Ideas for Xmas Gift--travelling couple

[klacey1]

My brother and his girlfriend are going to Ireland for 10 days in January. I feel it would be innappropriate to give cash towards their trip (plus, the big things will already be paid for-- hotel, plane, etc).
However, what I thought could be fun would be a "carry on pack." I thought about putting together a basket or bag with snacks (candy, gum, chips) for the plane, sudoku/word search books, a guidebook for England (they're doing a day trip there and neither has ever been), and gift cards for fast food places (to grab a bite to eat at the airport).
Does anyone think this is a good idea? What else could I add?
My brother's birthday is on Christmas, so he'll be getting a few nice gifts in addition to this pack. His girlfriend will also be getting some small things. However, I thought this would be something I could personalize and that would certainly be practical.
So any ideas or suggestions??

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My only thought is that flying east, it likely is an overnight flight and much of what you pack may not be used. Dinner likely will be on the plane as well.


For trip specific, I don't know if they've purchased it--but here is what we found handy:

*security pouches for money and passports that are worn under the clothes. We'd keep pocket money out of it but what we needed for the day was tucked safely away.

*guidebooks--helps to know where they are going. England is a big country and they will not see it in a day. Are they going to London? A london specific tourguide would be neat. A guidebook for Irish Castles.

*Entertainment for the trip back--it's like the flight that never ends. If you put together a pack, maybe a survival pack for the flight back: maybe spring for some movie downloads/music downloads with an ITunes gift card if you know that they have an I-touch of some sort (or with whatever vendor for which they have an MP-3 player for).

*memory cards for their camera. My DH actually bought some gadget that allowed us to download our cards, but especially if they do not have a computer, the cards may get full quickly. So if you know what camera they have--a spare memory card would be lovely.

*neck pillows--I have ones that inflate, so they pack easily and inflate quickly in flight. I am sensitive to getting cricks in my neck and i do not get them when I use these. For me personally--the bean bag neck pillow is insuficient. I am able to get better support with the inflatabe kind. They will be sleeping on the flight over.

*Luggage tags?

*I might make them a cute little Irish snack kit--especially if you can find a British store that carries Irish/British foods and sundries. We have one here, so you can find all sorts of neat things. They can either take it on the trip, or taste a bit of what they'll get on their trip. Then they can enjoy these on the day of their departure or the days leading up to departure.


That's all I can think of. I think your idea is neat. I'm just not sure they'd be able to eat all the snacks on the flight over.

[clarabelle]

Chap stick (plane air is so dry)
Motion sickness pills
I-tunes card if he has an I-pod
Voltage converter
small umbrella (it rains a lot in Ireland)

[Ohiodislover]

A portable luggage scale. Nice to have, esp for international travel.

http://www.google.com/products?q=por...ed=0CCIQrQQwAA

[Pumbaa_]

If they are going in January then they may have already purchased everything they need for the trip - the converter, the travel bag, etc. I know I would never wait to get those things last minute

Is there a reason you would not give them $$ and treat them to a dinner in a pub during their travels?

[NotUrsula]

A good pocket compass, especially if they are planning to drive or go on any walking jaunts. Americans tend to very easily get lost in Ireland, particularly in the West. A lighted magnifier for maps is useful, too, because out in the country, lighted roads are uncommon, so if you want to look at a map you have to stop and turn on the dome light if you don't have a pocket light. Be aware that in the West, road signs can be few and far between.

As a jokey gift, a supply of Vitamin B6, which is a pretty good hangover preventative.

I'm thinking that for the English day trip, they will only need a pocket guide to whatever city they are flying into. With only a day they probably won't be venturing far.

My family likes to joke that if we could create the perfect gift for US tourists in Ireland, it would be a pocket guide to Irish plumbing! There are two important things to be aware of that guidebooks almost never mention: 1) Older home toilets in Ireland (also found in b&b's) tend to take a fairly long time to re-charge after flushing. If you try to flush the same toilet twice in less than 15 minutes, it is likely to fail on the second try. Time will usually solve the problem; just wait 30 minutes or so and try again. Don't immediately go to your landlady and confess to clogging the toilet. 2) Water heaters in most homes and B&B's are on timers, and are usually set only to be on at certain prescribed times of day for about two hours. If you wish to bathe at a time not in that period, you'll need to hit the override switch and turn the water heater on first, then wait about 20 minutes for the water to heat.

[nutterbutter2010]

My thoughts.... They will have enough stuff to take with them on the plane, why give them more? Plus they could get charged extra because of it!
Why is giving them money for their trip innappropriate??? Put $100 in Irish money in a card and tell them to have a great meal on you.

[clh2]

The local currency is a great idea...

I like the neck pillow and holders for travel documents - i.e. passports.

And - a funky luggage tag in bright colors, or brightly colored luggage straps would be nice to help identify luggage when they get off their flight.

[klacey1]

I like the passport holder idea, as well as the luggage tags. Chapstick would probably be appreciated, too, as would the Itunes gift card. (My brother has an iPod touch)
If I gave them snacks, it wouldn't be neccesary for them to eat it on the way over. They could save them for during their trip, or for the way back.
Haha, we know all about the Irish tidbits! My father is from Ireland, so both of us have been there at least 16 times. My brother also spent two of his years in college at the University of Cork. I don't think any Irish foods or things like that would be especially appreciated because that's what they'll be eating for 10 days. Also, my brother lives in Woodlawn (all Irish neighborhood in the Bronx), so he uses solely Irish bread/butter/etc.
I found plenty of cheap London pocketguides on Amazon, so I'll at least definitely be picking up one of those.
I think giving cash is a nice idea, but it just isn't the way we do things in my family.

[NotUrsula]

If they (and you) have spent that much time there, what is making this trip so special that it merits going-away gifts? I think that the occasion might be the key in this case.

For seasoned travelers going to a familiar destination, if I'm doing a gift I usually try to make arrangements to have something comped for them. If you know where they will be staying/doing, can you surprise them by paying some of their tariff ahead of time, or buying a very nice dinner? (I know that can be tricky in some parts of Ireland, but if they will be in Dublin or Cork it should be fairly easy to pay in advance by credit card.) I've also sometimes pre-paid the extra tariff for upgraded lodging for special occasions.

[klacey1]

Originally Posted by NotUrsula

If they (and you) have spent that much time there, what is making this trip so special that it merits going-away gifts? I think that the occasion might be the key in this case.

For seasoned travelers going to a familiar destination, if I'm doing a gift I usually try to make arrangements to have something comped for them. If you know where they will be staying/doing, can you surprise them by paying some of their tariff ahead of time, or buying a very nice dinner? (I know that can be tricky in some parts of Ireland, but if they will be in Dublin or Cork it should be fairly easy to pay in advance by credit card.) I've also sometimes pre-paid the extra tariff for upgraded lodging for special occasions.

I would be doing this as part of their Christmas present. This is special because this is their first "real" vacation together. It is also his girlfriend's first time there. I have made it clear in the past posts that I do not want to do anything that involves cash or money. Both of my parents are giving them substantial amounts of cash as Christmas/birthday presents. Also, I would never pre-pay ANYTHING with a credit card, especially internationally. They could very easily take my number and use it-- and still charge my brother. I also (and neither do they) have no idea where they will end up eating. They are staying in a B+B, so there will be no "upgraded lodgings."

[Piecey]

Originally Posted by clh2

The local currency is a great idea...

My brother moved to Sydney last month... our gift to him was Australian dollars and he was thrilled!
He liked getting off the plane and being able to treat his girlfriend to dinner that night w/o having to figure out the conversion. (She went back to Sydney in April so she was already there.)

[NotUrsula]

Originally Posted by klacey1

I would be doing this as part of their Christmas present. This is special because this is their first "real" vacation together. It is also his girlfriend's first time there. I have made it clear in the past posts that I do not want to do anything that involves cash or money. Both of my parents are giving them substantial amounts of cash as Christmas/birthday presents. Also, I would never pre-pay ANYTHING with a credit card, especially internationally. They could very easily take my number and use it-- and still charge my brother. I also (and neither do they) have no idea where they will end up eating. They are staying in a B+B, so there will be no "upgraded lodgings."

My apologies; I suppose I don't see treating someone to an "experience" on a special occasion as being a cash or money gift, exactly. As an example, the sort of thing I might do is arrange a last-night dinner at Ashford Castle, as Ashford is near my mother's family home, and it is a given that sibling of mine would be planning to go through there to see the relatives for a bit. (It's also fairly near Shannon, which makes it a good first or last night choice.)

A hotel of that caliber can generally be trusted not to abuse a credit card, and if they did you would easily have recourse to disputing it with your credit card issuer. With a very small establishment I would only do it somewhere that I had dealt with in the past and know to be honest; if you go often I would expect that you have some favorites.

However, since you really seem to want to give a "thing" so to speak, I suppose that I would recommend a pair of high-quality lightweight travel umbrellas and a couple of good small LED flashlights with belt clips. Both of those items will be quite useful travelling in Ireland. You could even have the flashlights monogrammed. Another good possibility is gloves; I know that in damp weather the coldest part of my body always seems to be my hands.

[klacey1]

I definitely like the umbrella idea. As far as I know, my brother has never owned one! :-X
I definitely see where prepaying dinner is a nice idea, but it's just not what I want to do-- also, I fear it complicated/impossible at this point because they are not itinerary people and may bounce around from city to city at their will. There's no guaranteeing they'll be in any one city on any night!

Exchanging currency is not going to be a problem for my brother. He lives in Woodlawn (Irish neighborhood in the Bronx), like I said before, and will change all of his money over into Euros, plus a small sum of sterling for when they go to London.