Gift Guide: For The Travelin’ Queer In Your Life

HOLIGAYS 2017 / Autostraddle

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I have been traveling pretty much since I was a baby, and sometimes I get frustrated over conventional travel gift guides because they all seem too samey — geared towards the cisheteronormative Business Class traveller with more money than I ever will. So why not a list that’s slightly more relevant to travelers like us — here, queer, in coach?


Medina & Flatsea combo from OutPlay ($85)

OutPlay, which describes themselves as “a company without gender but a lot of heart”, provides various sporting gear to accomodate all kinds of bodies – especially those who may feel alienated from the conventional bikinis and speedos.


Custom Curated Comfort Kit ($18+)

When everywhere else is cutting back on comfort kits, why not make your own? Mimski’s kits come with airplane socks, eye masks, travel-friendly mini toiletries, even mints – and you can always fill the pouch with other goodies.


Point it: Traveller’s Language Kit (Book for $9.95, Apps for $2.99)

Taking ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ pretty literally, Point-It has over 1300 pictures of items you may need to ask for anywhere you go – so even if you know nothing of the local language, you wouldn’t be too stuck.


Mini Altar ($29.95)

Keep up with your witchiness while on the road! Pop up this altar anywhere and cast some magic wherever you go.


Midori Travelers Notebook ($28)

The Travelers Notebook community is booming online, with beautiful examples of travel logging, scrapbooking, and planning. If the official Midori merchandise is not to your aesthetic or budget, there’s a cottage industry of fauxdoris with much more variety.


Digital Travel Scale ($39.99)

So I did this youth group world tour thing with Up with People in 2005 and I worked on a project basically encouraging my castmates to check their baggage weight. Our campaign was something like, Are You A Dolphin or a Whale? We had to use a bathroom scale instead but at least we had stickers.


Universal USB Travel Power Adapter ($21.99)

Usually when I travel I bring along an extension board with me that fits all my original electronics, so I only really have to find an adapter for one thing. The USB ports alone make up for it.


Polaroid Snap Instant Digital Camera with Photo Paper ($97.99)

Have photos for your social media AND for your Midori!


Circle Infinity Scarf ($19.35)

I polled my friends about what their travel must-haves are and a good number of them mentioned infinity scarves — keeps them warm and stylish at the same time. Maybe I should add that to my wish list.


White Marble Document Case ($7.20 – $19.20)

My usual tip for anyone traveling, especially if they need a visa, is to have enough paperwork on hand to knock over an immigration official. They may not read it, but you don’t want to be in a situation where they ask for this one specific document and you don’t have it. A friend got me colouring books in a case like this one year for Christmas and the case ended up being the most useful item.


U-Haul Gift Certificate

Jokes aside, sorting out storage or shipping for your stuff can get expensive and complicated fast. This would be a godsend.

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Creatrix Tiara

Creatrix Tiara's philosophy is to sign up for anything that look interesting, which gets her into some fun adventures. She's passionate about liminality, inclusivity, and intersectionality, especially in arts, media, tech, games, fandom, education, and activism.

Creatrix has written 24 articles for us.

5 Comments

  1. From the A-side: I feel like the last gift could – Nay, should! – also be used as an optimistic Christmas present for the recently single queer in your life.

    • One might be better of just getting a one of those instant printers(everyone can use as it’s like wifi based), like the Fujifilm INSTAX share, as the Polaroid Snap models hasn’t been getting the best reviews. Images that come out are a bit small and contrast is poor, more so at night.

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