Stuck for holiday gift ideas? A well-travelled shopping list might beat the usual high-street suspects. A veteran travel writer who spends half the year on assignment — recently browsing markets in Taipei, Paris and Buenos Aires — has rounded up a dozen destination-inspired gifts you can track down without crammed luggage, and several double as excuses to plan a trip.
The picks span the globe. In Kyoto, Zohiko has been making lacquerware since the 17th century; its Kirikane boxes, decorated with gold and silver leaf pressed into delicate patterns, start around nightstand-trinket size and are tax-free for visitors. In Bogotá's Chapinero neighbourhood, Artesanías de Colombia sells fair-trade crafts from small communities nationwide — woven baskets from $18, plus carved Tamo bowls from the Nariño region — at fixed prices, so no haggling. And in Luang Prabang, Laos, Ock Pop Tok is part shop, part art school: you can buy handwoven textiles or stay a few days and learn silk-weaving, batik or embroidery yourself.
Several gifts come straight from storied hotels and institutions. Florence's Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Santa Maria Novella has been blending fragrances since Dominican friars developed the formulas in 1221 — its citrusy Acqua della Queen perfume dates to 1533 — with US stores in West Hollywood, Soho and Bal Harbour if Italy isn't on the cards. Raffles Singapore sells keepsake Singapore Sling glasses online, handy given the cocktail (invented in 1915) tends to blur souvenir-shopping memories. The Carlton Cannes' yellow-striped beach bag channels the hotel's 1911 heyday, while 1 Hotels' hooded bathrobes suit armchair travellers. For the truly indulgent, Four Seasons now sells its pillowtop mattresses direct.
Aviation fans get a look-in too: KLM's miniature Delft houses — replicas of historic Dutch buildings handed to long-haul business-class passengers — can be bought individually, and Mark Zegeling's book set covers all 107. Elsewhere, Buenos Aires' Arandu Talabarteria in Recoleta makes gaucho-style woven leather belts from $45 and ships to the US, Parisian perfumer Officine Universelle Buly offers monogrammable combs and amber-scented creams, and Little Passports subscriptions mail kids a country-themed activity box every month.
Why does this matter to travellers? Half these gifts double as trip inspiration — the writer's own advice is that buying the Zohiko box or the Santa Maria Novella oils in person is cheaper and more fun, and credit card points strategies apply to several. Even if you never leave home, the list is a shortcut to gifts with real stories behind them, from gaucho workshops to Mekong weaving studios. Just keep your carry-on space in mind, or order online like the writer does.
