When we travel, Serious Dad who lives at home loosens up and turns into Adventurous Dad who is up for trying new things. We love bringing out that side of my husband and encourage him to come out as often as possible. To help the Dad in your life make that same transformation, I’ve put together a guide of gifts that will help make traveling easy and more fun. It has gear to keep everything organized, gadgets to make life easier, and even the best shoes to walk all day in a new city. In all different price ranges, this guide will help you find the prefect gift to thank the traveling dad in your life.
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Under $20
Under $50
Under $100
Splurge Gifts
Under $20
When traveling with multiple phones, tablets, computers, etc. the wires can get out of control. This nice cable organizer will let Dad keep everything under control and find the right wire for the right device any time.
Does Dad find that the suitcase is always overweight? This little scale can weigh luggage and let you avoid the re-packing shuffle at the airport.
Why should women be the only one concerned with grooming products? The Dollar Shave Club not only has inexpensive razors and a monthly subscription service, but also a range of travel size grooming products my husband swears by. You can get a $5 starter kit, and a low monthly or bi-monthly subscription afterward.
Once you start using packing cubes, it changes your life! In our house we now each have a set in our own colors, and we use it to keep the luggage organized and make it easy to find things when packing. I find this 3 piece set perfect, but there are lots of color and size combination options.
A good toiletry bag that hangs lets Dad keep all the toiletries together in one place. Enough space for the razor and grooming products, and has a hook to hang so it doesn’t take up space in the small hotel bathroom.
Under $50
A powerful portable charger is something that dad will want. Phones die and you DON’T want that happening on a long flight or road trip. I like having one that has two USB ports so I can charge two devices at once.
When my husband was traveling for work every week, he swore by these Eagle Creek Packing Folders. These are specifically designed to keep dress shirts and dress pants folded and wrinkle free in your suitcase. This is an essential for any business traveler.
There are never enough wall outlets for all the items that need to be charged. Once your kids have devices as well, you need to be able to charge a lot of items, usually with one or two outlets. After a practically difficult trip in India, where we were all fighting for the outlet to charge, we purchased this amazing 6 USB port charger. Dual voltage, one outlet, and it fast charges up to 6 devices. We love it so much we recently upgraded to a 10 port charger.
Bluetooth Wireless Transmitter
Many people are switching from wired to wireless headphones and ear buds. However, that doesn’t work on a pale, forcing you to use the cheap earbuds they provide (or charge you for). Use on of these wireless transmitters to connect your nice wireless headphones to the screen provided on the airplane seat. It makes your long distance flights much more comfortable.
Under $100
A new piece of nice, stylish luggage is always somethings that dad appreciates. A nice hard shell suitcase lets mom makes sure everything fits and nothing will break on the way. The Amazon Basics brand has a number of fun colors and is generally a reliable brand.
My husband has had a SLR or DSLR for 20+ years and every camera bag under the sun. The one he goes back to over and over again is his Tamerac Velocity Sling Bag. The 7 series is the right size for his camera, lenses, and pocket in the front for his phone, some extra SD cards, and his wallet.
A good quality packable jacket is key when traveling. I was the first lover of the Columbia brand in our household, but I introduced my son and husband to the brand and now they are fans a s well. Columbia has fantastic jackets that are water proof (not water resistant), warm, and packable. Dad would love this nice coat to add to his travel wardrobe.
Good quality Bluetooth earbuds are great for travel. They are small, can be carried in a bag or pocket, connect with Bluetooth, and can even be noise reducing. Jabra and JLab are great alternatives to Apple Airbpods which can be pricy.
My husband loves the Sketchers Go Walk line for walking shoes. He got these last year and loved them so much, we went out and bought more pairs. This is what he wears when we are walking around all day and helps support his back back.
Splurge Gifts
I’ve been a Samsonite fan for years. I’ve had a number of suitcases and the ones that always held up the best are my Samsonite Luggage. While I always advocate carry-on luggage, sometimes it’s just easier to have one big suitcase you check in. This gorgeous, stylish set comes in some great colors, and has the perfect set of a carry on and matching checked in size suitcase.
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones
There are a lot of brands of noise canceling headphones, but the best I’ve ever experienced is Bose. These are a necessity for red-eye flights, or just working from home and taking a meeting.
While I like to use a wheelie carry on suitcase, there are many who prefer to travel simply with a backpack. The Osprey brand gets great reviews and beloved by travelers. The 40L is a great size for traveling carry-on only.
If Dad is the one always taking photos, why not upgrade his camera? My husband, the photographer in the family, loves Nikon and that has always the brand of camera we use. The Nikon D3500 is a great entry level DSLR that is light weight, but has all the features you want in a professional quality camera.
For the fitness conscious dad, he can use this smart watch to track his steps, sleep, workouts, and even buy his Starbucks and track his stocks. Oh, yeah, it also tells time.
If you are in the iOS ecosystem, then an Apple Watch is something dad will love. Besides keeping track of all the health stats, it has a broad array of apps to use, and you can even take your phone call on it like Dick Tracy.
If you are an Apple User, I hear great things about the wireless Apple AirPods. I personally love earbuds for listening to audio guides when wandering a museum,./ They are less obvious than headphones, and let and take up less space in your bag.
This little camera has been on my radar for a while (hint, hint to any family reading this). I haven’t purchased one personally but I read a lot of great reviews online. It does 4K videos, and actually edits out the selfie stick to give you perspectives you couldn’t get otherwise. It’s waterproof so you can also bring it underwater. If you like action and adventure, or have a creator in the house, this is a wonderful way to encourage their interest.
