It’s that time of year again. The season of gift-giving is upon us, and whether you’re looking for something for someone else, or you’re in the mood to treat yourself a little bit, you can never have too many ideas!
In this piece we want to focus specifically on the growing category of tech-savvy travellers. We’ve given a few holiday gift ideas already for travel lovers in general, but these days more and more people are looking to boost their trips with tech. If you or someone on your gifting list fit into this category, read on for some interesting ideas that are entirely digital in nature.
Photo Editing Software
Regular travellers like to keep track of their adventures with photos. And yet, many are often frustrated that no matter how often they travel (or how much their mobile providers boast of camera quality) they just can’t get those magazine-quality shots. For those who really take an interest, there are a lot of basic photography tips that the experts swear by –– like chasing the light, or aiming for candid shots. But at the end of the day, a lot of the best travel photos we see are edited to perfection as well. For this simple reason, access or a subscription to a quality photo editing software makes for a terrific gift. And from Adobe and Photoshop products to PhotoDirector 365, there are plenty of services to choose from.
The Disney+ Bundle
Truth be told, there’s no need to pick a specific product in this regard. The idea is that any worthwhile content streaming or subscription service makes for a useful product or a traveller who will be spending long hours in transit or alone in hostels and hotel rooms. If you’re considering something like this for yourself or someone else, it would be wise to assess the state of the streaming wars and choose an app or service that best suits your own preferences. We only landed on the Disney+ bundle as an example because it manages to combine several services in one. Specifically, it provides access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (which includes both premium written and video sports content). Anyone travelling often ought to be able to make excellent use of it.
Reading Subscription
Sticking with the subscription concept, it’s also worth remembering that a lot of travellers love to read while in transit or hanging out abroad as well. And while some still prefer physical books, the simple fact is that they can be cumbersome to pack. An e-reader or tablet (or even phone) on the other hand, can provide access to virtually limitless reading material that’s easily transported. Services like Kindle Unlimited and Scribd, meanwhile, unlock that reading material, giving users access to massive libraries of anything they might possible want to read. Similarly, an Audible subscription will do the same for audiobooks.
A Cryptocurrency Account
It’s almost surprising that we don’t yet have some kind of travel payment app that simply exchanges currencies and works around the world. But many travellers are beginning to embrace the next closest thing –– which for now is cryptocurrency. This is an entirely digital form of money that works across borders, at least where it’s accepted. Because of this functionality, setting up a cryptocurrency account for the traveller on your gifting list (or for yourself) is also a thoughtful gesture. These accounts are designed so that users can access them to buy bitcoin and other prominent cryptocurrencies, and sometimes sell them (in an attempt to profit off of the investment). But they also store cryptocurrency, which can then be transferred, when needed, for payments. This can come in handy abroad if and when exchange rates get tricky or currency is in short supply.
Fan Tokens
This is a fairly new idea but one that we suspect will become quite popular in the years ahead. It’s another crypto-related concept, but one that is more tied to specific experiences. Basically, fan tokens are sold to people who support specific sports teams and organizations around the world. In exchange, customers can use tokens to access special deals and events –– which is a ton of fun for those who are travelling and looking to engage with the culture through a local team! If you have a friend travelling to Barcelona and looking to attend one of the city’s legendary football matches for instance, he or she may feel that much closer to the action with an FC Barcelona crypto token that opens up a poll on what song should be played when the club scores a goal. This is only one hypothetical example, too. Tokens like these can be purchased in connection to a range of teams, and it won’t be a surprise if other businesses (theatres, concert venues, museums, etc.) embrace similar concepts soon.
Priority Pass
Priority Pass makes for a spectacular gift for any frequent traveller –– again, even if that means yourself! This is essentially a digital pass that is meant to make air travel –– and in particular airports –– a little bit less of a hassle and more of a pleasure. The various benefits of the service include access to well over 1,000 airport lounges, free Wi-Fi, free snacks (and alcoholic beverages), discounts at restaurants and spas, and even access for accompanying guests. Think of it more or less as taking the first class flight experience and extending it to airports and lounges via a digital pass.
Often enough, when we think of products for travellers, we limit ourselves to physical ideas: new cameras, special bags, battery packs and the like. But digital products and services like those listed above can be every bit as useful to the modern traveller.
