When it is almost time to feel like a dork again in a cold-less, atmosphere-less Malaysian Christmas on the beach, I found some interesting ideas to help other travelers make this day a worthwhile one in terms of gifts. This list  gives nine good and fun suggestions to fill up some stockings and make a good impression on your loved ones – of the vagabonding type, of course.

I may add that a few books always make for great gifts. And I would like to recommend a couple that I recently read and loved, and that may make your adventurist friends a bit less grumpy on a travel-less Christmas. The first is “Tearing up the Silk Road: A Modern Journey from China to Istanbul, through Central Asia, Iran and the Caucasus” by Tom Coote, which you can purchase here. Without getting into a full scale review – which will come about soon -, this is a personal travel narrative of an amazing trip across the heart of Asia and through the Middle East and the Caucasus that will make even the most committed armchair traveler want to get out and explore those ancient, mysterious routes. The fact that I recently completed a similar endeavor – and I know what it means – makes this book even more enjoyable and worthwhile. Congratulations to Tom Coote!

As another suggestion, if your friend has a Kindle reader and you think he may like a good Southeast Asian based thriller, you may consider gifting “Dead Sea” by Sam Lopez, that you can find here. This sea thriller based in the Philippines will make all divers out there reconsider their favorite activity at once… definitely recommended for the toughest out there. If the frostbite is keeping you in, locked up closed to a fireplace, this book may transport you to faraway – and dangerous – territories… you have been warned.

And after all, be it a paper shower, a mini scratch-off map or a good book, I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Xmas… with a tip of envy for your snow, if you are having any… here, it is the constant 35 Celsius I have grown to love, but really makes for a different kind of Holiday Season, if you know what I mean.
If you have any other good ideas for last-minute travel-related gifts, please comment below!