What to give someone going travelling (that isn't cash in a card)

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Someone you love is about to get on a plane. A gap year, a graduation trip, their first big adventure without you. And you're staring at the same question every parent, nan, and aunty has stared at: what do you actually give someone who's going travelling?

The short answer: give them a moment, not a thing. Here's why, and exactly how to do it.

Why the usual going-away gifts fall flat

Let's be honest about the classics.

Cash in a card disappears. It gets absorbed into airport food, phone credit and a hostel bill somewhere outside Ubud. Three months later, neither of you can say what your gift became. It helped, but it didn't mean anything.

Luggage and travel gear is the most-guessed gift in Australia, which is exactly the problem. By the time you've thought of a backpack, so has everyone else. Most travellers heading overseas already own the pack, the packing cubes and the neck pillow. Usually two of each.

Gift cards land somewhere in between: safer than guessing, but about as personal as a receipt. And a Westfield voucher isn't much use in Hoi An.

None of these are bad gifts. They're just forgettable ones. And a first big trip (the one before uni, after graduation, at the start of a gap year) deserves better than forgettable.

The better going-away gift: fund one specific experience

Here's the reframe that changes everything. Instead of giving money toward the trip, give them one experience inside it.

Not "$100 for Bali". Instead: the sunset dinner on the cliff at Uluwatu. The snorkelling day at Nusa Penida. The Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai. The surf lesson they've been talking about since Year 10.

The difference sounds subtle. It isn't.

• They'll remember it was you. When they're on the boat with the camera out, that day exists because of your gift. Cash can't do that. An experience with your name on it can.
• You'll know exactly what your gift became. Not "trip expenses". A specific afternoon, a specific photo, a specific story they'll tell at Christmas.
• It can't be swallowed by the boring stuff. Your gift doesn't become laundry money. It becomes the highlight reel.
• It's the right size for any budget. A street-food tour might be $40. A dive day might be $200. There's a meaningful moment at every price point, which beats agonising over whether $50 in a card "looks cheap".

Travel researchers and psychologists have been saying a version of this for years: experiences make people happier than possessions, and the memory of an experience actually grows in value over time. A backpack wears out. The story of the day Nan sent them snorkelling does the opposite.

How to actually give an experience (without booking it yourself)

The old problem with experience gifts was logistics. You don't know their itinerary. You don't want to book the wrong date, the wrong island, or the wrong tour company from 6,000 kilometres away.

That's the exact problem a travel gift registry solves.

Here's how it works on ShoutMe. The traveller builds a registry of the experiences they actually want (the dinner, the tour, the lesson), each with a price. You pick the one that feels like you, and you shout it. The money lands straight in their account the same day; ShoutMe never holds it. They book it their way, and your shout is remembered on their Honour Wall, the page where everyone who made the trip happen gets their moment.

Then comes the part that beats every gift card ever printed: the photo. From the boat, from the table, from the top of the volcano at sunrise. That moment happened because of you, and you both know it.

Going-away gift ideas by moment (with realistic prices)

If you're not sure what kind of experience suits them, steal from this list. Prices are indicative for popular gap-year destinations, so expect around these figures rather than exactly them. (Prices checked August 2026.)

For the food-lover

• A street-food tour in Bangkok or Hanoi: expect around A$40–70
• A cooking class (Thai, Balinese, Vietnamese): around A$50–90
• One properly special dinner, the kind they'd never buy themselves: A$80–150

For the adventurer

• A surf lesson in Bali or Sri Lanka: around A$50–80
• A snorkelling or island-hopping day tour: A$90–200
• White-water rafting or canyoning: A$70–130

For the culture-seeker

• A guided temple or history tour: A$40–90
• A sunrise volcano trek: A$60–120
• Entry and a guide at the sights everyone regrets rushing: A$30–80

For the milestone moment Travelling to celebrate a graduation, an 18th or a 21st? The experience can be the celebration. Think a birthday dinner overseas, funded by the family who can't be there. And if the traveller has their eye on something physical instead, like the graduation earrings or the watch, a registry handles that too.

You can browse the kinds of tours travellers add on sites like GetYourGuide and Viator to get a feel for real options and prices. Or just look at what they've already listed on their registry, which is the whole point.

What if they haven't made a registry?

Send them one line: "I want to shout you something real for your trip. Make a ShoutMe list so I know what you actually want."

Travellers are often relieved to be asked. Most of them would rather point at a specific experience than field another round of "what do you want?", and you'd rather fund a snorkelling day than guess at luggage. Everyone wins, especially the trip.

FAQ

How much should I give someone going travelling?▾

There's no magic number. The better question is which moment you want to make happen. On a typical gap-year trip, meaningful experiences range from about A$40 (a food tour) to A$200 (a full-day island tour). Funding one specific experience at any of those levels beats an arbitrary amount of cash, because it turns your gift into a day they'll remember rather than a line in their budget.

Is giving money for a trip impersonal?▾

Cash in a card can feel impersonal because it vanishes into general expenses. Funding a specific experience is the opposite: your gift becomes an actual day of their trip, with your name on it. Same generosity, completely different memory.

What's a travel gift registry and how does it work?▾

It works like a wedding registry, but for a trip. The traveller lists the experiences they want (tours, dinners, lessons) and family and friends fund the ones they choose. On ShoutMe, funds go directly to the traveller's account the same day, and every contribution is celebrated on their Honour Wall.