1. A 'coffee by post' gift subscription
Need to buy a gift for a driver or a present for a motorist? Our top tips will provide all the inspiration you need.
Now, our first suggestion isn’t the most obvious gift for a motorist but it will surely become their instant favourite. Many local roasters (such as Unorthodox Roasters in Kinross, if you’re local to them) provide brilliant ‘coffee grounds by post’ packages. Buy a three, six or 12-month subscription to keep your favourite driver alert when on the road. Join The Extra Mile’s mailing list between 11th and 18th December 2023, to be in with a chance to win a 12-month subscription from Unorthodox Roasters, worth £126.
2. Make them a modern-day mix-tape
This is my personal favourite: take advantage of tech to make the driver in your life a modern-day mix-tape. It’s the perfect present for a motorist as they can simply pop it into their USB port to hear your lovingly compiled tunes while driving to see you. Alternatively, make one for them to play on the way home to hasten their journey back to you.
3. Buy The Extra Mile near-motorway café guide
C’mon, of course we were going to recommend our best-selling, ‘most gifted’, indie café-packed guidebook in this list! To be honest, I’m surprised we managed to wait until No. 3. The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services truly is the perfect gift for drivers and motorists who prefer independent cafés and like to find fresh local food when on the move. For those who (inexplicably) love motorway services and know them too well, read on: you’re going to love No. 5.
4. An audiobook subscription
If you haven’t heard of audiobook provider, Audible, we honestly don’t know which soundproof rock you’ve been living under these last years (other audiobook subscription services are available). But what a great gift for a motorist. It’s an easy way to help them while away those long, tedious road-trip hours by listening to their favourite authors, plus if you’ve missed the last post, this can all be sent digitally. Check out the differences between service providers below. There’s even a free audiobook service called Librivox whose strap-line is: acoustical liberation of books in the public domain. Sounds brilliant: here’s to acoustical liberation!
5. The Motorway Services Game
Now, though we might avoid motorway services like the plague (apart from the fantastic, local food focused ones like Gloucester and Tebay, of course), we do love this game. Dubbed ‘The “Pit Stop or S*** Stop” Card Stealing Game’, it really is a great gift for motorists who find themselves on the road a lot. Buy them The Extra Mile first, then pop this one in their stocking or glovebox as a little something extra, too.
6. FM Transmitters (for drivers with older cars)
I’m not sure I’ve ever driven a car younger than myself, so ‘in-car tech’ is never a strong point when it comes to my vehicles. If you need a present for a driver with an older car, consider one of these handy little FM transmitter gadgets. Plugged into the lighter socket, it will allow you to broadcast your phone’s audio out via the radio. No idea how: some higher magic is at work. The perfect gift for drivers who are tired of flipping through radio stations to stay interested: choose your own noise.
7. The AA's emergency car kit
This is a genuinely useful gift for drivers who mightn’t be as prepared as they could be. Find everything inside from a folding snow shovel and torch to a hi-vis vest, booster cables and a rain poncho. The perfect present for a new driver, or those driving in remote areas or bad weather (image is indicative, check your chosen version for specific contents).
Dip inside the AA’s emergency car kit: be ready for anything.
8. Travel activity packs for drivers with children
Journeys can seem oh-so-much longer for drivers when there are kids in the back to entertain, too. Browse around or create your own in-car travel activity pack, with anything from stickers and colouring to card games, quiz books and more. Some pre-made examples exist from organisations like Friends of the Earth and the excellently named ‘Keep’em Quiet’ company. Browse their age-banded activity packs which make a great gift for drivers heading off on car holidays ‘en famille’.
9. A cup-holder-ready reusable coffee cup
There are many fantastic reusable coffee cups on the market but we love this one (as does The Independent, which has awarded Circular Cup Co. its Best Buy for three years on the trot). Drivers need coffee, and perking up, and gifts. So, for the motorist in your life, this is an excellent choice.
Circular Cup Co. A great gift choice for the driver in your life.
Gifts for motorists: any great ones we've missed?
Here at The Extra Mile, we always love to hear from you, whether it’s with ideas for new farm shops and cafés to go in our guides, or suggestions to add to our ‘listicles’ like this. Do email me if you have any ideas to brighten, enrich or further caffeinate our lives here at Printslinger Publishing HQ. Bye for now; happy holidays and we hope that this list of great gift ideas for drivers and motorists has struck a few road-trip related chords.
Coffee competition: runs 11-18 Dec 2023
Visit this post for info on our Christmas 2023 coffee competition. Simply sign up to our mailing list between 11 Dec and 18 Dec 2023 to be in with a chance to win this fabulous prize from Scotland’s inimitable Unorthodox Roasters, of Kinross.
