Why Travel Makes the Perfect Holiday Gift: A Complete Guide

Discover why gifting travel experiences could be the ultimate holiday present this year. Travel advisors Julie and Ryan discuss creative ways to surprise your loved ones with memorable adventures, from cruise packages to destination-specific gift cards. Learn practical tips for planning travel gifts and explore travel-related items perfect for any globetrotter on your list.

Key Topics Covered

• Why experiences trump material gifts
• Creative ways to gift travel experiences
• Tips for planning surprise trips
• Travel-related gift ideas for all budgets
• Practical travel items as gifts

Episode Highlights

1. Travel Gift Benefits
   • Creates lasting memories over physical items
   • Offers unexpected and unique experiences
   • Builds anticipation and excitement
   • Provides positive experiences and family bonding
2. Planning Tips
   • Book early for best availability
   • Allow gift recipients some input in planning
   • Consider destination-specific experiences
   • Option to upgrade existing travel plans as gifts
3. Travel Gift Ideas
   • Destination-specific gift cards
   • TSA PreCheck or Global Entry memberships
   • Travel-themed gift boxes
   • Practical travel items (luggage, packing cubes, adapters)
   • Activity-specific gifts for children

Featured Gift Suggestions

• Resort restaurant gift cards
• Destination-specific experiences
• Travel convenience items
• Cruise excursions
• Travel preparation items for kids

Contact Information

• Julie: julie@creatingmagicvacations.com
• Ryan: ryan@creatingmagicvacations.com

Key Takeaway

Give the gift of unforgettable experiences this holiday season by considering travel as an option. Whether it's a full trip or travel-related items, there are options for every budget and preference.

#TravelGift #HolidayTravel #GiftGuide #TravelPlanning #FamilyVacation #TravelTips

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Transcript

Ryan: 0:00

Hello and welcome to all things Travel. Gearing up for holiday shopping. Wanna surprise your loved ones with a gift filled with memories and adventure. Today Julie and I are discussing why travel should be at the top of your list this year.

Julie: 0:21

Have you guys started thinking about what you're going to be giving your family for the holidays? This is like the prime time of year To start building up your Christmas gifts, stocking up for everyone and has travel come up for you? Ryan, do you ever do anything gifting travel?

Ryan: 0:37

I've gotten travel and trips as surprises for Birthdays or things like that. not much, but I could certainly see How it would be to be honest, I'm at the point in my life where I would rather have that as a gift Then Something from Amazon.

Julie: 0:55

I agree. And the best part about coming into the season that we're coming into is, Amazon prime day Black Friday, cyber Monday, all those deals can work together to make travel really affordable.

Ryan: 1:07

that was one of the things I wanted to share with everybody pay attention and we as travel advisors pay attention to because there are Black Friday deals that come out that have to do with travel. there are Cyber Monday deals that have to do with travel, this is the time to look for that as well as physical gifts. And we'll talk about some physical gifts a little later. October actually is National Cruise Month. So, you know, there's gonna be some deals left over from that. if you saw stuff that you liked last month, and want to see about a cruise, reach out. those things are there.

Julie: 1:40

exactly, these Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals exist. I remember our inboxes being flooded with them, right? from nearly every travel partner that we have, they're sending us what their specials are. And sometimes we even get a little preview in advance. So if there's something that you're thinking of, let us know. And that way we can keep in the

Ryan: 1:58

it's always helpful to know who we're looking for as we're seeing those deals. So julie, I have a funny story About the gift of travel.

Julie: 2:08

right. Here we

Ryan: 2:08

one of my roommates, many years ago was in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend she called me out of the blue one day and we met a couple times. So We were friendly. It wasn't weird that she called or anything. She said hey I've got kind of an issue when I go see my boyfriend at christmas his mom just called me, and they had never met, they were in a serious relationship, like getting ready to get engaged several months down the road, that kind of thing. his mom called me out of the blue, and said, hey, when you come for Christmas, you need to know, the Christmas present is a trip to Disney, and we are leaving the day after Christmas, and you're not invited. So you're gonna have to change your flight plans because we're all leaving and you'll need to go back home And she was like, Do I tell him about this

Julie: 3:08

what is the general age of these

Ryan: 3:10

I'm trying to keep a little anonymity because I do know I have folks from my past that listen to this podcast

Julie: 3:16

Okay.

Ryan: 3:17

this was an adult relationship, I'm not saying the girlfriend had to be invited, but it's just kind of weird, because she's flying in to meet the family for the first time, and this is a serious girlfriend, and, nope, we're all leaving,

Julie: 3:31

if my parents would like to gift me a trip on Christmas, I would be okay

Ryan: 3:35

Oh, totally. Well,

Julie: 3:38

be happy to send my husband and kids home. Just kidding. I'll bring them with me.

Ryan: 3:44

alright, so we're going to talk today about why travel makes the best gift. We're going to talk about some travel gift ideas, and if you don't want to gift travel, we've got some travel related items that would be a lot of fun to give that traveler in your life. So Julie, we have several reasons why travel is a great gift. What's the top one for you?

Julie: 4:10

the top thing for me is that I would so much rather collect experiences than things. sometimes I look around the house and I'm like, I just want to throw out everything I own, but also I really just want to go on vacation. Like let's just spend time together instead.

Ryan: 4:27

absolutely. I recently moved, and one of the ways that I decorated my living room was, I wanted to go through and surround myself with things that make me happy. for me, that's my kids and travel. And So I have, and you can actually in the camera see behind, I have a bookshelf filled of pictures of places that I've traveled, pictures of me traveling, pictures of the kids traveling, I think I even have a picture of our group when we were in

Julie: 4:55

Yeah. I will say that I am in the bookcase.

Ryan: 4:57

you are in the bookcase. It just is one of those things where that's what I want to have. I want to have those experiences. I want to have those memories because I will get those pictures and all of those pictures tell a different story of all these things that have happened to me. I love it.

Julie: 5:11

Agreed. my kids are so little that it's kind of hard to explain to them. Like we're going to do this instead of opening a gift. So that's something we'll talk about later of how you can incorporate those things together.

Ryan: 5:24

So I think for me, another thing I like about the gift of travel is it's unexpected. it's not the standard thing, and that always makes the best gift, I think, because we get a little too Amazon wishlist y, it's kind of like, okay, who's gonna check this box, who's gonna check that box, and travel's just very different than that.

Julie: 5:44

I agree. And I think sometimes when you're, making your Christmas wishlist, you're kind of just putting things on there to put something on there. that money can probably be better spent

Ryan: 5:54

use that money on a drink package on a cruise much better than I can for some random, button up shirt that somebody found on sale.

Julie: 6:02

Yes,

Ryan: 6:03

ha, ha,

Julie: 6:04

that somebody found on sale. I'll find one and send it to

Ryan: 6:07

Okay, thank you.

Julie: 6:09

So, I also think it's really fun if you're going to give the gift of travel that it's going to get everyone excited. you can plan together, just anticipating that trip, that's kind of sometimes more fun than the trip itself. So, if you're the one Gifting the trip and you've been able to anticipate that surprise and do the planning that can be really fun for you,

Ryan: 6:31

Yes.

Julie: 6:32

Or if you want to say hey, I booked this and now we all get to plan together That's also a very cool thing imagine if you handed out kind of like brochures or pamphlets as a christmas gift and said, you know Circle what you want to

Ryan: 6:45

Yeah.

Julie: 6:46

you know something like that.

Ryan: 6:47

when I think of giving the gift of travel, I think of it two different ways. You can do the surprise trip, right? I was gifted a trip to New York City, and I was just told to pack a bag for this many days with these types of clothes. that's one way, you know, the family going to Disney the day after Christmas, or you can say next summer, grandma's taking us to Italy. that time becomes that anticipation, that building excitement. the, Last reason why travel makes a great gift is no matter the year we've had, we can always have more positive in our lives. I think memories, especially memories of travel and being with folks and being in special places, there's no physical gift that can top that in my mind.

Julie: 7:32

I think so too.

Ryan: 7:33

So you're starting to think about this. You're thinking, who would I do this for? What might I do? Our first tip is do not wait. Let's talk about that trip. You don't have to have everything mapped out completely, but book early and you'll have the most availability, even if What's another tip?

Julie: 7:52

So I would tell you to not plan that whole trip on your own I would say let them have some say, maybe say, Hey, we're going to go to this resort. These are the dates. I've booked this one thing for us to do, and then you can plan together and have them come up with what they're anticipating as well.

Ryan: 8:10

Yeah, cruise lines even have gift cards, So you could say here's a gift card for you to pick out two excursions and I'll pay for them But you get to decide what you want to do because everybody has different tastes, right?

Julie: 8:22

I think that's pretty cool.

Ryan: 8:23

So one other way to look at it is as you're planning the trip If you've heard them talk about that special restaurant, or that special musical, or wanting to go see this sports team play live, or concert, that could be a really cool thing. and you could even book that just by itself. other people can chip in for the travel, really thinking what would make this trip special, and We can help you with that. I booked a trip for a couple last winter, and it was all based around a sleigh ride on her birthday. She's like, I do not care where I go. I want to be on a sleigh ride on my birthday. And that's how the whole trip started. you can certainly do that.

Julie: 9:05

That's really cool. and that's something that's easier to do than you might

Ryan: 9:09

Oh,

Julie: 9:10

it could also be like maybe you've all planned the trip together, but you upgrade something and that is the gift, the upgrade is the gift. Like, Hey, I upgraded up to club level. I upgraded us to concierge.

Ryan: 9:23

that's a little more cost effective, or stress friendly, if you want to think of it that way, if somebody's not quite sure. I don't want to plan a whole trip, but I want to pay for everybody to have dinner at this special restaurant that I saw on this TV show.

Julie: 9:36

yeah. And like you said, gifting excursions, I've definitely had people reach out to me before and say, Hey, my daughter is going on this sandals trip and I want to purchase an excursion for them. What are some of the options? And I think that's a really great idea as well.

Ryan: 9:51

So Julie, what if I know I want to give somebody travel But I really don't know where they want to go or what they've been thinking about. What could I do?

Julie: 10:00

So a couple options and something that we've talked about before is, maybe booking something like a travel pass for them where it's applicable at multiple destinations. this one we didn't talk about before, but I think it's a cool idea. You could reach out to one of us and say, Hey, I want to give so and so a gift card to book their trip. we could apply that gift card to their trip for them.

Ryan: 10:21

alright Julie, We can give travel gifts that are either just gifts on their own. I've actually gotten some of these things, or we can do it as part of maybe like a surprise package for a trip or just, getting people ready to travel. What's an example of something here?

Julie: 10:38

So I love gift cards. I think that is the easiest thing to give. you can give them a Disney gift card, a Southwest gift card, a Royal Caribbean gift card. my in laws just went on this amazing trip to California and they were really looking forward to staying at the Hotel Del Coronado. some of us got together and there was a gift card given for one of the great restaurants on

Ryan: 11:01

that's cool.

Julie: 11:02

know, things like that, that they will use in their destination. You can look up in advance and try to. Get a gift card that goes with it, you know, there's so many things or even just, Amazon or Instacart, so many gift cards you can use and say, Hey, put this towards your trip. I know it's so popular for my clients to gift their kids Disney gift cards in that

Ryan: 11:24

because it makes it easier

Julie: 11:25

And then that's the kids money to spend on the trip. I think that's really fun.

Ryan: 11:30

So two things for me to go along with that don't just give a visa gift card do something, for the trip expense or for while on the trip I like julie's idea From the resort for her in laws. so let's say somebody's going to San Diego, you could get online and you could say, top coffee places in San Diego or, best children's activities. And you get a gift card to the children's museum or, something like that, where it's specific for that trip. that's really a thoughtful gift. I think.

Julie: 11:59

I agree. And even something simple that can be used multiple places like a Starbucks gift card. there's Starbucks in the Disney parks So I even think sometimes that's fun

Ryan: 12:09

In every airport.

Julie: 12:11

like to send that to just say, Hey, let me buy you coffee on your vacation. you land from your flight and you're tired. Okay. Like the coffee's on me or you're walking down main street. The coffee's on me. I like to kind of, send it, but then give a little like, Oh, use it here kind of

Ryan: 12:25

another good travel gift is a destination gift box. this is something you could create yourself or find online. maybe it's part of the surprise of the trip. somebody's going to, Italy and they open up a box and it's got some pasta and maybe it has a an Italian cookbook And maybe it has you know Some different things like that that I think would be really cool And and again, you could create this yourself or find one online pretty easily.

Julie: 12:53

Right. So it could be themed to the destination they're going to, or it could be filled with things that they can use. On their trip, right? I think that that's great. I love that that can go either way and if you're thinking of someone, in your family that's traveling soon and you Want to do something like this but you don't know what to get them. You can always reach out to us

Ryan: 13:12

we

Julie: 13:12

experts at the top things that you want to take with you when you travel if you're a little lost on that reach out to us and we will definitely be able to guide you I like to, give little packets to my clients depending on what they're doing or where they're going my parents are getting ready to go on a river cruise through France. I had gifted them a passport holder so they could keep everything together, a doorstop, their cruise lanyards, a couple of things like that that I know are going to be specific for their cruise. And the cool thing was they were kind of like, Oh, these things were on my list. I was going to go buy them this week. And I'd kind of said, Oh, hold off, don't buy anything yet.

Ryan: 13:45

I like that.

Julie: 13:45

I had things ready to go, but that's something you would easily gift for a birthday or gift for an anniversary,

Ryan: 13:52

What's next?

Julie: 13:53

another great option is if you tell someone you will cover their TSA pre check or global entry fees.

Ryan: 14:00

Absolutely. I think that's a great gift. especially if you have a child or a grandkid that's going to do study abroad over the next couple of years, or they're going away for college where they're going to be traveling more. TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, you're talking about five years, 85 for PreCheck, 100 for Global Entry. it's such a cool gift.

Julie: 14:24

It's such a time saver. you cannot describe how convenient it is to have those things until You don't have them

Ryan: 14:31

Absolutely. I will never not have them. and it's not because I'm a travel snob. even if I travel internationally, a handful of times over that five years, even once, it would be worth that extra 15

Julie: 14:45

Yeah, I agree. I will say if you're thinking about gifting either of those things or getting them for yourself, make your appointment As soon as you can. They fill up so quickly, especially global entry. You can only do that at a couple places. It's not available in every state.

Ryan: 15:03

I think for me the last one on the list is just those general travel items. every Christmas I'm getting something. A new piece of luggage, or packing cubes, or an adapter, external batteries. Just kind of those things that we need that, like you said, with your mom. Well, I've got to get it. It's on my shopping list. It's always good to just have that stuff. Last Christmas I got, Apple AirTags that we

Julie: 15:26

love that.

Ryan: 15:27

it's those little things that the traveler in your life is going to appreciate, as we wrap up, Julie, without divulging your holiday shopping, do you think there might be some travel related stuff this year?

Julie: 15:40

Oh, There always is. And a lot of times, to bring it back to the little kids, what I do with them is like in their stocking will be things that maybe would occupy them on the

Ryan: 15:51

huh.

Julie: 15:51

little activity books, interactive. Books of some sort. you know, maybe like an Amazon fire type tablet would be there, not in the

Ryan: 16:02

Wow, that's a good stocking.

Julie: 16:04

I like to use the stocking for very practical things, not just junkie things. crayons, things like that in the back of my mind, I'm like, Oh, we're going to take this on this trip with us. I think that's a really great way to do that. beyond giving them little things that they can use on the plane, I also use Christmas or birthdays to be, here's your outfits for your Disney trip or here's some things that you can use on the beach trip, goggles or something like that. Trying to be practical with those kinds of things too.

Ryan: 16:30

I like it.

Julie: 16:31

to give them stuff they're going to be able to use on a future trip.

Ryan: 16:33

I like it a lot.

Julie: 16:34

Anything good on the list this year for travel?

Ryan: 16:37

be honest, I know it's the middle of November, but I haven't really sat down too much and thought about it. I'm sure there'll be some travel items. I don't know if they'll be the gift of travel, but I've got some ideas percolating. if I can organize kids schedules in a certain way, who knows where we might pop to.

Julie: 16:56

Right. I think the vision of your kids especially my little ones on Christmas and opening up some sort of, big trip. I just think that sounds so cool. have you planned anything like this for a client, Where you knew that they were going to be surprising

Ryan: 17:10

yes, I have, several years ago, a grandpa and I came up with some different ways to tell the family that they were going to Disney. I shared one time an idea for a scavenger hunt. we've seen those kind of things.

Julie: 17:25

I've had it both ways. I had a very big group last year who went to Disney world over Christmas, and that was their Christmas gift taking them to travel during the holiday itself. I just had a client recently who he was surprising his wife with a trip to sandals for her birthday. And he booked it with me. And I remember, we would be going back and forth. He's like, I can't keep the secret. and so now she knows it's okay. All is good. She knows now, and she's very excited, that was a really fun

Ryan: 17:53

Yeah, it's always special when clients tell you it's a surprise. yeah, absolutely.

Julie: 17:59

you want to plan a trip to an amazing destination to give your family for Christmas this year, but you don't know how to get started. As your travel advisor, we will work with you to create a customized itinerary for your surprise gift and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on fun and creating memories with your family. You can reach out to me at julie at creatingmagicvacations. com.

Ryan: 18:21

You can reach out to me, Ryan, at CreatingMagicVacations. com. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel.