out of your suitcase and stuffing in your backpack at the check-in counter

2 (10m 53s):
Or

3 (10m 53s):
Not, not that I’ve ever done that

2 (10m 56s):
Someone else gets underway and then you tell them, wait, hold on to that. Cause we need to weigh this. And then they weigh the other one only to find it’s heavier. So then you have to take stuff out to put it in someone else’s

4 (11m 7s):
It sounds like a clusterfuck

2 (11m 8s):
Happened to us. You know why we have this scale? Okay.

3 (11m 11s):
Number six on our list is another one that I threw on here because I like organization. And I like looking cute. And this one falls both of those problems. It is a tiny travel jewelry box and it organizes your rings, your earrings, your necklaces. I cannot tell you the number of times, I’ve thrown everything into a little makeup bag and it gets all just, that is a cluster. If you want to see a cluster, I’ve had so many necklaces that I’ve just thrown away because they’ve gotten nodded into knots that I can’t even spend the time and the patient’s undoing.

4 (11m 45s):
You know, what’s really funny about you say the knots of the necklace though, Kim, and definitely do get this because I have a story just as well as how this actually comes in handy. So you don’t lose stuff. But if you don’t buy this one, I’ve seen a travel hack. So squad tip To you guys, at least if we’re just talking necklaces, put it through a straw, like a plastic, your necklace through a plastic straw and then tie it that way it sits in there.

3 (12m 9s):
I’m not in the business of killing turtles.

4 (12m 11s):
Yeah, I know you’re not. I’m talking a paper straw cam. I don’t know why you wouldn’t think I was thinking of paper straw, but no, I really do like this product too, because do you guys remember when we were in China and I bought Brittany those Pearl earrings, the first time she wore them on a vacation after we got home from China and took them, it was placed in like one of her little vanity bags, just as well, like you used to have the problem with. And one earring was in there when we came back and one was gone and I guarantee you, if we had this at the time of that, we wouldn’t have lost it. So they definitely do come in handy. You will lose things when you travel and having to dig through

3 (12m 46s):
Weird is I also lost just one of my Pearl earrings from China.

4 (12m 50s):
We can put it together and we can just share and rotate who has it.

2 (12m 55s):
We can definitely do that. I also have a personal story about that. When we went to Mexico city for my girlfriend, Nicole, for her wedding, with Roberto the very first night, as soon as we got there, I went to the bathroom. I took my tanzanite earrings out of my ears that I got from South Africa. And because I didn’t have this and because I didn’t have anywhere to put my earrings, I put it right there next to the sink. And next thing you know, one of my earrings falls down and someone from downstairs in a suit came, they undid the pipe because it went so far down and they still couldn’t get it. So they called someone up with hangers and then they put a shitload of tape at the end of the hanger, and then they stuck it down the pipe.

2 (13m 42s):
So they can fish for my earring. Long story short. They ended up getting my earring in the end and they didn’t even take a tip. Even though I tried to give them a tip,

4 (13m 51s):
No

2 (13m 51s):
Preppy enough for him, but he really deserved it. I wanted to give it to him. And all I can think now is my goodness. If I had this, we would have never gone through that catastrophe. Well, he would have never gone through.

4 (14m 5s):
Yeah, most people wouldn’t have gotten so lucky to recover it. And that’s another thing. A lot of these things are on here because we have personal experience where we learned better. And then we picked up these products along the way so that we don’t have these mishaps and any traveler in your life, whether that’s you a really close friend sibling, they are going to love these and rest assured these come with user reviews such as us. And we can tell you that they are for sure needed.

3 (14m 29s):
And this one in particular that we’ve linked in the show notes, they come in a few different colors, fairly small, it’s fairly cheap around $10 and it will save you hassle. It will save you from losing or having to throw away jewelry. So it’s a very smart investment for any traveler. Number seven on our list is another one for jewelry and travel lovers. This one is a Sterling Silver necklace that has two pieces on it. One of them is a nice pendant that says Enjoy The Journey. Zaina likes that. And the other piece is a nice compass that goes along with it. It’s perfect for ladies in your life that loved jewelry or heck even men, Jamal.

4 (15m 4s):
Yeah. Well, you know, just like the bracelet, it is almost a statement piece to the world, really that you are a avid traveler and that you love to traveler. So whether that avid traveler is you a friend, a sibling, this is the perfect gift for them to make that statement to the world. Like, yes, I love to travel. And it’s one of those things. When you see it, it’s just like, yes, this is a conversation piece.

2 (15m 27s):
Love it. Because truly, truly, truly, you never know where the journey is going to take you because even though you have a destination, even though you know what you’re going to do, you never know what’s really going to happen and how the journey is going to end up. And so for me, this is the biggest reminder of how spontaneous travel truly is because you never know what’s going to happen. Well

1 (15m 47s):
Said Zina

4 (15m 48s):
Very well said. So number eight on our list is going to be a diversion water bottle that you can actually use to Stash your valuables, whether it be keys, money, jewelry, et cetera. So why don’t you ladies, tell us a little bit about this.

3 (16m 5s):
It’s not just that you can use it for it. It’s intended to be used for that. It’s one part water and on the bottom, you’ve cut your money. You can put lots of other things in there. And so to people who may be looking to pickpocket you while you’re traveling, this is the perfect cause they would never want to steal your water bottle. Wait you guys in my very infomercial voice, there’s more,

4 (16m 27s):
There’s more, it

3 (16m 28s):
Also comes with a smell proof bag

8 (16m 34s):
Just in case.

4 (16m 36s):
But no, I really liked this one because it is the perfect decoy. When you travel, let alone the fact like if you’re a beach person like yourself, Kim, like realistically, that’s one of the biggest places that people get stuff stolen. They look into beach bags that you take hiding under the towel, but someone sees a water bottle it’s just in conspicuous. Right?

2 (16m 54s):
I really liked this too, because as you’re talking about, you know, Hey, people get stuff stolen at the beach. This is really nice because you don’t even have to take it to the sand. You can leave it in your car because it’s going to be so inconspicuous, just sitting there in your cart, people might look in your car and then see a water tumbler. And they’re going to be like, ah, nothing’s in here. So you don’t even have to take it to the

4 (17m 13s):
Beach. Very true.

1 (17m 15s):
So number nine has your name all over it. Jamal. It is a whiskey decanter in the shape of a globe.

4 (17m 22s):
I love it already sounds so elegant.

1 (17m 24s):
It comes with two whiskey glasses with basically like etchings of the world on it.

3 (17m 28s):
I want this from my bar. It

1 (17m 30s):
Looks so cool. And Jamal super into Whisky.

4 (17m 33s):
Well, I love whiskey. Number one too. I’m a sucker for a map. I love maps ever since I was a kid, even before I was an avid traveler, I’ve always loved maps. So this is right up my alley right here. And for anyone who is a traveler and does like to have the occasional cocktail or elegant drink, whether it be live whiskey, bourbon, scotch, Brandy, whatever you want to put in here, really, really cool travel, decanter and Travel Themed. The decanter even has what seems to be a pirate ship in there with flags and sales. It’s amazing as if it’s sailing all across the world on its journey.

2 (18m 6s):
I took the words out of my mouth because what I wanted to do was what Kim just said, but wait, there’s more.

4 (18m 12s):
Yeah, I sold it on that one. I’m telling you that little glass ship inside the decanter itself. Really, really cool, special touch.

2 (18m 20s):
I love the way that you look at it because you see it as a ship, traveling around the world. I see it as a sunken ship within the water. Okay.

3 (18m 27s):
I was going to say shipwreck too. It looks expensive. And this is the kind of thing that when people come into your home, it’s something they’re going to ask about. They’re going to say they like it. And it not only comes with the glasses, but it has the stones that you can freeze and put in your whiskey. So it doesn’t water it down when you’re drinking it.

4 (18m 44s):
I

3 (18m 44s):
Am

2 (18m 46s):
Statement piece through and through.

1 (18m 49s):
Yeah. It’s made a very rich mahogany.

3 (18m 52s):
Ooh,

4 (18m 53s):
Like Ron burgundy.

1 (18m 55s):
I just want to stroke the wood,

3 (18m 57s):
The birds of the woods,

4 (18m 58s):
My house smells of mahogany.

3 (19m 1s):
Oh, and a bonus. Why don’t you pick up some whiskey on your travels to put in it?

4 (19m 8s):
Well, that’s right up your alley. You always love to bring booze from wherever we go. That’s your signature move.

2 (19m 12s):
And I dunno if you guys mentioned this, but not only does it have the world on the decanter, but the cups cause like Jamal said, it comes with the two cups. They have the world on it as well.

4 (19m 22s):
Yeah. Beautiful lashings.

1 (19m 24s):
Mm Hmm.

3 (19m 25s):
Number 10 on our list is not alcohol, but it is also a statement piece for your home. This one is a National Geographic coffee table book called the destinations of a lifetime. That if someone comes to your home, they’re guaranteed to pick it up and flip through.

2 (19m 40s):
Not even just a few destinations, but 225 of the world’s most amazing places.

3 (19m 47s):
Probably even grow your bucket list by owning this book.

4 (19m 51s):
I love books like this because they truly show you things that are on the off beaten path. If you will. Yes. There’s probably going to be some of the more cliche travel destinations and things to do. But these books, especially when they have a list is comprehensive of 225, or even some that go up to a thousand. They really show you things that like, huh, I’ve never actually heard of this. And then you see it and then you get inspired. And then you’re intrigued by the story of like, how was this place? So cool. And I ever heard of it. And now it’s on your travel must do destinations. So I really, really love these books and everyone always picks something up off the coffee table. I can’t tell you how many different coffee table books Brittany and I have that our conversation started as just as well.

1 (20m 31s):
And it’s not just pictures and a list of places to go. It includes where to go, where to eat, where to stay and what to do to ensure the most enriching and authentic experience.

3 (20m 42s):
Number 11 on our list is one that we cannot shut the fuck up about. It is an Anker Portable Charger for your cell phone.

1 (20m 50s):
I can’t say enough about this. I mean, I talk about it pretty much in every single podcast. I use it to charge my phone in the car on trails. It’s good to take to the beach with you because if you’re out all day and you’re running through your phone and your battery runs down, this is a great backup battery. And I’ve even used it to charge my phone Kim’s phone and Charlotte’s phone. When we were in Santa Barbara and all of our batteries were charged up again,

4 (21m 13s):
Three full charges on one battery backup. Brittany had it and I ended up picking up one for myself. I really can’t go anywhere without it again, you just never know when you’re really going to be on your phone a lot while you’re traveling, using it for maps. So always having that backup power and charger is essential. My favorite usage of it, I love Southwest, but one thing Southwest does not have is mobile chargers.

3 (21m 36s):
I

2 (21m 36s):
Was going to say something

4 (21m 37s):
About that. And so I do love how they actually give you free television and movies, but you have to use your phone for that. So that can definitely drain battery real fast when you use their wifi. So I always use this specifically when I’m flying to charge my phone, to use the entertainment that the airlines do have if they aren’t the screens on the back of the seat.

2 (21m 57s):
Okay. So someone actually called Southwest out about that one. There’s a million reasons why we love Southwest, but they’re super funny with their customer service because someone called them out being like yo Southwest we’re in like 2019, what’s up with you not having the charger on the seats. And they responded back being like, yo bro, it’s 2019. What’s up with you not having a portable charger, good news with all the money that you’re saving on your Southwest flight, you can now afford it.

4 (22m 25s):
I know I saw that one. That was a good comeback one on social media, but I see, I don’t hate them for that because I love my cheap fares, right? I mean just imagine taking their whole fleet and now putting them all chargers in the seats, right? So the fact that they give me entertainment, I love, but you definitely do need this charger and any traveler is going to love it. So number 12 on our list is a Life Straw and any travelers going to love this, but more specifically, I feel geared towards those wilderness Explorer travelers and this Life Straw is great. You can put it in any body of water and it is its own natural filter. So if you run out of water, need to take a sip, you can put this in a Creek, you can put it in a stream.

4 (23m 9s):
You can put it in a lake and sip out of it. And this is a filter straw and makes everything that you drink safe to consume out of it up to a thousand gallons. Believe it or not before the filter dies. So really, really useful.

1 (23m 22s):
And you can take it hiking, backpacking, camping, or just even traveling. Cause you never know where you’re going to end up. And it just might be a good emergency preparedness piece.

3 (23m 31s):
There are so many destinations in the world that we’ve even been to where they don’t recommend drinking the water, Mexico, China, Thailand, many, many others. So this could work from the top water in your hotel to

4 (23m 43s):
Look in a pinchy. Absolutely. If you make it to the convenience store, get bottled water or do anything like that. But yeah, absolutely. This is a real clutch travel product for sure. The Life Straw,

3 (23m 55s):
Hey travelers. We want to stop for a quick minute to tell you about a really exciting product we put together just for you. As you all know, we love getting you excited to visit places for yourself, by sharing what we did and making it easier by giving you squad tips that we learned along the way,

4 (24m 11s):
The Travel Squad has created something to provide even more value for you. In addition to our episodes, by detailing trip itineraries and comprehensive multi-page guides with everything you need to know to do the trip, right?

1 (24m 24s):
These itineraries include information on what to see and do in the area where to stay directions for the best routes and even where to eat along the way. And we put them into these beautiful PDF guides adjust for you.

2 (24m 37s):
We created itineraries for a week and Yellowstone and grand Tetons, big island, Hawaii, and an itinerary for an American Southwest road trip.

3 (24m 46s):
Woo,

2 (24m 47s):
And so many more itineraries to come. We are so excited to announce that they are now available to purchase on our website. So go over to Travel Squad, Podcast dot com to get yours today. Next step, lucky number 13 on our list. It is a Waterproof Travel Organizer. This is super important because it organizes all of your electronic cords in an organizer. So for me, I do have an iPhone, but you know, the newer iPhones don’t have the regular checks to plug into your phone. And I like to use my earphones on the airplane. And so I have like another adapter, so it can plug in if you know what I’m talking about.

2 (25m 27s):
So there’s that. And then I also have different plugs for different places that we go to. So there’s that. And so it’s just nice to have everything in one spot instead of throwing it in my backpack and then having to fish for it later on and being like, oh, where is it? Or did I forget this? Or did I forget that like your iPhone cord charger too

3 (25m 46s):
Total, and it’s not just chords. We can put your GoPro in here, your digital camera and the memory dish that go inside of it, your portable charger, all of those electronic things that you want to keep in one place and you don’t want to get wet in case something spills on your bag or the liquor that you brought home busts in your suitcase

4 (26m 3s):
Sound like you’ve had that.

3 (26m 5s):
Actually I have not because I’m a pro packer.

4 (26m 8s):
Yes. But yeah, I really like it too. Most importantly, sometimes when I travel, I just jam my headphones into wherever because it’s the smallest thing, but this keeps everything electronic altogether that you need easily accessible. It’s definitely a must have. So number 14 on our list is going to be going back to another coffee table themed book. And I’m sure we’ve all heard of this one before, but it is still such a classic and such a great book. It is 1000 Places to See Before You Die. So we’re stepping up from 2 25 and we’re moving it straight a thousand right here. So if he thought dude 25 was a lot, we’re going to a thousand. So

3 (26m 48s):
Going a little morbid with before you die.

4 (26m 50s):
That’s very, very true.

1 (26m 54s):
You know, this really resonates with me as a hospice nurse. I’m like, yes, I do need to see all of these places before I die.

2 (27m 1s):
I mean, you had a patient who wanted to go see someplace before he died. And you said, Hey, I’ve been there.

1 (27m 7s):
Exactly. And he made it and he fulfilled his wish before he died.

4 (27m 10s):
But I want to go back to what I was saying too about this really being, you know, a conversational piece or a coffee table piece that someone will always grab, because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve actually seen this book on somebody’s coffee table, like in their home. As a matter of fact, Brittany, your dad has this book and I swear on my life every time I’m over there and I’m just kind of around the coffee table, I’ll always pick this up and I’ll find someplace new because I’ve really never read this from one to a thousand. I just kind of like skim, but I always find something new in this book. And it’s very exciting to see

3 (27m 43s):
Tip, put it in your bathroom.

2 (27m 45s):
I was going to say that too, that you know what, not only do books have purposes on a coffee table, but you know, sometimes there’s some good bathroom books because you never know what gold you’re going to hit when you’re in the bathroom.

4 (27m 58s):
It sounds like you get most of your inspiration in the bathrooms. I know

2 (28m 1s):
Really know

4 (28m 4s):
It’s a dine trend, a reading on the toilet, everyone’s on their phone these days with it. So this, I guess that’s a good one for the bathroom. Can we write

1 (28m 11s):
Place? It tells you why it’s essential to visit it. Even includes hotels to stay at restaurants, to go eat at and even festivals to check out while you’re in the area. And it has a whole bunch of information. So it’s definitely a book worth looking into

3 (28m 25s):
Very cool. Number 15 on our list is another very cool item. We all talk about a travel fund and saving for travel and this product takes it to the next level. It’s a travel piggy bank, but it’s shaped as an old school suitcase. And it’s really cute. It’s a suitcase with leather buckles on it. It has a map on, it says adventure fun. Like you get excited to put your money in this thing and say for travel.

2 (28m 50s):
This is so cute. I haven’t seen this before. I’m just looking at it right now. And I’m just like, wow, I need one of these because you know what? This is another statement piece.

4 (28m 58s):
It is. And especially for that young wanderluster in your life, whether it be your child, whether it be a nephew or anyone who has a sense for adventure, this is an awesome, just regular savings piggy bank. But the inspiration that you get with the suitcase, the adventure fund, the map, it’s definitely really, really awesome to give to that traveler.

2 (29m 19s):
It’s so versatile because you can give it to someone really young and encourage them to just let them know that they can see the world, that they can travel, put their inspiration to save for something, right. Give them that hope, give them that courage. And it’s still just as cute for an adult because who doesn’t want to just put little loose coins and change in there.

3 (29m 39s):
Yeah. I was just going to say that it doesn’t look childlike. You can actually put this on a bookshelf in your house as a decorative piece to

1 (29m 46s):
Yeah, I was thinking it might look good in our den even cause our den is traveled theme. I also thought if we don’t use it for the den, if Jamal and I ever have children, their rooms definitely going to be Travel Themed. So why would I put this in there?

4 (29m 59s):
We’re always looking for ideas of what to put on our shelves, Brittany. And I think we have just found one even for ourselves,

2 (30m 5s):
The next step on the list. Number 16 and it is a 16th century. Ooh, I like that. Number 16 is a 16th Century, Italian Replica, Old World Globe.

3 (30m 19s):
Now we have to describe this to you because the title, you may not be able to envision what it is, but it’s fucking gorgeous. So it’s kind of the size of a bar cart, if you would imagine that, but it is this beautiful, like cherry glossy wood. It has the globe on the top of it, the globe opens and then within it is where you put the glasses and the bottles super classy, very unique.

2 (30m 44s):
Not only that, but when you open up the globe, it has land pictures inside of it too. I mean the attention to detail that they put on this is immaculate.

4 (30m 55s):
I really, really liked this piece. If we were talking and hyping up that decanter earlier, this is going to take it to the next level right here. I mean, this is your own mini bar within a globe itself. And I know Kim was saying, it’s kind of difficult to describe, but to any of our movie buff fans out there, if any of you have seen Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious bastards, there’s a scene with Mike Myers in there where he actually opens up a globe like this and pours himself a drink. So if anyone’s seen that movie and has that frame of reference in mind, this is exactly what that is. It’s a very amazing classic globe piece that opens up to be your own little personal web.

2 (31m 33s):
Now what Jamal just said, though, this is taking that to canter to the next level. I still think that you compare both of these very beautifully

4 (31m 40s):
Together, beautifully right next to each other.

2 (31m 42s):
Absolutely. I love it because they’re both the same colors and it just goes in the one, just the same color theme and then the two, the same travel theme.

4 (31m 51s):
Are you going to get this for me for Christmas? I know

2 (31m 53s):
I already have it for you.

4 (31m 54s):
Okay. I’m ready for absolutely.

2 (31m 55s):
I’m just waiting for, to, to give it to you for Christmas, but if you want it earlier, let me know.

4 (31m 60s):
I’ll save the anticipation of Christmas. I’m excited.

2 (32m 2s):
Sounds good. Sounds good. So the decanter is a good starter piece. If you’re looking at price and then you can move up to this or just go balls to the walls and start with this one instead. But definitely both of them together is a must for your collection.

3 (32m 15s):
Number 17 on our list takes the turn a little more practical. This one Brittany is all about,

1 (32m 21s):
Oh my God. How did you know? So on our last trip? Well, what so what it is is it is a first aid kit and there’s 299 pieces,

3 (32m 31s):
Not 300

4 (32m 33s):
Skipping out on me. That one extra piece,

2 (32m 35s):
Everyone knows odd number cell. Yes,

1 (32m 39s):
It has bandaid. It has gauze. It has antibacterial ointment. It has everything that you need. And when we were on our last trip in Washington, Kim wore these boots that started to give her a blister. And Kim, did you have a first aid kit?

3 (32m 53s):
I did not. That I was with someone that did,

1 (32m 56s):
And that was me.

4 (32m 57s):
Kim was getting nasty blisters and corns all over her feet. It was really gross to watch her mate. Yeah,

3 (33m 2s):
Fuck. Is of

4 (33m 3s):
Course those were corns on your feet killer.

3 (33m 5s):
No, I don’t get corn beans

2 (33m 8s):
Because I’m just like reading the description of everything that’s in there. I mean, this is so crazy. There is a tongue depressor. What is that? You don’t

3 (33m 16s):
Know what it takes the bacteria off your tongue, right?

1 (33m 18s):
No. It’s where you,

4 (33m 20s):
It’s where you check to see if you have strep throat. Kim had put it on your tongue and tongue

1 (33m 24s):
And hold

3 (33m 25s):
It down. Oh,

2 (33m 26s):
Oh, you know what? When we were in Lebanon, Brittany just did that test by having me go. Ah, and I was positive, but I had Cipro with me. So yay. So if you do have Cipro, put it in with what else is in here with the ibuprofen

3 (33m 42s):
And an ice pack. Tons of band-aids a cute little carrying kit that packs all of that stuff in a really small kit, actually

2 (33m 48s):
Disposable gloves I pads. And when I say iPads, I’m talking about your Oho, your E Y E iPads

4 (33m 57s):
Patches.

2 (33m 58s):
It says pat on here. But yeah, essentially, I guess it’s just a

3 (34m 1s):
Case. Get poked in the eye.

4 (34m 2s):
You never know what’s going to happen to you.

2 (34m 4s):
You know what? If you get a little something, something in your eye, this is good to have. Oh my gosh. Wait, wait, wait. One more thing that I’m seeing on this list is an aluminized rescue blanket that is phenomenal 52 by 84. That’s actually I would get this just for that. Like that’s fucking phenomenal. Does

1 (34m 25s):
It have a carbon monoxide detector in it?

2 (34m 27s):
So they don’t, but that is definitely something that we would need no, seriously,

3 (34m 31s):
You can be on our list. Do you

2 (34m 32s):
Guys know what Illumina the aluminized rescue blankets are?

4 (34m 35s):
Why don’t you tell us about it? You’re so passionate.

2 (34m 37s):
It’s crazy. I’m like when you get rescued and like you’re freezing, it is the thinnest thinnest, thinnest tiny little blankets. But because of the material, it’s like,

4 (34m 47s):
Oh, they give that to astronauts. That’s asking about blankets and they give it to runners after marathons and

3 (34m 52s):
People are rescued from burning houses or

1 (34m 55s):
Hypothermia.

2 (34m 56s):
Yeah. That’s what I’m saying to get one of those in this, for this cost. You guys this, oh my gosh.

1 (35m 3s):
Zayna she would love one.

4 (35m 5s):
Someone can help Zana get prepared. Finally for vacation.

2 (35m 10s):
Just say, this is something that you shouldn’t skimp out

4 (35m 14s):
On. Nice travel insurance policy.

3 (35m 16s):
Number 18. We go back to the jewelry buffs over here. We have another necklace. This one, it’s more simple. This one’s just a compass necklace. This is more my style. That minimalist kind of a jewelry pendant, Sterling, Silver, the description calls it a little romantic. If you will. I think any piece of jewelry that has some memorabilia associated to travel is going to be great for a traveler. And these are just a few of the ones that we picked out that we liked ourselves

2 (35m 41s):
At already. You know what? Like for someone out there you can always buy it that way. If you meet someone on the road, you can just kind of like have a little gift in your pocket to give to

4 (35m 51s):
Absolutely

3 (35m 52s):
Be serendipitous. Wouldn’t it?

2 (35m 54s):
Exactly.

4 (35m 55s):
Marco had something like this

2 (35m 58s):
Dude, like boom, coming out of your pocket just to give someone that you met on the road. No

3 (36m 3s):
Sweet.

1 (36m 4s):
So number 19 on our lists is a TSA Luggage lock and it’s a pack and it’s a combination lock. So it’s really good for your suitcase or baggage. It comes in a few different colors and it’s always a good idea to lock up your luggage. Especially if you’re staying in a place like a hostel, cause you never know who’s going to be inside a room with

2 (36m 22s):
Now. I know what you guys are thinking. Locks, luggage locks sounds like the most boring gift maybe, but to a traveler. These are like socks when you’re adults.

4 (36m 33s):
Yeah. It’s so practical. You took the words right out of my mouth center. Cause as you were framing this, I was thinking to myself, man, it’s like, you know, when you got socks as a kid and you’re stocking for Christmas, you’re like, what the hell is this? And now you’re an adult. And you’re like, oh my God, this is great. This is what these locks are for travelers. That is for sure, Brittany and I for sure have travel locks like this, the code ones. But these are so great in terms of just making sure that nobody’s going to be rummaging through your suitcase. Like it was said, if you go in a hostel staying with people or even, you know, I hate to say this, the reality is, you know, even at airports, you just never know what’s going on when they’re checking your luggage. So these are really clutch to have for your own personal safety and protection.

2 (37m 15s):
Or even if you know, your luggage is safe in your hotel. What I really like about this is that you can use it for your backpack too, because you know, sometimes you are in places where you’re on the subway and you have your backpack on your back. And instead of having to turn it around and wear it on your stomach, you can safely wear it on your back and have this to close your backpack.

3 (37m 35s):
I actually used to own this, but squad tip for you because it is a combination lock. You’re going to want to save the combo somewhere. You can find it again for your next trip other

4 (37m 46s):
And give her, so it was the four digits too much. Would you have needed a three Kim

3 (37m 50s):
And it’s not about the number of digits. It’s about recording it somewhere where you can find it months later for your next trip. But luckily the one we’ve linked in the show notes comes with two, just in case, there

4 (38m 1s):
You go.

1 (38m 2s):
And I always used to lose my locks. Like I would go home from a trip and not know where I put my locks, but I’ve actually just decided to leave them on my luggage at all times. So there’s constantly a lock on there, so I never have to look for it.

4 (38m 13s):
It seems so simple, but yet we really just discovered that as of late,

2 (38m 17s):
What I really like about this is cause I do have TSA pre-approved locks, but it’s with a key, whereas this is a padlock. And the biggest stressor that I have when I travel is whether or not I’m going to lose my tiny little keys because I can’t imagine getting someplace and not being able to open my luggage.

1 (38m 33s):
Yeah, that would really fuck.

4 (38m 35s):
So number 20 on our list is actually one of my personal favorite travel items. I tell everybody about this. I have it, I love it. It’s like my travel map where I come home from a vacation. And it’s one of my favorite things to do. Although this is more catered specifically to national parks and it is our travel Stamp Book. And Brittany, you found these originally. So why don’t you tell our listeners all about this one?

1 (39m 2s):
I actually found it in a national park visitor center. And what it is is it’s a little booklet and the booklet breaks down all of the national parks by region and the area that they’re in, it lists them in the order that they became national parks and it gives a description of the national parks and what the highlights are to do in that park. And you can purchase a stamp for each individual park that you go to and then label the date that you went on it. So it’s a really good keepsake and I love it because when I go home from vacation, I pre-order them. And so when I get home, I get to just slide the stamp in and put the data in and he

3 (39m 37s):
Loves sliding that stamping

1 (39m 39s):
Do. And not only do they have them for national parks, but they have them for all of the 50 states and us territories. They also have blink ones so that you can put in other, just travel destinations like antelope canyon or monuments or big famous cities that you might go to instead. So it isn’t just specifically for national parks or us dates, they have several different options.

3 (40m 3s):
I also saw on their Instagram that they’re constantly adding new stamps.

1 (40m 7s):
Yes. And if you have a stamp suggestion, you can DM them and give them the suggestion on which stamp to make next.

4 (40m 13s):
Yeah. Cause originally started out with the book for the national parks and then they added the states onto it. And then from there on was, oh, highlights within the states. Like they even have like lake Tahoe, they have like Beale street down in

3 (40m 25s):
Different monuments.

4 (40m 27s):
And so that’s the things that they’re always really adding as, you know, highlights within the states. But every time we come back from a trip, whether it be a new state that we’ve gone to, or one of the new national parks, this is always a highlight to put in for us. And it’s a little keepsake that Brittany and I have. And when we fill up all our national parks, I’m going to be so stoked about it.

1 (40m 45s):
So you can find these booklets and all of the stamps on travel stamps.com, be sure to check them out and see all of the amazing places and stamps that they have in stock.

4 (40m 54s):
And I just want to say too, I know Brittany said this a little bit earlier. You can find the stamps in visitor centers, if you are lucky at the national parks, but again, not all the visitor centers do carry them so you can always get them online. And I do recommend purchasing it direct through them. It is a small company, but even though they are small, they offer such a great product. So get it directly through them versus the visitor centers. I highly recommend it that way.

2 (41m 19s):
And here we are at number 21.

3 (41m 23s):
This is last, but certainly not least my favorite product on the list. The Travel Squad Itineraries, these are travel itineraries. So we’ve been talking a lot about lately. We’ve working on them. We have a couple out right now. We have a lot more coming at you. A couple that we have right now are a week in Yellowstone and grand Tetons or the American Southwest road trip, where we give details on literally everything, the route to take, how long it takes to get there, where to eat, where to stay, what to see, what to do, even what hikes to do and how long the hikes are. Literally every single detail that we’ve researched. So you don’t have to,

2 (41m 59s):
Even if it’s something that we did, but we wish we did it this way instead, just so you have all the details and you can make the decision based on yourself, like specifically for the Yellowstone grand Teton strip. What I really like about that is we state where we picked up the bear spray and where we dropped off the bear spray. But in hindsight, once we were there and we learned that we could drop off the bear spray at a different place, we wished that we held onto that bear spray and dropped it off at that place instead. So it’s all those kinds of details. And when it comes to hotels, we’re going to give you options that we considered, but then this is what we ended up doing. So it’s the true 4, 1, 1.

4 (42m 38s):
So super, super comprehensive, great gift for any traveler out there who loves to take trips and do the minimal planning. We’ve done it for you. Put it into an amazing itinerary piece as Kim and Zayna have just described. So definitely do check it out and get it for the traveler in your life.

2 (42m 57s):
The only thing to say about this is keep in mind, we don’t necessarily do easy or short hikes.

3 (43m 6s):
That’s not true. We do take hikes that are one to two miles that are two beautiful viewpoints. That aren’t necessarily difficult.

2 (43m 12s):
That is true. That is true. Part of me is teasing because there are little, you know, hikes that we do have in there are flats and whatnot, but on big days you are going to see big hikes. And if you’re listening to us, it’s because you do those big hikes anyways. So you’re going to love it. And you’re going to love all the variety that we’re bringing to you.

1 (43m 30s):
So it’s our favorite time

9 (43m 31s):
Of the episode

3 (43m 34s):
Questions of the week

2 (43m 45s):
Coming in hot with questions or the week ask us now or forever, hold your peace. Send in an email, a DM or the gram questions or the week come in at you like,

4 (43m 57s):
All right, what do we got for question number one, Kim,

3 (43m 60s):
Our first question is coming from Dale D from Clark county. And he’s asking, what would you say about buying a trip for someone as a gift? I would absolutely accept a trip as a gift. Thank you very much. No, I think it’s a wonderful gift, but you have to think about like, should you loop them into your plans to see if they’re available those days or if they’ve already prize is yeah. Is it a surprise trip or have they already been, would they absolutely hate going there? Which I’m sure they wouldn’t. But I found if, if I’m planning a trip for someone that I actually want to buy it for them as a gift, I tend to loop them into it.

1 (44m 40s):
So every year for Jamal’s birthday, I buy him a trip as a gift. And sometimes it’s surprise. Sometimes it’s not a surprise. And he always says he hates it, but in the end he really loves it.

4 (44m 53s):
I just tell you that. So my answer is don’t buy somebody a gift. I’m just kidding. No, it’s always a pleasure to have somebody plan a trip and take you somewhere as a gift. You can’t go wrong that way. But like we were saying, you just really need to make sure that person’s available for it. So if it’s a surprise kind of, I don’t want to say drop pins, just do a little bit of fact finding, figure things out. Are they going to be available and then, you know, drop the bomb on them and let them know, Hey, we’re going somewhere. You know,

3 (45m 21s):
I would absolutely hate though, is if someone said, pack your bag, we’re going on a trip. And I didn’t have enough time to go shopping for cute outfits or plan to get my hair done or any of these things that I like to do to prepare for

1 (45m 32s):
A trip. I

3 (45m 33s):
Wouldn’t be like, really? We’re going to Hawaiian. I have no cute bathing suits, but I would get over it when I’m in Hawaii, obviously.

2 (45m 40s):
Well, Dale D let us know who this person is. And if you end up following through on this, let us know how it goes.

1 (45m 47s):
My mom actually bought me a trip as a graduation gift, and I absolutely had a phenomenal time in the Philippines and I loved every part of that trip. So I think it’s a great gift for graduations, birthdays, Christmas, even rather than just a normal gift.

3 (46m 1s):
And then our second and last question for this week is coming from Seth, from Los Angeles. And Seth is asking very specific question. This is great. Thank you so much for this question. He’s asking. I want to take my girlfriend to Paris for new year’s, but I don’t know if we’ll still be together by then. What should I do?

4 (46m 18s):
Well, I have two thoughts, Seth one. How are you getting to Paris? Because COVID is going on. So unless you have a non-American passport and can go kudos to you,

2 (46m 27s):
Kylie Jenner was just in Paris. So we

3 (46m 29s):
Have a lot of international listeners. That’s

4 (46m 31s):
Very, that’s very true. That’s very true

2 (46m 33s):
Because she was doing business. So if you can do business in Paris,

4 (46m 37s):
But my thought is, if you don’t know, if you’re going to be with this person in that amount of time, maybe they’re not worth buying a trip for,

3 (46m 46s):
Ooh,

4 (46m 46s):
That’s my thought.

3 (46m 47s):
I would also say new years is what are we at four months away? You could probably stick it out. If you buy the trip, just know you can not break up. You will be going on that trip

4 (46m 58s):
While he’s going. She may not be going

3 (47m 0s):
Well. I’m just speaking from experience. If you buy a trip with somebody you’re on the Fritz with, you’re going to have to hold out for that trip,

2 (47m 7s):
Just wait until maybe two weeks before new year’s. And if you’re still together, break it to her, then that we’re going to Paris. And if not, then

3 (47m 15s):
The last thing you want to do is go on a trip with somebody that you’re not in a good place with, or having a good time with. It’s going to kind of ruin your experience in Paris.

1 (47m 22s):
It’s such a romantic thing. There’s so much to see and do there romantic wise. And so you want to be in a good place with this person.

4 (47m 29s):
That’s why I’m saying, if you don’t think you’ll still be with her, don’t even consider going with her.

3 (47m 33s):
My advice, go to relationship counseling, book, the trip. All right, guys, that’s all we have for you this week. Thank you so much for tuning in, keep the adventures going with us by following us on Instagram. And you do at Travel Squad Podcast and send us in your questions of the week. You know, I love them.

2 (47m 53s):
And if you’ve found the information in this episode to be useful, or if he thought we were just playing funny, please make sure to share it with a friend that will enjoy it too.

4 (47m 60s):
Please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes,

1 (48m 6s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you guys.