Gift ideas for your traveler

Travel guides for iPods, a gadget that reads the night sky and announces the constellations, and toiletries in 3-ounce containers are a few of the new gift ideas for travelers this holiday season.

But don’t overlook basic options like books and bags.

Here are some gift suggestions for various types of travelers, from teenagers taking their first trip overseas to frequent flyers.

Teenagers: Today’s teens aren’t just taking class trips by bus to the state capital. High schools are offering everything from senior trips to the Caribbean to a week in Paris for French class. International programs also are apopular alternative to summer camp.

A duffel bag with wheels is a good luggage option for younger travelers. Beware of cheap models with thin fabric that easily rips away from the zipper if the bag is packed too full or thrown on an airport luggage carousel.

Rolling Adventure Duffels from L.L. Bean (www.llbean.com, 800-221-4221, $79-$99) are sturdy and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They have a shoulder strap, cinch straps and a telescoping retractable handle.

For kids who want to phone home from overseas, an international calling card may be an easier, cheaper alternative than a cell phone. Sprint sells a $10 international card; you can get it at Radio Shack.

Document holders worn around the neck are a safe, efficient way for teenagers – or any travelers – to organize passport, tickets and itinerary. They’re often sold in the aisle where you find wallets. The travel supply company Magellan’s (www.magellans.com, 800-962-4943) sells a passport/ID holder for about $10.

Gearheads/gadgeteers: It’s not just twentysomethings and geeks who stuff their bags with electronics. “Don’t leave home without it” now applies to digital cameras, laptops, cell phones and iPods for travelers from nearly every demographic.

An MP3 player or digital camera makes a great gift for any traveler who doesn’t have one. But if the travelers in your life are already outfitted with basic electronics, burnish their gear with some supplies.

A battery recharger and a set of rechargeable batteries make a good gift for traveling photographers. A new line of rechargeable batteries called Hybrio are ready to use right out of the package instead of requiring initial charging; a charger and four AA batteries is $20 (details at www.hybriousa.com/).

For overseas travelers, you can purchase adapters and converters so that electronics and appliances can be used around the world. Magellan’s has a guide to what’s needed, where (www.magellans.com/electricwhiz).

For iPod users, go to the iTunes store (www.apple.com/itunes/store/) and search Audiobooks for the “Travel and Adventure” category. You’ll find everything from Henry David Thoreau and Rick Steves to Soundwalk tours of New York City and “Tee and Tour” golf tours of Scotland. Click on the title for a full description; an option pops up called “Gift This Audiobook.”

Armchair travelers: For the person who needs some inspiration, there are three new books from Lonely Planet.

“The Perfect Day” ($7.99) is a pocket guide with itineraries for spending a glorious day in 100 cities around the world; “Blue List” ($19.99) is filled with best-of lists and recommendations, from best local bars to most amazing natural phenomena to “tourist traps worth the crowds”; and “A Year of Adventures” suggests a half-dozen things to do for every week of the year, from bobsledding in Lake Placid, N.Y., in January to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, in July.

Travel + Leisure magazine has just come out with a hardcover book titled “100 Greatest Trips” ($35) with itineraries around the world, from “Down East Feasts” in Maine to learning to paint in Florence, Italy, to touring South Africa’s wine country. An index offers details on where to stay, eat and shop.

For young armchair travelers, there’s “101 Places You Gotta See Before You’re 12,” by Joanne O’Sullivan (Sterling/Lark Books, $9.95). It lists everything from once-in-a-lifetime destinations to ideas for local forays like visiting a landfill, an artist’s studio, a working farm or an ethnic restaurant.

The book also provides specific recommendations, such as places to see wildlife migration, including Nebraska’s Platte River, where sandhill cranes gather in late winter and early spring.

It comes with stickers so kids can rate the ideas as “Top 20,” “Wish list,” “Way strange” or, if they’ve already been there, “Loved it” or “Yawn fest.”

Frequent flyers: Help out the frequent flyer in your life with one of these products:

•A semicircular travel pillow that goes around your neck and allows you to nap or relax while sitting upright without getting a sore neck. You can buy these in drug stores for about $10. They’re inflatable and pack flat.

•Luggage locks, made by Travel Sentry and approved by the Transportation Security Administration, about $20 and available where luggage is sold.

•Personal care products in TSA-approved 3-ounce sizes. Put together a collection – toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant, shampoo – and throw in a box of 1-quart zip-top plastic bags so the traveler on your gift list can make it through the carry-on line at the airport. Pick the items up at a drugstore or check out www.minimus.biz; they offer pre-made kits and care packages along with gift certificates.

•A sturdy, padded bag for a laptop, like the $70 Notebook Backpack from Targus ( www.targus.com/us/). Note that the TSA recently issued an advisory asking air passengers to take their laptops on board rather than checking them, due to the risk of damage.

•A handheld hanging scale so luggage can be weighed in order to comply with airline rules ($9.50 from www.travel smartnewsletter.com).