A mappy holiday gift guide
By: Madison Draper
This time of year, everyone is looking for the same thing: The perfect gift for the loved ones on our lists. Where to find it? On a map.
Location shapes much of how we live our lives and interact with our surroundings. There are obvious ways — finding a restaurant, hailing a car, seeing how long it will take to get there — as well as subtler ways that location is behind some amazing products and experiences. Here are some fun and unexpected gift ideas made possible by the power of location:
Ancestry DNA Kit
Who should I give this to? Family or friend
Price range: $$
From 92 regions in Ireland to a 10-mile radius in Puerto Rico, Ancestry offers an astonishing level of detail on the precise regions of the world where your story started. Drawing from the world’s largest consumer DNA database and largest database of family trees, Ancestry tells users not only which of hundreds of communities their ancestors came from, but it can tell them when they came, with data going back as far as the 1700’s. Ancestry uses Mapbox to visualize generations of custom data, and create a personal mapping experience showing granular, colorful connections to the places that made you, you.
Subscription to The New York Times or Washington Post
Who should I give this to? Uncle Fake News, your activist cousin, your friend who is always asking for your password
Price range: $
Keep loved ones in the loop all year long with a subscription to The New York Times and the Washington Post. Their maps are at the forefront of data journalism and interactive storytelling on news ranging from politics to hurricanes to urban planning and beyond. With the 2020 election approaching, now is the perfect time to give the gift of information.
Cowboy
Who should I give this to? Bike-loving significant other
Price range: $$$$
Your cycling love one will remember your excellent taste and generosity every time they are effortlessly pedaling up that steep hill on their commute or favorite ride. The Cowboy bike is an electric bike with built-in GPS, unlocking smart, app-based anti-theft features like locking and the Find My Bike locator. The urban cowboy (or girl) on your list is ready for their electric black stallion.
Jaybird earbuds
Who should I give this to? Active music lovers
Price range: $$
Even your ultra-marathon running friend won’t fear dropping their Jaybird bluetooth earbuds on their next adventure. The “Find My Buds” feature lets users quickly see where the earbuds were last used and gives directions back to them. This means less time searching through couch cushions or retracing 50-mile mountain traverses and more time to play that podcast, keep tempo with Lizzo, or pound the pavement to Pavement.
Ring
Who should I give this to? Your reasonably tech-saavy boomer parents, who, yes, own a home.
Price range: $$-$$$
Giving a Ring connected camera or doorbell, is giving the gift of security, piece of mind — and sometimes a bit of entertainment — for the home. But it’s more than just footage from their front door. The Ring Neighbors app combines the power of connecting neighbors with the power of connected IoT devices so whole neighborhoods can be safer.
Suunto
Who should I give this to? Athlete or fitness enthusiast
Price range: $$$
Your favorite runner, hiker or swimmer can track all their activities with a sleek Suunto sport watche. With the Suunto App on iOS and Android, every step up the mountain or down the road counts. Suunto’s activity tracking shows speed, distance, route and elevation on the map. The app also provides overall activity trends, and even a sleep summary when you are ready to rest, to keep your life in balance so you can get back out there tomorrow.
Four Loko
Who should I give this to? Friends, enemies
Price range: $
BYOB! This holiday season I’m giving out a good time with Four Loko. No more explanation needed. Check out the Four Loko site to find where to pick up this perfectly sized stocking stuffer.
The Book of Everyone
Who should I give this to? Travelers, art lovers.
Price range: $$
Location is personal, and so is the art hanging on our walls. The Book of Everyone has the best of both worlds, launching The Map of Everyone to create customized, wall-worthy prints to celebrate special places from the comfort of home. Pinpoint the perfect gift map with nine different map styles, four markers types and personalized dedication text. Giving a map to a special someone allows them to always find their way back to their special somewhere.
Not quite what you’re looking for? Whatever else you order online, the Arrive App by Shopify gives you accurate and timely updates on everything you order, across all online retailers. Arrive syncs automatically to track all Shopify (and even non-Shopify orders) orders via email. No digging for tracking info. No copy and pasting. See your stuff on the map, because if you’re like me, you’ll probably get a few gifts in right under the wire.
Check out our Showcase page for even more examples of builders using location in unique ways. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
Madison Draper - Designer - Mapbox | LinkedIn
Gift ideas powered by location was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.