Looking for the perfect gift for the adventure seeker or outdoor lover in your life? We’ve compiled 45 gift ideas varying from cheap to expensive so no matter what the occasion, your adventuring friend, family, or acquaintance will be totally stoked to open their gift from you.
This blog was updated in November of 2019 for accuracy and the best, new gift ideas for adventurers.
Adventure travelers are a hard breed to shop for. They tend to be less consumeristic so you can’t just get them any gift from the mall. A gift for adventure travelers has to be well thought out based on what they love to do most: adventure in the outdoors and travel.
It can be especially hard to find a gift for outdoorsy or adventurous travelers if you yourself aren’t the exploring type.
We are adventure travelers ourselves and personally we can tell you that while most outdoorsy people aren’t not big on “stuff” in general, there are certain things that are extremely useful or enjoyable to have and receiving these items have been really useful for us.
We’ve put together this gift guide to to help you give adventure travelers or outdoorsy people a gift they will LOVE and actually use.
Read on to check out these 45 rad gift ideas of things we always travel with that the adventure traveler on your list will love too.
Low Price Gifts – Up to $25
World Travel Outlet Adapter
This is an item every world traveler needs. It is truly a travel essential. If you know someone who’s headed out on their first international trip, this gift is exactly what they’ll need.
Packable Travel Umbrella
Plot twist: It actually rains in other parts of the world. Being from Southern California, we were not prepared with for weather on our 6 month camping trip to Europe.
I swear it rained more than half the days we there and we didn’t have an umbrella! The Norwegian customs officer even warned us, “Buy an umbrella,” but we foolishly ignored that thinking that Europe would be just like a California summer. Needless to say it rained a lot.
Meridian Line T-Shirt
I am a huge tank top fan, that was until I discovered Meridian Line’s T-shirts. These are the most comfortable T-shirts I’ve ever worn. The rad designs they have on them make them the perfect gift for adventurers or outdoorsy people.
National Parks Passport Stamp Book
If your gift-ee most often takes their adventures into the National Parks of America, this is the perfect gift for them. This gift is basically a passport but for National Parks, not countries, and you can fill up the pages with stamps from each outdoor destination.
We own one of these and it’s so much fun to go get our stamp at each national park and then look back at all the parks we’ve been to.
HydroBlu Water Filtering Water Bottle
We love traveling with our HydroBlu’s. These water bottles have built in water filters so whether your filling your water bottle from a river or traveling to a 3rd world country with less than clean water, you can rest easy knowing that these water bottles will filter out all the bacteria from your water.
Related: Why We Love HydroBlu Water Filters
Jackery Portable Power Bank
This is actually one of the best, unexpected gift I’ve ever received. I had no idea this was such a great gift for adventures until I received. The initial intention for the gift was to use it for everyday life when my phone battery dies but I found it to be my new favorite backpacking companion. This thing has been a life saver on so many backpacking trips.
The Jackery Portable Power Bank is perfectly suited for adventurers who like to go off-grid whether that’s for camping, backpacking, or other.
Related: Ultimate Backpacking Pack List
Essential Oils
Essential oils have so many uses while traveling. They are therapeutic, smell amazing, and our favorite, can repel insects in the outdoors. Essential oils are small and take up very little space making them perfect travel companions and a great gift for travelers.
All Good Sunscreen
Adventure travelers spend a lot of their days outside exploring nature. Sunscreen is an essential item for travelers and if you’re looking to get someone a cheap and useful gift, go with All Good Sunscreen. We love this brand of sunscreen because it’s thin and non-greasy, sustainably made, and reef safe.
4-in-1 Camping Utensil
Another super useful gift you could get an adventurer is a multi-use camping tool. No need to pack a spoon, fork, knife, and bottle opener. This tool comes with all of those items in one. Perfect for adventurers who will spend their travels camping or backpacking.
Kuju Coffee Packets
Because who doesn’t love coffee, right? This is the perfect gift for the coffee loving adventurer. Ya know, the one who wakes up before everyone else in the campsite to brew up small batch, fresh ground coffee with a French press.
These Kuju Coffee packets are delicious, single serve pour over coffee packets that will satiate even the snobbiest coffee drinkers cravings.
Vagabonding, An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long Term Travel
This is likely the most inspiring travel book of all time. Even the most well traveled people will find amazement in these poetic truths of long term travel. Travelers of all ages will love this book. It’s a perfect travel gift for relaxing on the beach, in the forest, or on long plane, bus, or car rides.
How To Travel The World On $50 A Day
The author of this book, Nomadic Matt, is one of the original travel bloggers and was one of the first to create a complete system to traveling the world on an extremely small budget. This is a perfect gift for adventurers who don’t think they can travel because they don’t have enough money or for travel lovers who are looking for more ways to travel more for less.
Life Changing Books
On the subject of books, if the adventurer you know loves self growth, be sure to check out the 25 Books That Will Change Your Life. These 25 books are what initially inspired us to start adventuring and if you know someone who seems to want more out of life, this gift will definitely help them get started.
J.R. Ligget Traveler Shampoo Bar Pack
Another super helpful gift for the adventure traveler in your life is a travel shampoo pack. This travel shampoo pack comes with a variety of different types of soap suitable for hair, body, shaving, and even washing your clothing. This is a great, helpful gift for someone with trips on the way.
Matador Toiletry Case + Soap Bar Case
Following up on the previous gift idea, put the icing on the cake with these awesome travel toiletry cases. They are perfect for storing toothpaste, shampoo, or bar soap. Matador built these specifically for adventure travel so they are light, durable, and functional.
Matador Packable Travel Towel
One often overlooked item of importance when traveling adventurously is a towel, and a light one at that. If a traveler is going to be camping, backpacking, or hostel-traveling through a country, they will need a good, light, packable towel.
Matador delivers top of the line packability with vents to let your damp towel breathe, a silicone case to make it easy to find, and a carabiner to clip on to any bag.
Passport Wallet
Those who frequently travel internationally frequently will love this passport wallet. This wallet makes for quick and easy access to your passport on travel days.
Travel Journal or One Line A Day
It can be bit of a drag to make the time to journal on your travels but any traveler will love looking back through a journal later on. I like the One Line A Day travel journals because it’s simple way to journal, you don’t have to write entire pages but it’s not very durable. A leather bound travel journal is a bit more durable for adventure travel plus there’s more age room to write locations, sketches, and more.
Petzl Headlamp
Whether you’re camping, backpacking, or just exploring a city, we love having a headlamp. It’s the only light you’ll ever need on your travel. The Petzl light is extremely bright and last up to 220 hours. You ca even buy a rechargeable Petxl battery to go with and you’ll never have to buy a new headlamp ever again.
UST Mini Flashlight
A mini flashlight is not a travel necessity but it’s a really nice thing to have. With a handy carabiner, you can attach this flashlight to anything like a backpack, tent, or keychain.
JBL Mini Bluetooth Speaker
Hooking your friend/acquaintance up with a rad dust and dirt proof bluetooth speaker doesn’t have to cost a fortune. This speaker isn’t like your typical bluetooth speaker because it fits in your pocket and is perfectly portable. It can easily fit in a jacket pocket, it has a lanyard so you can hook it to your backpack, and with a long battery life, it’s perfect for on the go adventure. (But please, blasting music in the trail is not cool.)
Audible Membership by Amazon
With how long most travelers spend actually TRAVELING, and Audbile membership is a really nice way to entertain yourself on long train, bus, car, or plane rides. While a classic book is good too, an Audbile membership gives travelers access to a huge library of books to choose from and takes up no space in your backpack. Audible memberships cost $15 per month so gift an amazing gift card for however many months your gift-ee is traveling.
Mid Price Gifts – $25 to $50
ENO Hammock
Some would argue a hammock is totally unessential travel but any adventurer would tell you that traveling with hammock is the best. This is the perfect fun gift for an adventurous person you know.
A hammock is perfect for spontaneous relaxation. Pretty park with trees, hammock time. Beautiful alpine lake, hammock time. Lush forest, hammock time. ENO hammocks pack down to the size of a grapefruit, are very light, and are one of the most comfortable hammocks on the market.
Outdoor Hat
Anyone who spends time exploring the outdoors relies on a good hat to keep them stylish and safe from the sun. If you’re shopping for an adventure traveler, get them a hat that speaks to their passion for the outdoors.
Ukulele
We literally don’t go anywhere without it. The ukulele is really quite easy to learn how to play and it can keep travelers of all ages entertained for all occasions from long airport waits to chilling around the campfire. Ukuleles are super travel friendly as they are small and light.
HydroFlask
Everyone loves HydroFlasks and while most adventure men and women already have a trusty water bottle bedazzled with all their favorite stickers, any adventurer would be super stoked to receive a wine tumbler, mug, or cup for versatile drinking opportunities.
As a huge fan of hazy IPAs, my top pick would be the brew bundle so that I knew I had cold beer ready after my latest adventure. Check out HydroFlask’s entire line of barware here.
Wise Owl Outfitters Dry Bag
Whether you’re kayaking, canyoneering, or paddle boarding, these waterproof bags are designed to keep your gear safe and dry, no matter the activity. Keep your valuables dry, protected, and accessible at all times with our roll-top waterproof river bags that safely seal your equipment away with a D-ring clip.
Snow, Bike, or Climbing Helmet
For the safety conscious gift giver, get your outdoor adventure a helmet for their top outdoor sports. Almost every adventure sport out there can involve a helmet but most of the time, it’s optional. It could be because your adventurer is a daredevil but more likely, they just haven’t prioritized the expenditure of a helmet.
Shop REI for climbing helmets, snow helmets, and bike helmets.
High Price Gifts – $50 and up
Native Sunglasses
Sunglasses are great useful and stylish gift someone with a spark of wanderlust. From the wilderness to the city, sunglasses are of course always useful.
Garmin inReach Mini Satellite Messanger
Ever worry about the adventurer in your life getting lost int he wilderness? Get them this radical GPS messenger so they can stay in touch with someone even if they don’t have cell service on a hike or adventure. With this device you can track and share your location online with friends and family, exchange texts or emails even when there’s no cell service, and in case of emergency, send an emergency SOS call.
Push Pin Travel Maps
These travel maps are one of the coolest things you could gift an traveler in your life. These beautiful maps come in a variety of styles (framed, canvas wrapped, or paper maps) and colors (black and white, teal, colorful, earthy). They also come as World Maps or Country maps, making it a perfect gift no matter how far your friend has traveled.
Related: Push Pin Travel Maps: Best Gift for Travelers
Ecuadane Blanket
Want to give a gift with a little more artistic flair? Or maybe the adventurer you know has an affinity for cozy things even though they rough it all the time (I know one of those people). This blanket is great for snuggling up on a long road trip, cold mornings watching sunrise, chilling on the couch, an extra layer on nights when you’re camping below freezing, and honestly…it’s the most photogenic blanket ever. The blanket comes in many beautiful designs as well.
IceMule Classic Cooler
This is a great gift for the more casual adventurer: the ones who like camping on the weekend, lake days, beach, and picnics. It’s also great for the avid car camper who primarily lives off of ramen noodles but keeps a small supply a fresh, cold goods stocked up (so basically beer). Either way, what makes this cooler so awesome is that it keeps things super cold, it’s compact and less bulky than a regular cooler, and it’s also a backpack making it great for those short stroll between adventures.
GoPro Hero 7 with SD card and Mounts
The GoPro Hero 7 is better than ever. With a GoPro you can truly capture the epic moments on your travels. From hiking, to mountain biking, to skydiving, to exploring cities, GoPro’s capture it all and it’s the ultimate adventure gift.
Point and Shoot Camera
Even those who have little interest in photography will want to document their adventures around the world. The Canon SX420 is a low cost, quality point-and-shoot camera perfect for amateur photographers who just want to capture their journey. Click here to see the top point and shoot cameras for travelers.
Sony MDR-7506 Noise Canceling Headphones
Earbuds are not the most ideal for long haul flights where you’ll pretty have music, movies, or audio playing at all times. On top of that it’s nice to have comfortable headphones that you can sleep in to block out the noise and maybe even listen to some soothing music to fall asleep.
Jetboil Flash + Coffee Press Attachment + GSI Manual Coffee Grinder
While many travelers eat most of their meals at restaurants, coffee is a morning must-have for many. We like brewing our own coffee on the road. It’s much cheaper, faster, and tastes way better. The Jet Boil Flash is lightweight making it a great travel companion for even the most minimalist travelers. You will of course need a grinder for your coffee and we love that the GSI manual coffee grinder is super light.
Matador Beast 28 Packable Daypack
Adventure travel usually means complete minimalism of 1 (or maybe 2) bags. We tend to travel with just 1 large backpacking backpack but those bags aren’t very suitable for the day-to-day life of travel.
When hiking the trail or exploring the city, a small daypack is awesome to have and that’s why we love the Beast 28. This backpack packs down SUPER small and is very light to throw in your bag on travel days but is the perfect size for all your daily adventures.
Matador Camera Base Layer
Every traveling photographer needs this product. Think, waterproof jacket for your camera. Adventure travel is rough on your camera and this protective, waterproof cushion is the perfect gift for adventurers who are seeking the perfect shot.
XeroShoes Sandals
2 pairs of shoes is all you need when you’re an adventure traveler. A warm, rugged, durable pair (AKA hiking boots or tennis shoes) and a pair of shoes to chill, stroll through cities, or relax in. XeroShoes sandals are just that. These sandals are comfortable for walking for long periods and they’re also great for just chilling around the campsite.
Thanks for reading and hope this helped you find the perfect gift for and outdoorsmen/women in your life! If you have any questions, be sure to let us know in the comments below!
Need More Ideas?
Check out these other gift guides:
- Gift Ideas For Kids Who Travel
- 26 Gift Ideas For Hikers
- 2020 Gift Ideas For Mindfulness + Health
- Gift Guide for Adventure/Wellness Moms
- 25 Inspiring Books that Will Change Your Life
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