Online - December 09, 2009

Loot, There It Is

2009 Gifts for Travelers

Make the journey better. Or just the view from the living room.

World Beat
Stuff your stocking with the freshest global sounds. (And lie that you discovered the musicians in a smoke-filled basement bar.) From South London: The XX. From Mali: Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba. From Iran: Hossein Alizâdeh. From Colombia: Toto La Momposina. Then play them on speakers that look out of this world.

Besame Mucho
You missed the Buenos Aires bandwagon, so you’re moving to Colombia to see what the fuss is about. Not with that accent, caballero. Invest in hipster Spanish lessons that are iPod, car, and laptop compatible (no excuses).

Oh, This Old Thing?
She travels for the shopping. She just forgot to make it to Maria Luisa in Paris and Wok in Milan. Farfetch.com delivers the goods with merch from hundreds of designers and dozens of Euro boutiques. He travels to upload screw-you-suckers-in-cublicleville pictures. Collage his best shots onto Moo calling cards. So he can add more contacts to his must-annoy list.

Wait a Minute, Honey, I’m Gonna Bag It Up
Nothing screams “upgrade me” like great-looking luggage. Leave the embarrassing black rolly in mini-storage and stash your stuff in a new bag. Pick your look: safari chic (Killspencer), city sleek (Vael Project), all business (Rimowa).

Air Wellness Bag
There’s no way to make flying nice; the best you can hope for is less crappy. It’ll be easier when you’re swaddled in a lightweight jersey cashmere wrap (warmer than pashmina! more wearable than travel blankets!) while listening to free meditation downloads (Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield are especially good) and sucking from a disposable flask. If you remember to check the new GateGuru app before boarding, you might not even get stuck eating twice-thawed “beef.”

Give a Little Bit of Heart and Soul
When you add a stranger to your gift list, an angel goes to heaven. And there’s no telling where your karma will skyrocket when you send an empowering gift to the developing world — a solar cooker to rural Africa or a safe maternity kit to India.

The Write Stuff
Really feel like the protagonist of your travelogue when you’re carrying around personalized city maps. Share what you’re willing to on carvable postcards but save your best material for a year of white pages.

Hint, Hint: a Trip, Dummy
Where you wanna go (or get sent)? Turks and Caicos? Aspen? South Beach Wine & Food Festival? There’s still time to jump on the exclusive DailyCandy Travel sales.

Photos: Henk Blansjaar / Nationaal Archief / Flickr; Courtesy of Mondomix; Courtesy of Moo; Courtesy of Vael Project; Courtesy of Restoration Hardware; Courtesy of Good Gifts; Courtesy of The Curiosity Shoppe; Courtesy of Vail Cascade

  Good for Gifts