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When I’m not travelling i.e when I have no money, I’m working or in quarantine like the rest of the world, one thing that stops me from losing my mind is encircling myself with travel-inspired things such as books, home decor, blogs, cultured foods and also photos or things that remind me of how lucky I am to the have the best family and friends back home.
So, to try and cure your literal travel-sickness, I’ve put together some of my favourite travel-inspired gifts that I’ve received and gifted that are actually very useful and fun to make yourself!
1. Bluetooth Travel Speaker
I have the ‘Bluetooth Float Mini Rugged Black Speaker’ from ‘Sleve Mobile’. This Bluetooth 4.0 speaker is small, compact and easy to carry with a metal ring so you can hook it onto your bag when on travel adventures. It even has an IPX67 material that protects it from, sand, dust, water and drops (which is great for me because I’m ridiculously clumsy). It floats in water and its waterproof meaning you can take it in the pool. The sound is also excellent which means currently in lock-down, my singing in the shower has become more of a performance.
2. Travel Scrap Book
Surprise… I gave my boyfriend a travel scrapbook for a birthday gift, because I’m just SO kind. I thought it would be nice to put some of our tickets, souvenirs and polaroid photographs in. Every-time we go somewhere new, I add it to the scrapbook and its just nice to look back at the amazing places we’ve been too! I bought mine from ‘Doodledah’ on ‘eBay’ and my boyfriend is super happy with it! My best friend also bought me a scrapbook which contains beautiful letters, gifts, photos and quotes and I’m just IN LOVE and I appreciated it so much! Scrapbooks just make such a thoughtful gift!
3. Beach Towel
Having a beach towel is a must if your travelling or planning to live in a hot country. I suggest buying a large light-weight towel easy to roll up in your bag when you're on the way to meet your friends for a picnic. At many of the Spanish markets and beaches, they sell beach towels with beautiful elephants and mandala prints which can also be doubled up as a decorative tapestry! They’re also reasonably priced and you can negotiate an even better deal if you’re brave enough. I’m always using mine at the park, beach and pool in the summer.
4. Cushion Food Tray DIY
I made these as an experiment, but they turned out looking pretty good for a first attempt AND they’re incredibly useful. I made these as a valentines gift for my boyfriend and I thought it would be nice to include pictures of his family and map locations of the places we’ve been. I made mine with a corkboard, which I then covered with fabric, and pinned the photos too. Next, I placed the completed cork board into a plastic wallet and stuffed the underneath with wadding from an old cushion. I used the cushion cover to cover the back of the cushion to make it look much fancier! I did this by stretching the fabric out and stitching it around the edges of the plastic wallet. We now use these every day for our food and laptops; when we're not using them, they work as a beautiful way of displaying the photographs! Well done me!
5. Motivational / Inspiring Book
I mentioned in my Warm Welcome blog that the book ‘Get Happy!: Lessons in lasting happiness by Dr Anthony Gunn’ motivated me to travel which as obviously now changed my life. I really recommend this particular book as a great gift for friends and family that you want to be happy, as its just very simple and has easy inspiring suggestions and cute quotes when you feel distracted from what you really want in life. It's great to look back on when you need some kind words.
6. Instant Polaroid Camera
I bought the ‘Fujifilm Instax Mini 9’ instant-print camera in ‘Ice Blue’’ for my boyfriend as a birthday present and we take it on all of our trips! It's nice to capture the moment with the classic instant polaroids. The ‘Instax Mini 9’ has a high-key exposure feature, a selfie mirror and its also affordable in comparison to some of the other instant cameras on the market! It's really easy to use (great for my simple-minded boyfriend…joke…kinda) and just powered by two AA Batteries!
7. Easy Dulce de Leche ( also known as manjar in Chilean) DIY
When I first tried this I was like ‘Where have you been all my life?’. It's similar to a caramel but based on browning of milk which doesn’t sound nice at first, but it makes dulce de leche; a sweet, toffee/ butterscotch like sauce. Traditional methods can take 7 hours or more, but with a can of sweetened condensed milk, it takes only 3 hours. You just need to put the can in a large pot with room-temp water so it completely covers the can. Then on a reduced heat, let it simmer for 3 hours checking the pot every now and then, so that the water level stays above the can. Next, remove the can from the water and let it cool. Once cooled, your dulce de leche is ready! A perfect gift, great to use for pancakes, cakes and alfajores! Check out this page for better instructions than mine!
8. Projector
I received a projector as a gift and it truly has changed my life for the better. When I’m travelling or moving home, rather than having to transport a great big and bulky TV, I can just carry my little projector instead. I link a ‘Google Chromecast’ to mine to turn it into a smart projector. I have the ‘Crosstour Mini Portable Video Projector’ which has amazing Image Quality and compatible with almost everything including my ‘Sleve Mobile’ Speaker! Not to mention, I feel like I have my own ‘’home cinema’ hooray.
9. Canvas with Travel Art DIY
I made this again as an experimental birthday gift for my boyfriend. He’s from Chile hence the map of Chile and educational mountain information. I just used a white canvas and different size black pens which are accessible mostly everywhere. I just printed an A4 picture from Pinterest and used some baking sheet from the cupboard to trace the image with a pencil. I then used the traced imaged to print on to the canvas. Then I literally just drew over the pencil lines with a pen and it turned out looking quite nice if I do say so myself! To give it the finishing travel-inspired touch, I wrote names of some of his best friends, family, food, things, Chilean slang etc! It was so easy to make and didn’t break the bank!
10. Travel Textile Photo and Frame DIY
Textile Photos looks beautiful in the home and are great to bring some extra life into your photos. I did the ones pictured by cutting around some travel photographs and sewing them onto fabric. I then used various images from magazines to add some vintage retro style to the funfair themed photographs. The stitching and fabrics adds more texture and style to your travel pictures! Once your masterpiece is done, you can pop it into a frame which then makes the perfect gift for your close friends and family!
Please let me know if you have any-more travel-inspired gift ideas! Or have you received a travel inspired gift that you love and use all the time?! Tell me so I can try out your ideas!
“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted”.
– Bill Bryson
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