Over the last few years I’ve found that some of the gifts I enjoy receiving most at Christmas are travel related. I think so many of us have everything we need by midlife that increasingly our budget goes more towards the experiential – concerts, theatre, weekends away, trips and holidays so there’s something joyful about unwrapping a present that hints at pleasures to come when the dark days of winter are over. And they’re gifts that give twice the pleasure – once when they’re opened and then again on holiday when you make somebody’s happy times even better. With that in mind, today my suggestions are travel related and they apply to all age groups – travel gifts – the promise of good times ahead.
Travel gifts – the promise of good times ahead
Nice luggage additions
Over the last two years we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about luggage. We have a set that works for road trip, safaris and island hopping – the sort of stuff that you need to be able to carry on your back as you move around. Wheelie cases make life hell for residents in popular tourist spots, especially cities with the constant bumping, banging and squeaking on pavements, never mind having to step around them on the street so I try not to use them unless I have to. For a quick overnight you can’t beat a Longchamp, it’s very on trend at the moment but it will always be my choice for a London trip regardless.
If we’re going somewhere smart though, the kind of trip that includes transfers from the airport that don’t inconvenience locals we now have a full set of gorgeous Away cases. In the likelihood that Mal won’t read this I can say that one of his presents is this new duffle which is designed for weekends but also loops onto the cases for ease of passage through an airport. It’s well reviewed as being a good, squashable carry on bag with a protective laptop sleeve and lots of pockets. There’s a very stong BF offer on if you’re quick (various sizes and colours available).
Weekend duffle bag with compartments
These highly durable bags are great for portability for things like safaris or the catamaran trip I did this year when squashable luggage is a requirement of the trip. Originally made for Everest expeditions you’ll now see them at every Greek harbour – they have high credibility in the street style stakes so they’re a great buy for a student or young traveller. 20% BF offer currently running.
Travel gifts – accessories
This is the best designed jewellery roll I’ve found. It means you don’t have to spend ages untangling necklaces after you unpack thanks to the design for separating them. It can accommodate large earrings as well as small ones too – plus it will squash into the corner of a bag. Currently 25% off for BF.
The eldest bought one of these for Mal for Father’s Day and I’m forever borrowing it. It’s so handy when you’re away for a night or two because it has just enough space for a pair of glasses, your contact lenses and two nights’ lens solution.
Contact lens and glasses travel case
You’ll already know how good these packing cubes are but have you seen this one? It has separate clean and dirty compartments which make the dreaded unpacking so much easier when you get home.
This was my travel gift from Mal last year and I absolutely love it, it’s tiny and yet so powerful. I keep it prepped in a drawstring bag with a magnifying mirror, straighteners, hair brush and eye mask for superfast packing.
And while we’re on the subject of travel straighteners these are the ones you want. I even slip mine into my bag on blustery evenings when we’re going out – and find myself the most popular woman in the ladies loos! There’s currently a 20% BF discount on the white colourway.
I still don’t have this mirror – but I’m hoping I might find it under the tree this year. You often need good light and magnification when you’re staying in an Airbnb and my old Amazon one just isn’t strong enough these days.
10X magnification lit travel mirror
This is a great little gift for anybody who drives long distances on holiday, either in a car or campervan. It’s a car air freshener that you attach to the air vent. It comes with spare discs that you can refresh with your favourite essential oil blend (no more synthetic magic tree) – or you can buy pre-fragranced discs.
No more cable spaghetti – one of the things that can send me over the edge when I’m travelling. Lots of colours available so you don’t have to stick with the usual boring black.
Is there anything quite as unglamorous as travel socks? And yet we both find we have dehydrated tendon issues if we fly for more than four hours without wearing them now. These are so much nicer than the black orthopaedic looking ones, highly rated in the US and now available in the UK in grey or pink ombré.
If you know someone who loves camping, picnics or just trips to the beach then this is going to be a great gift – an insulated shoulder pack for cans. They’re thinking beers, I’m thinking pre-mixed cocktails.
Travel gifts – Beauty & Health
This is an easy way of taking a multi-vitamin away with you when you travel. Each day you simply pop a dissolvable strip on your tongue and you’re done – no problems at airport security. As an aside, they’re great option for elderly people who have a lot of medication to take in tablet form every day too.
Fruity dissolving multi-vitamins
I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Megababe but it’s a company founded by Katie Sturino who wanted to tackle beauty’s taboo issues. Her best known product is the thigh rescue anti-friction stick which is a great solution for anybody who finds their thighs chafe, especially in hot weather. However there’s also has a saviour for anybody who sweats in awkward places, the gynaecologist approved body dust which is free of talc, aluminium, parabens, phthalates and sulphates. This little travel size is great for any warm destination…
… and you can also buy it with a puff – I’ve been looking for an old fashioned powder puff like this for so long.
If you know somebody who’s travelling long haul, don’t forget the marvel that is this Jet Lag Mask. I used it on my way to Thailand and wouldn’t be without it on a long flight now. I took my make-up off when it was time to sleep and applied a thick layer of this to my face. It had soaked in by the time we came to land so I was able to quickly reapply a bit of make-up to soft, hydrated skin. You don’t need to travel to use it of course, it’s a superhydrating solution any time.
Whenever I try to feature this in summer, this pack has always sold out and it’s such a bargain. Everything you need for a week in hot sun including the all important ‘swim cap’ protective hair cream that stops your hair turning into a frizzy mess on the beach.
And last of all nobody should take boring toothpaste when they travel – every day should begin and end with a treat. These little Marvis toothpastes are a touchpoint that make the simplest thing special, just as it should be on holiday. You can buy a three pack…
3 pack of luxury travel toothpastes
… or this beautifully packaged collection of seven. If you know, you know.
Luxury toothpastes – collectors’ edition
Our reader get together – and thoughts about next year
Before I go, here are a few moments from the lovely reader event with Claudia Bradby on Halloween. It was so good to catch up with people who are beginning to feel like old chums as well as meeting readers who came along for the first time. I love this picture taken right at the beginning – it shows how quickly Midlifechic readers get on, even though they’re meeting for the first time.
Claudia and I then had a ‘fireside chat’ – it was a bit like an open podcast I suppose as she shared all of her wisdom about jewellery styling and of course we veered off on all kinds of tangents. Quite a few of you asked if we could stream the event live but we wanted to keep it feeling intimate for everyone who was there so here are a couple of the moments that followed the more serious talk about style. You can see how when we meet up for lunch we end up being the last ones in the restaurant! Claudia had just asked me which I’d choose – champagne or a cocktail?
And here’s another little bit of rambling chat.
And following that there was time for everyone to chat over a drink or two. There was a full selection of Claudia’s jewellery to play with and she was there as a personal stylist, helping everyone to see how it would work best for them. Don’t forget that if you couldn’t come along, you can still get a 20% discount on her beautiful pieces with code MIDLIFECHIC20.
And when it was time to go, everyone left with a lovely goody bag – I can’t promise this every time but a huge thank you to each one of the brands who were so generous and keen to delight us as a midlife audience.
I managed to chat to almost everybody (I’m so sorry if I missed you). As always it was too brief and over too quickly so there was talk of adding an overnight option to the next one – to be held in Birmingham or Manchester so watch this space (just imagine the turns the conversations could take over a bottle of wine or two!). I’d love to arrange it with Claudia again because I think she adds an extra dimension. Just so I know whether it’s worth looking into, could you tick this box if you’d be interested. I just find that everyone gets on so well, so quickly, it’s like watching a fire catch light and that’s quite unique.
And with that I’ll leave you to your weekend, I’m dedicating mine to Christmas shopping because I know this is the last chance I’ll have. I had my first Christmas meal out last night with my local reader friends. It was so very, very cold that we didn’t wear as much sparkle as we’d planned but everyone had a touch of it which was nice to see – I’m kicking myself today that I didn’t get any photos. I’ll be back again on Tuesday with the last of my gift ideas posts and then on Friday next week I’ll do my usual Black Friday round-up of all the best offers but I’ve started listing them below because so many have already started. Happy planning everybody, the more we get out of the way now, the more we can enjoy December.
Disclosure: Travel gifts – the promise of good times ahead is not a sponsored post
Good Black Friday offers running now
John Lewis – offers added every day – dedicated Black Friday hub here
Seasalt – 25% off everything here
White Stuff – 25% off everything here
Jigsaw – 25% off everything here
Whistles – 20% off everything here
Hush – starts tomorrow (24/11) – up to 30% off BF hub here
Sweaty Betty – 30% of everything here
Nike – 25% off everything here
Dunelm – Black Friday hub here
Waterstones – topsellers from Boris Johnson to David Nicholls 50% off & 25% off LEGO here
Hush – up to 30% off knits and tops here
LK Bennett – 30% off everything here
Liberty – 30% off everything here plus 20% off beauty
Rise and Fall 20% off everything here
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