One thing about our trip that I’m really not looking forward to is spending Christmas 2015 on the other side of the world from our families and friends. Even though we’ll Skype probably several times over the Christmas week, it will be tough for all of us, especially C.
We were discussing this year’s presents, and my brother asked me if we’d still want presents shipped to us next year, since we won’t have much space in our bags to carry anything beyond the bare essentials… I confess the thought of not getting at least a few presents at Christmas made my heart crumble a little! But as we’re trying to shed many of our belongings at the moment, it made me think about what they could give us while we were on the road…
1. Experiences
Our aim for the trip is to have as many new experiences as we can, so I love the idea of giving someone an experience as opposed to something physical. That way you have all the excitement of the build-up, and then great memories that will last forever, whereas if you just give someone a thing, I think the excitement is fleeting in many cases. I’ve been given cooking workshops in the past, and Rob once received a day driving monster trucks!
This Christmas for some friends we have abroad, we’ve used a new company called Tinggly that has stacks of different experiences you can buy for travelling friends all around the world, anything from scuba diving to bungee-jumps, cookery classes and romantic river cruises. You just buy the package and then your friend chooses what they want to do, which is pretty perfect for those on the go.
2. Books
Rob is a total bookworm, but he refuses to contemplate a Kindle, preferring the feel of paper in his hands. So for anyone who likes nothing more than exchanging books in the library section of hostels, sending a few lightweight paperbacks would be a nice present.
3. Emergency Care Package
You always miss your favourite foods when you’re away – we are known to have received 1200 bags of Yorkshire tea from a friend! So I think sending someone an emergency care package with their beloved chocolate, breakfast cereal or biscuits shows you really care.
4. Plush hotel stays
I’ve got a feeling that after a few months of camping and motels we’ll be in need of a bit of pampering, so we may need to splash out once in a while on a few nights in a 4* hotel just to revitalise ourselves! But for anyone travelling on a super-tight budget this may be out of their range, so why not gift someone you love with something they’ll really, really appreciate?
5. Memory Cards
As an amateur photographer, I think that you can never take too many photos, but because I panic when I delete photos, there’s no such thing as too many memory cards. So sending a couple of extra ones so your friend doesn’t need to worry too much about constant pruning is a good idea.
Are you a traveller? What is your perfect idea of a gift?
