Gift Them
(If You can Find Them)
T
here are many people who love to travel. You may have some of these in your own circle of friends or family. We know them as the "Travel Addicts". They are always somewhere — a cruise, a road trip or a tour of some kind. When it comes to special occasions like birthdays or gift-giving holidays you may not be able to find them, nevertheless you may want to give them something special.
Gifting the "travel addict" is not easy, but if you can afford it (and I mean really afford it) there is an ultimate gift coming down the line. This will not be cheap but there are many people of wealth who don't mind spending their money lavishly on themselves and others. This gift is literally "out of this world".
Listen closely and I'll explain.
Once upon a time there were 2 billionaires — Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, all wishing to reach for the stars and take us out into space. (I thought that by now we'd be on the moon and even further. It saddened a lot of people my age — no, I’m not telling)! We thought we'd never see landings on the moon again. Thanks to these three men we may just see it happen.
Fast forward to today. There are two projects in the works to send tourists out into space. Yes, I said tourists, not trained astronauts but typical people, much like our "travel addicts". Here's what's happened to date.
Without going into the technical details, Richard Branson is currently testing his spaceship Virgin Galactic for the first commercial spaceflight virgingalactic.com and once it's ready, it will launch to a potential 110km above the earth, giving its passengers the experience of five minutes of weightlessness before returning. Wannabe space tourists will travel to the New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences and its $200 million Spaceport. Commercial service into space will begin here for paying customers. The price tag is as much as $250,000 per trip and hundreds have already prepaid. Why, you or your GyftBuddy may be riding up with Justin Bieber — just one of the many eager beavers (Canadian) to fly up into the wild blue yonder! If all goes well with the remaining tests, six passengers and two pilots will launch. Presently, the cost limits who can take this trip, but Branson says "If we can get enough spaceships built and flying, I'm really hopeful that a lot of people... one day will be able to go to space".
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, also has his eyes on the stars with his space company Blue Origin. His aspiration is also to launch tourists into space with his reusable vehicle and then eventually colonize space starting with the moon. Tourists will experience weightlessness, have a remarkable view of earth, and experience four to five times the pull of earth’s gravity on re-entry. I wish him luck to pull it off as soon as possible. blueorigin.com
Travelers who have been just about everywhere and seen everything, can soon look forward to the skies and further.
Kudos to all three men — what's the point of having billions of dollars if you can't do something good or memorable for society and the world?
That being said, have a look at some down to earth and very economical gifts that we can give to our voyager friends.
This multi-purpose PU leather wallet and tri-fold document organizer by Zoppen is designed to keep data thieves out. It has RFID blocking shield material inside to protect your personal information. There is enough room for such essentials as a passport, boarding pass, credit cards, id card, coupons, tickets, key, money, coins, smartphone, sim card, and pen — more than enough storage for that travel addict! amazon.com
Most travelers want to capture their trips on video and share the visuals. The GoPro HERO 7 is the most advanced GoPro ever. This rugged, waterproof video camera is just the kind to take on any location. It has multiple features such as hands-free voice control and video stabilization that can make those memories permanent. amazon.com
Many vacationers purchase wine when traveling and this gift saves them the worry of breakage when bringing bottles home. These wine bags pack flat in a suitcase and are reusable. Not only can you transport wine but champagne, beer, spirits, liquor, olive oil, perfumes and other fragile glass bottles of up to one liter. amazon.com
This durable 5 piece luggage organizer set (1 small, 2 medium and 2 large packing cubes), is lightweight and made of durable nylon. The packing cubes feature a breathable mesh design to more easily locate items in the suitcase. Easy-pull 2 way zippers provide reliably fast opening and closing, for faster packing or unpacking. amazon.com
Travelers always need clean clothes. The Scrubba wash bag is the lightest "washing machine" in the world. It weighs 5 ounces and easily folds to the size of a wallet. It's a sanitary solution to clean clothes when you're on the go. You use it by simply placing dirty laundry, some detergent, and water inside, then sealing and releasing air, scrubbing, rinsing and drying! Presto — clean clothes! Travelers will simply love this gift. amazon.com
This updated product should be everywhere. It's an award-winning water bottle with a 2-stage filtration system that filters water as you drink and is great for travel, backpacking, camping or emergencies. It's a durable 23-ounce, leak-proof bottle made of BPA-free Tritan and has a straw hollow fiber membrane filter that removes waterborne bacteria and protozoa without chemicals, iodine or batteries. Keep it in your first aid kit or in your car, just in case. amazon.com
We all need sleep. We all have a favorite pillow at home, but when traveling it's hard to find a comfortable one. This product could be the world’s best travel pillow for airplanes and travel. It has an innovative seat strap system that easily attaches to the airplane seat wings, while the adjustable front clasp keeps the ergonomic S3 pillow fitting snugly around your neck. It comes in a premium travel case that compacts the pillow to 1/2 its size for quick and convenient packing. amazon.ca and amazon.com
There are websites that have great resources for travellers and I came across this one: independenttravelcats.com
Finally, if your traveling friends or family members still want to wander this earth and if you can afford it, give them a ticket to where they want to go. airtransat.com
Bon voyage!
By JM Pietron
Photo Credits: See Acknowledgements