13 Christmas Gifts Ideas for Digital Nomads

Hello everyone! Christmas Holidays are approaching and as usual, one of the most pressing matters in this period is finding the right gift for the loved ones.

Our habits have also changed quite a bit lately. With the pandemic forcing us home and the surge in the use of videoconferencing tools, many of us radically changed their working schedules (and I talk from personal experience). Luckily, right now we are gradually moving on, and many of us started travelling again. So whether you set up your office at home working remotely most of the time, or you are a digital nomad travelling constantly, our lives both personal and professional are more tech-driven than ever.

With this in mind, I put together a list of gifts and design objects that are perfect for any of these situations. If you are looking for a nicely designed item that can make your partner’s life easier when travelling or you want to help a relative set up a functional space to work at home here are a few objects you might want to consider:

1. Wireless Temperature Control Mug - Ember

If you not only love coffee (and other hot beverages) but actually need it in the morning, like me, this is something simple but that can be life-changing especially in wintertime.

These two mugs by Ember have a built-in battery and they don’t just keep your coffee hot or cold. You can actually set the exact temperature that you want through a mobile app, and the mug will keep it steady. It also comes in two versions! One as a “regular” mug, the other as a travel mug.

They are complemented by a pleasing design and a nice LED integration, with the “home” mug coming also in different colours.

2. Concrete Clock – La Maison en Vogue

This clock is a nice design piece for a home office right from the materials. Entirely made from concrete, it is designed by Dutch firm Zuiver which since its 2019 collection also pays particular attention to the sustainability of its pieces.

Contrasting with the monochrome concrete frame and plate, the hands in orange are made from aluminium. Similar clocks come also in other colour and material combinations, but overall they are all part of a quite up-scale collection that can add lots of personality to your interior.

3. Magazine Rack – Pib

There are some jobs that despite the modern pervasive digitalisation still require us to keep lots of documents, or in the case of interior designers, materials.

This magazine rack is the right gift for someone who needs some proper organisation at home with work files or maybe a special magazine collection to exhibit. It has a nice industrial look and thanks to the dark tint it can be adapted to a number of different spaces

4. Laptop Backpack or Sleeve – Herschel

Here you can find a wide range of high-quality backpacks all featuring a special pouch for laptops. These are absolutely ideal for someone that travels often or that simply brings working stuff around a lot.

Part of the collection marked as “Eco” is also obtained from recycled materials, and you like to opt for a smaller gift there are many other choices, from wallets, to laptop sleeves and more.

5. Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot for Travel – Solis

This can be a proper life-saver for someone who travels a lot and works while doing it. The ability to connect to the internet whenever needed today is just too important, and there are a number of situations in which we can find ourselves in trouble.

It happened to me this summer. While on holiday and stopping in a small town nearby the sea, due to a crazy series of mishaps I found myself without Wi-Fi or any public connection, and it was rough. So, a small (and nice-looking) object like this can really make the difference in those situations, and it is worth considering.

6. Portable Laptop Stand – Amazon

Here is another must-have that is often overlooked and extremely important whether you work from home or travel with your laptop. We talked about the importance of ergonomics in our article 4 Principles of ergonomic interior design, and it is especially important for those who spend a long time sitting in front of a laptop, which nowadays is most of us.

So, this nice foldable stand is easy to pack when travelling as it takes just a little space and is very functional!

7. Portable Bluetooth Speaker – Bang & Olufsen

Another nice idea for a gift, both for travelling or just relaxing at home, is this Bang & Olufsen speaker. It promises up to 27 hours of playtime, it is a good value for money compared to some competitors and it is also waterproof, so suited even for the more adventurous types.

Bang & Olufsen also brings a nice boxy design and three different colours for this speaker including a nice dark teal.

8. Knee Throw Blanket – The Tartan Blanket Co.

Ideal for winter times. This is something I use almost daily, when working, relaxing in front of a movie or reading a book. The Tartan Blanked comes with tons of colour options and best of all these are all obtained from recycled wool.

The best gift to instantly feel cosier.

9. Tech Kit Organiser – Bellroy

For those who travel and you bring their laptop and other techy devices with them all the time, this can be an extremely useful little object.

Australian Bellroy makes this sleek compact organiser that offers a lot of space to store cables, external drives, power bricks and more. Definitely the best solution to avoid losing or mixing up cables as well as preserving everything while travelling.

10. Portable Purifier – Grayl

This is a sort of next step for one of the most common objects today. The portable water bottle. And this time one that is really useful in every occasion because it features also a purifier that can filter several bacteria and particulates.

This would allow to drink pretty much any type of tap water or other sources that would normally not be drinkable, which is extremely useful when travelling in some countries, especially in Asia.

11. Wireless Keyboard – Logitech

This is a great object for people working at home from a pc, but it can be good also for travelling as an external device as it is very slim, and has a low-profile keys layout.

Logitech is famous for making numerous devices for PCs and laptops, but this one along with the sleek design and thinness has quite a lot more. It has smart illumination that pops as soon as someone approaches it but most of all it has a configurable dial at the top.

Logitech claims it is specifically optimised for software such as the Adobe suite, which means it can be a significant boost for productivity for creative work.

12. A tree – Treedom

Yeah, you read it right, a tree. This gift is not about design, but it concerns a theme that is very dear to us both personally and professionally: Sustainability.

With treedom you have the possibility to gift someone a tree that will be planted by a farmer on his land. The tree is also geolocated, photographed, and will have its online page where its growth can be followed. In this day and age, it is an important help for the environment and for CO2 reduction.

13. Gift cards and subscriptions

Another virtual gift that might seem an “easy way out” but offers also a lot of interesting possibilities and great flexibility in terms of price. Today pretty much every service or shop online offers this kind of deal. So, for someone working at home but especially for people travelling there is a wide range of useful options.

From travel cards with air companies to products, goods, and exclusive experiences, up to digital services, the sky is the limit.