Christmas Gifts for Travel Lovers 2019

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Tesalate Travel Towel

Leave the beach at the beach

Tesalate is an Australian brand, conceived after a day on the beach in Sydney … upon picking up their beach towel, it was heavy, wet and sandy. Eighteen months later they launched the Tesalate range at Bondi Beach market. They now sell to over 70 countries. What makes a Tesalate towel special? Well firstly, look at the design! This is their best selling ‘Bohemian’ style – but they have so many others too. It’s a full-sized towel measuring 160cm x 80cm. It is ultra-absorbent, holding over 1 litre of water. The towel takes half the time a ‘normal’ towel takes to dry. Finally – and a key factor – it is ‘sand free’ … sand simply falls through the towel. When not in use it rolls up into a small bag, so very portable.

We are loving our Bohemian towel and I can see that by this time next year we’ll each have one to take travelling!

RRP £49.00

Giant World Map Mural

Liven up your walls

Every travel lover will love this gift idea … a HUGE mural of the world to stick on a wall. Then you can while away the hours plotting your next travel adventure … maybe even pinning the destinations you’ve already visited. This Classic World Map Mural from Maps International measures 232cm (w) x 158cm (h). Printed onto 120gsm paper you hang the mural using wallpaper paste, as you would wallpaper. The design, in four pieces, has an overlap to help you. PackThePJs are planning a major office refurb in 2020, and this will take pride of place in it! 

RRP £27.00 (reduced from £45.00)

Jaques Wooden Travel Games

Traditional games, timeless fun!

The problem with travelling is keeping the children amused, especially when there’s no wifi. Jaques supply a number of extremely high-quality games such as those shown here … Solitaire, Shut the Box and Tiddlywinks. These are games we remember playing as children, and now we’re teaching and challenging our own children … it is timeless fun. We will be going on our annual pre-Christmas family road trip soon, and these three games are already packed – can’t wait to play them!

RRP £11.99 to £12.99

Cabin Zero Classic 44L and Classic Hip Pack

We’ll never travel without ours!

Cabin Zero is the most awesome brand we’ve come across in our 20 years of working as travel journalists and bloggers. Every item is so well made, yet ridiculously lightweight. If you travel light this 44L Classic bag is all you’ll need; as a weekend bag there’s plenty of spare space to pop some souvenirs inside to bring home. I love this Orange Chill colour too (my favourite colour!)

Our new Hip Pack (to replace one we’ve used for years and years) is in Serengeti Sunrise. We wear ours across body, but of course you can wear it as a belt, with the pack on the front, side or your back. It holds 2L and has an RFID protected pocket at the back. Inside the main compartment there’s two smaller pockets to aid organisation.  

RRP £64.00 (Classic 44L) £13.80 (Hip Pack)

Sleep Master Eye Mask

World’s finest adjustable sleep mask

A long-flight means that at some point you will want to try to sleep. This Sleep Master mask is made of a soft, cool breathable fabric with a comfortable fit that creates a relaxing effect and leads to refreshing sleep. It is not only an eye mask that blocks all unwanted light using its revolutionary wrap around design. It also has a padded ear area and smooth tapered ear plugs provide permanent noise reduction. For the veteran traveller, or occasional flyer, any night flight will be less painful with one of these!

RRP £21.99

ZAP-IT!

Mosquito bite relief

Mozzies are nothing short of a nuisance on holiday, especially when travelling with children. You need something that will quickly stop the itch to prevent any scratching (which makes everything a whole lot worse). The Zap It! Mosquito Bite Reliever is a brilliant accessory for those who attract mozzie bites (like me!) This is a unique pain relief system that uses a piezo electric current – it’s drug free. Just hold the device over the affected area and zap the pain away with a teeny tiny electric shock. This stimulates the area of skin and provides instant relief. It’s such a small gadget it can be carried everywhere. Get one for your travel first aid kit – you never know when you’ll need it. 

RRP £5.99

AlcoSense Lite 2

do NOT drink and drive, ever

With the Christmas season approaching many people will be enjoying a drink or two. That’s fine – so long as you are not driving. The ‘morning-after-the-night-before’, when considering driving home, few realise that you could still be over the legal limit to drive. If in any doubt, don’t drive – but this really useful gadget can help make your decision. The AlcoSense Lite 2 is a battery-powered personal breathalyser that, just like those used by the police, require you to blow into a tube in order to record your blood alcohol level. You calibrate it to UK law and it will inform you if alcohol is still in your bloodstream. It is a great indicator – but should only be used as a guide … if you’ve been drinking heavily, arrange a taxi home, or get a lift.

RRP £44.99

Mia Tui Ultimate Travel Bundle

Everything you need to travel organised

Mia Tui bags have been known and loved by our family since our youngest child was a baby. A Mia Tui bag was my ‘baby bag’ when out and about with my young son. The bags are amazing – inside there are pockets for absolutely everything. It’s fantastic that, nearly 10 years later, I still travel with Mia Tui bags, especially when away on business trips. Let’s take the bag in our photo as a typical example of a Mia Tui bag … this is from their Mini Jen range, in Air Force Blue. There is a pocket on the back that allows you to slip it over the handle of your suitcase making your journey through the airport less sherpa-like! Other features of the bag include a clear internal bag, a matching clutch bag, a long adjustable shoulder strap, an insulated water bottle holder, an elasticated key clip, phone pocket and pen holder. Protecting the base of the bag are metal studs. As part of their travel bundle, you also receive a set of 4 packing cubes (RRP £16.00), and an Alex folding travel bag (RRP £16.00). 

RRP £52.00

Mountain Warehouse Food Flask

A hot meal on a cold hike – or a playground lunch!

For hot food on the move this 650ml Food Flask from Mountain Warehouse is just what you need. It keeps soup, pasta and rice dishes hot for hours. This flask is ideal for hiking trips, long journeys and even kids in school – our daughter uses it to take pasta to school each day for lunch. The flask has a durable stainless-steel outer, is easy to use, compact and comes with its own integral spoon.

RRP £14.99