It can be challenging to find the perfect gift for anyone – something that they will need or love but would never buy for themselves. It can be even harder when that person happens to be a digital nomad, always on the move. In their case, every ounce matters and they don’t have space for anything that isn’t essential or beloved.
If you can’t think of the perfect personal gift based on your experiences together or a titbit that they let drop months ago, then consider one of our gift ideas for digital nomads. They are all travel essentials that will make life on the road a little easier and a little more enjoyable. Hopefully, you find the perfect gift idea on the list.
1. Universal Lens Cap
Most digital nomads will travel with a decent camera to capture their experiences and the memories that they are creating, and maybe to feed their travel blog or social media channel. But lenses are fragile, and lens caps go missing and break with surprising ease.
So, they might appreciate a universal lens cap made from a rubbery material that can fit over 99% of caps, stretching from 60-120mm. It is shock absorbent and will protect your lens from water, mud, dust, sand, and pretty much everything else.
2. Pro Lens Kit for Smartphone
If they aren’t using a separate camera, it is probably because they have a pretty good camera on their smartphone. But still, with a smartphone, you miss out on loads of features for getting those fancier shots.
But you can help them close the gap a little with a lens kit for smartphones. It includes a TruView 0.45x wide-angle lens, Clarus 15x macro lens, lens clip, mini rechargeable LED light, all of which come in a durable case with other bits such as a lanyard, charging cable, and so on.
3. Microfiber Quick-Dry Towel
Few things feel better than a luxurious fluffy towel, except when it comes time to fit it into your suitcase or backpack. Especially if you have just used it for one final shower and it is still a bit moist.
A digital nomad who is always on the road will likely appreciate these microfiber towels that feel great on the skin, dry incredibly fast (especially in the sun or on a radiator), and fold down to almost nothing. Get a set of three with body towel, head towel, and face towel, and choose from eight different colours.
4. Waterproof Dry Bag
When you are traveling and making the most of life, you are likely to find yourself in situations when you need to take your valuables with you, but they are at a pretty high risk of getting wet! Sailing, kayaking to a new destination, even hiking and getting caught in the rain.
Everyone could use a waterproof bag for safely storing and carrying your valuables. These bags from Earth Pak come in five different sizes and eight different colours, so there is something for every type of traveler. They all come with a waterproof holder for your smartphone, which also means that you can take photos in the wet, and even underwater.
5. Universal Worldwide Travel Adapter
Most established digital nomads will already have a travel adapter, but they don’t last forever and it may be time for an upgrade. Or, if they are just starting out, they may not have found the perfect power adapter for all of their electronics yet.
This Universal Worldwide Travel Adapter is adaptable to accept plugs from most country and lock into the electricity network almost anywhere in the world. It also comes with two USB ports and two base USB ports so that many electronics can just plug directly into the adapter.
6. Mobile Hotspot
One of the biggest challenges faced by digital nomads is finding decent Wi-Fi. There are places in the world where you’ll be thankful to get 3MB speeds, which won’t be anywhere near enough if you are working with Google Docs or updating WordPress Sites.
In many parts of the world, the internet that you can get with a local sim card is much better than what you’ll get with Wi-Fi, but few laptops have a sim card slot. So, every digital nomad should have their own mobile hotspot router that allows them to broadcast their sum card Wi-Fi to all the devices.
7. Travel Laptop Stand
The idea of sitting on the beach working on your laptop is very romantic. But it won’t be long before you realize that it can be quite hard on your back, neck, and wrists. For many digital nomads, it is not long before they start to miss their ergonomic desk set up.
But that doesn’t mean all is not lost. A few pieces of kit can significantly improve a mobile workstation. One essential piece of kit is a travel laptop stand that can raise your screen to eye level so that you aren’t hunching over your laptop. Match it up with an external keyboard and mouse, and their neck and back will thank you.
8. Cable Organizer
While most digital nomads like to travel light, electronic cables come with the territory. Packing them can be a pain as there are never enough compartments in your bag or suitcase and finding the one you need when you arrive at a new destination is a pain. Even worse when you discover that you have left an important one behind.
Something like this travel cable electronic organizer will be a very welcome present for keeping everything organized, keeping on track of all their cables (so nothing gets left behind), and saving space in the suitcase. They’ll thank you silently every time that open this stylish case.
9. Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Finding a quiet place to work can be challenging as a digital nomad. Hostels and cafes tend to have a constant din, and even co-working spaces tend to have a lot going on in the background. This is where a good pair of noise-canceling headphones can help shut out the world and let you get into some deep work.
Most digital nomads will also appreciate these in their leisure time. If they are staying in the thick of things, noise from nearby bars and restaurants is bound to intrude. While this is often invigorating, it can be good to turn it off sometimes. They might like these headphones when listening to music or watching Netflix as well.
10. Travel Pillow
Many digital nomads who are trying to make the most of their time will book long flights, train journeys and bus rides overnight in the hope of getting some shut-eye and hitting the ground running when they arrive at their new destination. But anyone who has tried to sleep upright in a small seat knows that this plan rarely works out.
While our best advice for digital nomads is not to treat travel time as rest time, if they do insist, they will appreciate this travel TRTL pillow which is specially designed to make upright sleeping more realistic. Their neck will certainly thank you for this thoughtful gift.
11. Personal Location Tracker
Any experienced digital nomad will tell you that while you always tend to arrive in one piece, the same cannot always be said of your luggage. It often tends to go walkabout and find itself in a different hotel, airport terminal, or even city. While you hope that your travel provider will track down your stuff, you can also take things into your own hands.
This personal location tracker can be put in your suitcase or attached to any other device and allow you to track its location in real time using your mobile device. It may not make it any less frustrating for them when their bag lands in a different location to them, but at least they will be able to realistically see where it is and when they might be able to get it back.
12. UV Self-Cleaning Water Bottle
One of the things that many travellers feel worst about is the amount of plastic water bottles that they go through. But it can be the only way to get drinkable water in some parts of the world.
One of these UV self-cleaning water bottles can help a lot with this challenge! The UV-C based purification system can effectively kill all microorganisms, making water from almost all sources 99.99% safe to clean. It also keeps water cool or warm for up to 12 hours. But more than this, the bottle has an intelligent self-cleaning function that disinfects the inside of the bottle every six hours. You know this is important. How often do people get inside a water bottle with a scouring brush!
13. Portable Solar Charger
Other digital nomads conscious of their carbon footprint may also appreciate something like this portable solar charger. It will only make a small difference when it comes to reducing their overall electricity usage, but every little helps.
It is also ideal for anyone who travels to parts of the world where reliable sources of electricity are hard to come by. In these situations, a charged phone can be a serious lifeline, and they will be very grateful for this little gift.
14. Digital Luggage Scale
Anyone who travels often, especially with budget airlines, know that if your bag is even one ounce over the limit, they’ll charge you through the nose. People who live on the road, despite trying to maintain a minimalist existence, often find themselves accumulating things. So, keeping luggage below the limit is a constant challenge.
Ensure no surprises at the airport with the gift of a personal digital luggage scale. Let them make those tough decisions about what to leave behind in the comfort of their accommodation and not at the airport check in desk.
15. Portable Clothesline
For digital nomads, the simple things in life are often the most challenging. Not all accommodation has a decent place for digital nomads to hang their clothes out to dry. Solve this problem with a portable clothesline.
This option can extend up to four meters and comes with integrated clothespins, so they don’t have to worry about pegs! It is appropriate to use outdoors or indoors as you prefer.
The Verdict
The principal for good present buying is to get someone something that they need or would love, but probably wouldn’t think to buy for themselves. If it is something personal, that only you would know they need, even better.
With digital nomads, they are likely to need things that make their travels easier and more enjoyable. They also need something that won’t take up too much space or weight in their bags, since that is always at a premium.
Hopefully, you find some inspiration for the perfect gift on our list.
