What are the best travel gifts for seniors? If your loved ones enjoy traveling to new and exciting places at this phase in their lives, gift them a gift they will actually use! Many older adults prefer to spend their hard-earned money on experiences rather than things. They want to unclutter their homes and create memories.
As someone who definitely has the travel bug and finally has the time and money to explore, I seek to expand my horizons as frequently as possible. Sometimes I go to relax on these trips, but more often I go to learn new things and experience different cultures. Some of the trips I take are to faraway lands, and others are closer to home. I enjoy traveling with friends and family, but occasionally prefer to travel alone and meet new people. It’s all good.
How to Choose Useful Travel Gifts for Seniors
When selecting travel gifts for seniors, it’s important to consider their specific needs, interests, and preferences. Here are some tips to help you choose a useful and thoughtful travel gift:
Practicality
Choose items that are practical and can enhance their travel experience. Consider items such as travel adapters, portable chargers, travel pillows, lightweight luggage, packing organizers, or travel-sized toiletries.
Comfort and Convenience
Seniors may appreciate gifts that prioritize comfort and convenience during their travels. Look for items like neck pillows, travel blankets, compression socks, noise-canceling headphones, collapsible water bottles, or travel-sized umbrellas.
Safety and Security
Travel-related safety items can provide peace of mind for seniors. Consider gifts like RFID-blocking wallets or passport holders, luggage locks, personal safety alarms, or a portable travel safe.
Health and well-being
Gifts that promote health and well-being are valuable for seniors on the go. Think about items such as travel-sized first aid kits, medication organizers, compression stockings, essential oil diffusers, or travel-friendly exercise equipment like resistance bands.
Entertainment and leisure
Travel can involve downtime, so consider gifts that provide entertainment or leisure activities. This could include e-readers, puzzle books, travel-sized board games, portable speakers, or travel journals for documenting their experiences.
Accessibility features
If the senior has specific mobility or accessibility needs, you can choose gifts that cater to those requirements. For example, lightweight and foldable walking canes, compact travel wheelchairs, or portable grab bars for bathroom safety.
Personalized touches
Consider their individual interests and hobbies. If they enjoy photography, a camera accessory or a smartphone lens kit could be suitable. If they love music, noise-canceling headphones or a travel-sized instrument might be appreciated. Tailoring the gift to their passions shows thoughtfulness.
Experience-based gifts
Instead of physical items, consider gifting experiences such as a travel voucher, a guided tour, a cooking class in a destination they plan to visit, or a subscription to a travel magazine or online travel platform.
Perhaps try surprising them with a magical Disney experience. While tickets can be a bit pricey, you can save on Disneyland tickets by purchasing them in advance through authorized third-party sellers or taking advantage of special offers and discounts. This way, you’ll have more budget to spend on souvenirs, delicious treats, and unforgettable experiences within the park.
Lightweight and compact
Keep in mind that seniors may prefer travel items that are lightweight, compact, and easy to carry. Bulky or heavy items can be burdensome during their travels.
Consider health situation
Take into account any health conditions or limitations the senior may have. For example, if they have dietary restrictions, consider snacks or meal kits that cater to their needs.
Below are some of our favorite gifts to buy our traveling loved ones! There’s something for every budget!
Practical Travel Gifts for Seniors
Here are a few practical travel gifts to help make your loved one’s excursions a little easier. They may not be the most exciting gifts, but tend to be very much appreciated!
Universal Travel Adapter All-in-One International Wall Charger AC Plug Adaptor
What’s worse than getting to your overseas vacation spot and realizing you forgot to bring a converter? Throw this compact universal travel adapter in your luggage to ensure this doesn’t happen! The adapter has ports for over 150 countries and works in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia! The six ports on this device are compatible with all USB devices and can be used simultaneously. Perfect if you are traveling between countries!
Twist Memory Foam Travel Pillow for Neck, Chin, Lumbar and Leg Support
This adjustable, bendable roll pillow provides custom support! Unlike most traditional airline travel pillows, these twistable travel pillows contour to almost any shape and position you want to provide you personalized support and pain relief. Use it to support your head, back, shoulder, or cervical spine during a nap, when relaxing or reading on the bed, recliner or couch. It’s a must-have for travel for sleeping comfortably on planes, trains, buses or cars. The luxury memory foam cushions the body and relieves painful pressure points for ultimate relaxation. We especially love that the cushion attaches to carry on luggage for easy portability and that the foam pillow is covered with machine washable cotton for easy cleaning!
Conair Power Steam Handheld Travel Garment Steamer
This garment steamer is small in size, but big on power! With 1200 watts of power and dual voltage, it eliminates wrinkles quickly with high heat and high-velocity steam. And with just a simple switch, the power in this travel-friendly fabric steamer adapts automatically for worldwide usage. It is lightweight and compact (it folds flat!) with a quick 35-second heat-up and an easy-fill removable water tank. This innovative product is a great travel gift for seniors!
Compact 13000mAh 4-Port Ultra-Portable Phone Charger Power Bank for iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy
Keep your devices charged all day long with the Anker Powercore portable phone charger. This device, created for use with both Apple and Android devices, has high-speed technology to keep your devices charged much longer than usual. With two charging ports, you’ll never miss a photo op or important call. This product is a particularly useful travel gift!
4 Pack 3oz Leak Proof Travel Size Containers
Keeping liquids securely inside their containers is the most important duty of a travel toiletry bottle. These containers have a 3-layer lid design with firm seals to prevent leaks and protect your luggage and clothes. The TSA-approved three oz size for each of the four bottles in this set is perfect to maximize bag space, Bring all your beauty and grooming favorites and breeze through TSA. We especially like that with these containers there is very little product waste as the design makes it easy to dispense the right amount. Made from BPA Free Silicone, these bottles are very easy to fill, clean, and reuse.
60-Inch Heavy Duty Garment Bag for Suits, Tuxedos, Dresses, Coats
This affordable garment bag ensures, your clothes will arrive looking nice after a day of travel. This affordable garment bag comes in three sizes, 43 inches, 54 inches, and 60 inches, and has two large pockets for extra storage. We love extra pockets! It easily holds a wide variety of garments including suits, tuxedos, long coats, and dresses. Zip up your garments and hop on the plane!
Compression Packing Cubes with Separate Clean & Dirty Compartments
I buy these compression packing cubes for everyone! Most people don’t really know what they are when they first open the gift, but once they use them the first time, they’ll never travel without them! These cubes have compression zippers, which makes it very easy to fit up to 40% more items in your luggage. No longer do you have to use a hairdryer or vacuum to compress them! I love compression cubes in general, but I really love this brand, Taskin, because you can easily separate clean and dirty clothes as each cube is 2 sided.
(Note: With compression cubes, suitcases will be heavier because there are more items in them. Not all cubes are compression cubes and it’s probably best to have some regular ones on hand as well to help stay organized. If you want to really wow your loved one, here’s a set we like that you can add to your gift: 4 Piece Packing Travel Organizer Cubes Set
Unique Gifts for Senior Travelers
Looking for unique gifts for senior travelers? Here are a few different options for your loved one who enjoys travel!
Flex Flap Cell Phone Holder & Flexible Tablet Stand for in-Flight Airplane Travel
We think this cool gadget is a must-have for the savvy traveler. An innovative flight attendant created this product when they saw a need for a phone stand that allows you to watch movies and TV shows on long flights with your personal device. With its simple and flexible design, the Flex Flap’s adjustable design makes it compatible with any device in any case. The sleek and compact design fits easily into any bag, purse, or suitcase. When not traveling, it makes a perfect stand for cookbooks in the kitchen!
Portable 3 in 1 Rechargeable Small Pocket Fan
This compact rechargeable pocket fan is small in size, but big in power! It folds easily to slip into your pocket or purse and the super-long battery life provides cooling for up to 21 hours in one full charge! Great in hot weather for all, and especially helpful for women who suffer from hot flashes! For added convenience, this multifunctional device also works as an external backup power bank to charge your phone. And let’s not forget that it also works as a flashlight, a nice extra when outside walking at night.
Embroidered Personalized Toiletry Bag
Here’s one men really love! Add an elegant touch to any traveling man’s life with this handmade personalized toiletry bag. Waterproof, lightweight, and an inner pocket make this bag a very special gift! Choose from five fonts, five canvas colors, and eight thread colors for personalization.
Genuine Leather Travel Cord Organizer
Convenient Travel Gifts for Older Adults
These convenient travel gifts for seniors are not essential, but sure make life easier and more fun.
Travel Cup Holder
The Latest Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite
Whether you’re in an airport, car, on the beach, or at the pool, the Kindle Paperwhite is something you’ll want to bring! It is waterproof, so you won’t need to worry about it around water, and designed to be completely glare-free to be easy on your eyes. The Kindle Paperwhite holds twice the amount of storage as before with a choice between an 8 GB and 16 GB device. One battery charge lasts weeks, so you truly can use it anywhere and not have to worry about charging. One new feature we really like is that it pairs with Audible, so you can also listen to your stories! The Kindle Paperwhite comes with a one-year warranty and is the perfect addition to bring while traveling!
Small Faux Leather Travel Jewelry Organizer for Rings Earrings Necklace
Save yourself from the hassle of untangling all your jewelry after a long day of travel with the this handy travel jewelry organizer. This compact organizer holds earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings! Choose from six different colors. Throw it into your carry-on and you are good to go!
8″ Round Sensor Makeup Mirror
Look your best wherever you go with the lightweight Simplehuman 8” makeup mirror. It comes with all the bells and whistles! The lights range from 100 to 800 lux to simulate sunlight and 5Z magnification to show every detail! It is also built with a sensor that turns on when it detects your face approaching – then turns back off when you walk away. Charge the mirror once a month and you are good to go for weeks! You won’t ever have to change a bulb. We recommend this product for everyday use in addition to travel.
LifeStraw Go Water Filter Bottle with 2-Stage Integrated Filter Straw
If you find yourself somewhere with a questionable water supply, you’ll be glad to have the 22oz LifeStraw Go Water Filter Bottle with you! This great little item filters water as you drink, removing 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.99% of protozoa parasites from water to create clean drinking water for you whatever the situation! Perfect for hiking and backpacking.
Cabeau Evolution S3 Doctor-Recommended Therapeutic Pillow for Neutral Spine Alignment
Who doesn’t love a fabulous neck pillow when traveling? This one is our favorite. The Cabeau neck pillow, featured on CNN, is made for neutral spine alignment with 360-degree memory foam support. The pillow comes with straps that attach to any chair or seat to keep your head and neck feeling perfectly in place. This compactable neck pillow also has a removable cover that is machine washable. Make your travel experience relaxing with this great little product!
Give Great Travel Gifts Based on Individual Needs and Wants
Ultimately, understanding the senior’s preferences, travel habits, and unique requirements will help you choose a travel gift that they will find useful and enjoyable during their adventures. We hope you found this list helpful. Do you have other ideas to share? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Please check back often as we will be adding to this list!
originally posted 6/29/2021
updated 6/10/2023
Leslie Farin is the Publisher and Founder of 50PlusToday. She is an experienced communications and marketing professional passionate about working with older adults and their families. She works with a team of writers to provide essential and cutting-edge information related to the 50Plus community.
