Looking for travel-related gift ideas
 

Hi all,
I'm looking for suggestions for a travel-related gift (for birthday) for someone who travels a lot on business.
I already thought of a toiletries bag, but looking for other ideas.
Thanks in advance.

He's a guy by the way, 40 years old.

A nice leather passport cover.

Good idea, but I should have said: He only travels within U.S., so I doubt he even has a passport.

I feel dorky blowing it up, but forget a few minutes later when I am using my inflatable travel pillow, especially when sandwiched in a middle seat and you can't lean either way.

A travel alarm clock. You can't rely on the alarm clocks that are in hotels. They inevitably don't go off or you've set it wrong and it wakes you up in the middle of the night.

a good book

I remember getting a Magellan catalogue through the mail. I remember it having alot of useful travel items. Maybe do a search on the Internet with that name.

A down travel pillow that compresses ultra ultra small.

A carry-on travel bag with really really really good wheels -- with a color coder ID attached somewhere so it doesn't look like all the others.

Whatever you give, include photo of YOU!!! There's nothing like having a photo of a loved one when you're traveling, especially on long gigs.

An I-Pod loaded with great music.

I like the idea of an IPod, or a simpler MP3 player, which would be less $$. If he's slightly computer literate, I bet he'd enjoy having one.

thank you all for your ideas..
tandoori girl you made me laugh about the picture thing..the gift is for my brother-in-law...my husband's sister's husband..i don't think we'll be including pix of us! :-)

Oh, and if he's a video game type of guy (which my b-in-law is), a Gameboy. I've seen lots of guys on planes with these.

caribtraveler, I get really lonely when I go out of town on business. Just about any familiar face will do.

But I have to agree -- the last photo I'd want to see is my in-laws! Hehehehe.

Go to www.brookstone.com and get him some of those new TSA-approved luggage locks. They're sold out in most of the stores, and are quite a hot item! Even if he already has a couple, you can always use more.

You didn't give a price range but here's a few ideas that should cover a broad range.
I have 2 Samsonite travel pouches( big clear plastic zipper bags) that I use on the road weekly. You can put your clothes in and then squeeze out the air. They are very handy for saving space in your bag and they keep your clothes smelling nice too. They cost about $8.00 each.
A tiny travel umbrella...
A collection of small bottles of his favorite cologne or after shave -( the more that you are on the road, the smaller your packed luggage gets!)
A portable CD player is nice as well as CDs or audio books if you know what he likes.
A set of noise reducing headphones - Bose is very expensive but Target sells cheaper ones.
If he is on the road a lot, his company probably already pays for luggage.
An expensive gift would be an enrollment into an airline club - you would need to know which airline he uses. Another good gift would be a portable GPS - also expensive but very handy in rental cars.You could also give him a membership to a rental car club - like Hertz Gold. Of course, you need to be sure his company lets him use Hertz.
Good luck - let us know what you decide!

A tiny umbrella is a great idea along with the travel alarm clock.

Another suggestion would be a travel kit of sorts. Lint brush, coffee sweetner of choice, travel radio/alarm clock, bandaids etc.

A portable DVD player (doubles as a cd player) - my brother won't get on a plane without it. A travel pillow is a good idea, too.

I got a tiny DVD player and Bose headphones for Christmas. I had 2 other noise cancelling headphones (Aiwa and Sony) and they both suck... not any better than regular good quality headphones and certainly nothing like the Bose set. The "cheap" ones set me back 60.00 each and the Bose set was 300. It's all very bulky but I will adjust my carry on load to accomodate.
I also have Netflix which is great for people who travel. I try to get 3 movies right before I travel. No late fees and tens of thousands of DVD choices.
I also love my Kipling luggage. Good luggage is a great gift. A nice piece to match his set?
Does he golf when he travels? Maybe prepaid greens fees at a popular course in a frequently visited city?
Gosh, there are so many options...

How about one of those new radio controlled clocks that automatically pick up the signal wherever you are? They are great if he crosses time zones frequently.

Does he already have a blackout eyemask? They are also well appreciated when you are in a hotel rooms with a stabbing ray of light through the peep hole.

Second (or third) the DVD player suggestion. My wife purchased one for me a few years ago as a Christmas present and I've used it many times on business trips.

If you're looking for something a bit less expensive, Tiffany's sells a nice leather-bound world travel Atlas that is relatively compact. I wouldn't say it is particularly detailed, but it does give fairly broad maps of every region and country of the world and somewhat in-depth maps of about 30 major cities.

I love my mini-Atlas. It's about 4x6 or so and leather bound. I think mine came from Eddie Bauer for 49.00 I also have one that has maps for all US National Parks, also 49.00
Last year I saw them at the Rand McNally store.

Is he a coffee lover? My brother travels a lot and we gave him a Starbucks gift card; it works kind of like a debit card - we "loaded" it with $25 and he can go into any starbucks location and just swipe his card instead of paying cash. When the card is empty, he can add money to it, or we can do it for him to continue the gift. You can purchase the cards at Starbucks.com or at one of their stores.

wow..you guys have fabulous ideas.
we ended going with the leather toiletries bag (or is it called shaving kit bag??) with a starbucks gift card inside (margie, LOVED the starbucks idea-he IS a coffee drinker). his wife said he uses his bag religiously and it's really old..so we went with that.
loved a lot of your other ideas, but some were a bit more than we wanted to spend. also, we remembered how he always complains how little time he has on trips to do other things so we thought a book or other entertainment-related items wouldn't work for him. loved the mini-atlas idea, but he always goes to same cities so he knows them well already.
THANK YOU for all your great ideas. it was much appreciated.