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Even though travel is becoming more and more possible as the world opens back up, it’s not as easy as it once was. Your travel-loving friend likely isn’t traveling as much as they once did. But you can cheer them up with armchair travel gifts!
What is armchair travel? It’s “traveling” from home, and this blog post will give you lots of ideas on how to do that. Show your loved ones that you care with gifts that will allow them to travel safely from the comfort of home.
This list isn’t a generic one with ideas you could have came up with yourself. I put a lot of research and creativity into creating this list of super unique gift ideas for any traveler who’s down about the state of travel right now.
If your recipient is a traveler, they probably don’t want a suitcase, GoPro or gift vouchers right now when they can’t travel and use them. That would be like rubbing salt into a fresh wound. But these gifts are ones they can appreciate right now!
Psst: These don’t have gifts for others; you can gift them to yourself! Go on, you deserve it!
Here are 20 gifts for armchair travel for the travelers who can’t travel right now.
Travel teaches you a lot of trivia about the world in an immersive way, but you can get that at home too! Give the gift of knowledge through fun armchair travel with this geography trivia game.
2. City Skyline LEGO sets
So, you may not be able to visit these world famous cities anytime soon. But you can get a unique visit to them with armchair travel gifts like these.
While we still can’t travel everywhere and anywhere we want, this is great inspiration for planning a future trip. Give a friend or loved one ideas for a travel destination to explore their ancestors’ roots with this gift! Or, they can explore those roots from home with some virtual travel.
4. Candles
You might not be able to gift an entire travel experience for the holidays, birthdays or anniversaries, but you can gift armchair travel through scent! Here are some candle scents to transport your gift recipient to a new place or a place they already visited and loved.
One of my absolute favorite ways to engage in armchair travel is by books that transport me to new places, and I’m sure many others would agree such a book would make a great gift!
You might not be able to visit many National Parks anytime soon, but you can gift an armchair trip that will also help pass the time while stuck at home!
Another great board game with a National Parks theme is Trekking the National Parks, an award-winning game. Not only is it fun, but it’s informative. This is a game that will start off as armchair travel but turn into dreams, plans and hopefully reality one day.
This amazing board game will keep your recipient so occupied they’ll forget they can’t travel! Made by the same company that made Trekking National Parks, you’ll instead be exploring all the wonders of the entire world.
The perfect armchair travel gift to both reflect on past trips and dream about future ones! If your gift recipient is a traveler who doesn’t have one of these yet, they will surely appreciate it!
This journal is a unique one and perfect for any traveler who likes to write. It’s designed to be used when you’re back home in the dull everyday routine and are missing the inspiration that travel gave you. It will help you gain new story ideas and revisit your past trips through a creative lens.
A bit of shameless promo, because I created this journal!
After living in The Netherlands, nothing brings me back more than a bite of a stroopwafel. I used to eat these all the time there, and while it’s hard to find good ones back home, that’s what the internet is for!
While a zen trip to Asia may currently be out of the question, you can gift the next best thing: a zen garden. The great thing about it is that it can be used anytime. You can’t immediately find yourself in Japan when things get stressful at work, but you can immediately turn to a zen garden for help!
Puzzles are a great way to pass the time (i.e. when you’re stuck in lockdown and waiting to travel again). This one is perfect for the traveler who is in love with Europe!
Bummed about not being able to witness a traditional tea ceremony in Japan? Give your recipient the chance to make their own matcha the traditional way.
Let’s face it: traveling to expensive Switzerland is a far-fetched dream even without a pandemic. But indulging in one of the country’s best inventions can be done right from home! Your gift recipient will love this!
And finally, in a time when normal mugs replace travel mugs, remind your gift recipient that adventure awaits. Not really armchair travel, but hopefully it’s a gift that will be a daily reminder that we’ll be able to travel again soon.
And that’s a wrap (get it? Like wrapping a gift?) on my suggestions for armchair travel gifts!
Which one would you prefer best? Let me know in the comments below!
French Provence Candle
20. Adventure Awaits Mug
20. 
What a col list! I love the games, I didn’t know they even existed 🙂
Me neither! I found them in my research for this post and I want them all!
Haha, fun ideas! Happy holidays!
Some unusual and fun ideas!
Amazing travel gift ideas! Very curious to see what the UK candle smells like 🙂
Cute ideas! I’d love to try some of that Japanese matcha and give that Trekking the World board game a try!
Love that scratch-off map. So many cute gift ideas. Thanks for sharing!
fondue set is a great idea! thanks for sharing these gift ideas!