Father’s Day Travel Gift Ideas

Hey Travelers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Father’s Day is this Sunday, June 18th, and I thought it would be cool to discuss some travel gift ideas for the “pops”.

This year, my dad will be taking a Caribbean cruise and visiting some islands in just a couple of months so I thought I’d compile a list of inexpensive gift ideas for our dads who love to travel or those that we hope will travel more.

So, we’ve got the travel down, and we’re buying inexpensive gifts so we’re covered on the budget part. How does this relate to wellness and self-care? We’ll cover that at the end of this post!

Travel Pillow

So I was really thinking of travel gifts that I would love to receive as a gift or things I would buy for myself. My first gift idea is an absolute necessity for your dad or anyone who travels frequently, the travel pillow. I have two, one inflatable and one that’s microbead. The thing that’s frustrating with travel pillows is that it’s such a wonderful idea, but there’s so many out there that are absolute crap. My last experience traveling, I bought a blow-up travel pillow. I think I may have spent like $5 at Wal-Mart and boy was I disappointed. You get what you pay for folks! My travel pillow offered no neck support at all so I found myself trying to catch my head from falling as I was going in and out of sleep. Before my return flight home, I purchased a micro bead travel pillow from Meijer (the midwest Wal-Mart). This one was a little better, but the thing with micro beads is your beads all end up on either side of where you resting your head or neck which kind of defeats the purpose. Needless to say, I received no sleep on that flight which

made the $20 memory foam travel pillows sold at the airport just that much more desirable. While this is an amazing gift idea, make sure to spend the few extra dollars to get something that offers some sort of support. I really love this J-pillow on Amazon that offers chin, neck, and head support. It’s currently $24.95 on Amazon!

Travel Bag

Clear travel containers are an absolute most when traveling. If you didn’t know, when you take toiletries and the like aboard a plan; you will be adhering to the 3-1-1 rule courtesy of the TSA. This means that your liquids, aerosols, and pastes must be 3.4 oz or less, in a 1 qt sized clear bag, 1 bag per passenger.

So if you have a someone in your life who is a new traveler, college graduate who’s ready to travel the world, or looking for a gift idea; a travel bag is a good gift idea and saves someone from having to put their belongings in a Ziplock bag, which does work by the way. I love this kit although I probably wouldn’t use all the available containers. I could carry my oils, lotions, and scents with ease in my carry on! Oh, and it’s only $10 bucks!

TSA Pre-Check

Speaking of TSA, if you’d like a good gift idea that’s a little more expensive but still related to travel, I’d recommend buying someone a TSA pre-check. This gift idea is definitely for the frequent flyer. I’ve actually heard some great things about the pre-check. It cuts down on your security wait time, you don’t have to remove your shoes, or take your laptop and liquids out of your bag. Honestly, if you’re flying more than a few times a year, at $85 dollars for 5 years, I’d say its worth it. There’s an application process which doesn’t look to tedious, and a background check which apparently doesn’t take too long and voila! This is such cute idea for a gift and the person you’re purchasing this for will thank you for the next 5 years! Make sure to grab a pre-check pass for your self too! you can find out more information about the TSA Pre-Check application process here.

So what’s the self-care piece here? It’s the retail therapy of course! First and foremost, don’t turn your nose up at retail therapy, it’s a real thing. Imagine how you’ll feel when your loved one will open their travel gift. Hello! Instant dopamine rush! Buying things for others makes us feel good and now we know we can make those around us feel good, for less than $85 dollars.

After all the browsing that was done to find the perfect travel gift for Father’s Day, I decided to just give dear ole’ dad a call and ask him what he wants. What gift idea do you think The Wearied Traveler Sr. got for Father’s Day? Tell me your  Father’s Day gift ideas!