John Gottberg Anderson / For The BulletinArtees Vannett, manger of Will Leather GoodsÌ Eugene boxcar store at the Fifth Street Market Place, displays the companyÌs Canvas & Leather Traveler Duffle. Retailing for $395, the sturdy bag comes in a variety of color patterns, including the gray and oxblood of this sample.

The weeks until Christmas are getting fewer: Have you decided what to buy the traveler on your shopping list?

The obvious choices, perhaps, have to do with the destination itself. Round-trip airfare for two, especially if the second is you? A weekend’s lodging at a posh hotel in the city or on the coast? A gift certificate for a restaurant meal, or tickets to the theater or to a concert?

Luggage is a fine choice, especially for the frequent traveler whose beloved bags may already be getting a little threadbare from use. Between carry-on sizes and larger models for longer trips, there’s a lot to choose from. Be sure to consider durability in your selection.

What about clothing? Fabrics that are light but sturdy are ideal. Well-known clothing manufacturers like Banana Republic and Patagonia, to name but two, built their reputations around travelers’ wear. But there is probably no more important single item in a wanderer’s wardrobe than shoes, which must at once be comfortable and resilient. The best shoes are multi-purpose, as wearable for backcountry hiking as for fine dining.

Accessories of various types can enhance the travel experience, whether they are to be used during a flight or after arrival. Music and reading material are at the top of my list here. Ideally, they’re matched to the destination to set a mood.

If there’s a Will

There’s nothing like travel to inspire a traveler. Will Adler has explored much of the world, and he owes it all to an abrupt career change.

Adler might never have found his calling in leather work had it not been for a Screen Actors Guild strike back in 1981. An actor by training, he began selling “Rainbow Belts” on the Venice Beach, California, boardwalk. His merchandise was making more money than his acting career, so in 1992 he sold the company, moved to Eugene with his wife and three children, and established the Bill Adler Studio to develop goods for such companies as Levi’s, Dockers and Calvin Klein.

In 2004, the studio evolved into Will Leather Goods, where Adler could mesh the ambiance of his adopted Oregon home with two decades of experience in leather work. He came full circle in 2012 when he opened a flagship store in Venice Beach. But although Will now also has a retail presence in Portland, San Francisco, New York and Detroit, it remains a Eugene company, selling its products from a bright red boxcar in the Fifth Street Market Place.

Among the current stock, I can imagine that any traveler would be entranced by Will’s Canvas & Leather Traveler Duffle. Available in four color patterns, made of washed cotton canvas with bridle leather trim, the 5-pound bag is a perfect carry-on size: At 21 inches long, 9 inches wide and 15½ inches deep, it easily fits into an airplane’s overhead rack.

The duffle has two large front pockets, a one-snap back pocket and a detachable and adjustable strap that makes it easy to carry over one’s shoulder. A leather ID tag can be monogrammed for a small additional charge.

The Canvas & Leather Traveler Duffle retails for $395. Will promises free shipping on all orders within the United States. In downtown Bend, however, it is available for sale or direct order from Local Joe on Wall Street. Full information is available at www.willleathergoods.com.

Oregon made

Fresh off the assembly line is Oregami Luggage, a rolling duffel bag released only three weeks ago by the Portland-based company.

“We’ve made packing smarter and faster, and less of a hassle,” company president David Kao said in a news release.

The Oregami Touring 100 has a unique design system with three separate, unfolding tray-like compartments that mimic dresser drawers. The sections, which have clear windows so their contents are easily seen, fold in and out of the suitcase. They may be removed and placed separately into hotel dressers, then reconnected and folded back into the suitcase on departure.

“The unique unfolding compartments provide almost instant visibility and access to all of your belongings,” Kao said in the release.

The Touring 100, currently available in black and fossil (dark beige) colors, is the first in a planned line of high-strength ballistic nylon suitcases. (A carry-on is in the final design stages.) The duffel measures 30 by 15 inches, and 12 inches deep; it weighs 14 pounds and carries a five-year limited warranty. The retail price is $399.97.

The Oregami Luggage website (www.oregamiluggage.com), from which products are sold, includes a 98-second video describing the practicality of the Touring 100, along with reviews and additional information. “When you see how our products work, you will understand how they can be useful and valuable to you,” Kao said.

High-tech delight

Another new luggage design, the app-enabled Andiamo iQ, appears to be a perfect fit for the tech-lover. Incorporating an integrated technology platform, it links to any iOS or Android phone by a multi-functional app, and displays such data as suitcase weight, anti-theft alerts and information on travel destinations.

The iQ has a charging dock for electronic devices, allowing owners to charge while on the move, and offers a global Wi-Fi hotspot through its USB port. A phone and tablet holder are attached.

The removable compact battery unit weighs only 6 ounces. The aluminum-frame carry-on itself is just 9 pounds, measuring at 22 by 14 by 9 inches. It includes a built-in, three-digit, TSA-approved combination lock and silent spinner wheels with a full 360-degree range of motion.

Available in white or black, the Andiamo iQ will retail for $595. During an opening Indiegogo campaign, however, it is available beginning at $249. For more information, check out http://bit.ly/AndiamoIndie.

The Undress

A great gift for women on the go, especially those who like to get off the beaten track a bit, is the “Undress.” Kickstarter’s No. 1 women’s fashion project of all time, the Undress looks like an ordinary dress, but is carefully designed to allow a woman to change clothes in public without ever getting naked.

“With the Undress,” said company co-founder Amber Estrada on the firm’s website, “you can change clothes before or after appointments, workout sessions and meetings at any time or place.”

Despite its name, the Undress is sleek and stylish, and might easily be worn on the beach or around the house as a casual dress on its own. It comes in numerous colors, including black, royal and navy blue, emerald, deep red and coral, and is available in two-tone and stripe patterns.

The Undress folds into a neat, easy-to-carry package and is priced at $79. To order and for more information, see www.theundress.com.

Fab footwear

Shoes? Did someone say shoes?

I’m fascinated by Shooz, which may be the ultimate travel shoes. Made of fine Italian leather and introduced to the world in another Kickstarter campaign, this mix-and-match footwear features interchangeable soles and upper skins that zip together like a jacket. Thus you can change from a sneaker to a dress shoe in no time at all.

Presently available are four skins (running shoe, wingtip, moccasin and casual lace-up) and three soles (driving, running and urban). Both skins and soles pack flat into a suitcase or a backpack. Made with anti-shock insoles and waterproof zippers, they assure lighter travel with fewer pairs of shoes.

You can check out the entire collection at http://bit.ly/ShoozKS. Pre-orders include one choice of sole and two skins for £145, or about $223, about 20 percent off the retail price when the Kickstarter campaign ends next week.

Savvy Style

Savvy Travelers offers a great stocking stuffer for travelers. And although the Savvy Style Kit is available in the beauty section of all Nordstrom stores nationwide, its disposable, eco-friendly products are as applicable to men as they are to women.

There are four components, each of them a six-pack of convenient, single-use sheets. “Take Offz” serves as a facial cleanser and moisturizer. “No Sweat” is an antiperspirant deodorant. “Speak Easy” is mouthwash, in a swipe. And “In the Klear” is a lens and screen cleaner for glasses and electronic devices.

The entire kit is sold for $39 at www.savvytravelers.com or http://shop.nordstrom.com/. Individual packs are $10 for six uses.

Dozing off

We’ve all dozed off in a plane or a car and awoken with a stiff neck that has stayed with us for the rest of the day or longer. But the NapAnywhere travel pillow — “the neck pillow reimagined,” as product publicity describes it — eliminates this traveler’s woe.

Developed by Dr. Ravi Shamaiengar, the NapAnywhere supports one’s head in an upright position, carrying cranial weight while allowing one’s neck to relax. Unlike the more traditional U-shaped pillow, this Frisbee-sized device has two faces (a cool side and a warm side) that may be folded into a comfortable shape on one’s shoulder. It is then held in place by a Velcro strap.

It’s available in five colors (black, deep blue, lime, crimson and pink) for $59. I’ve already got mine, and I love it. See www.napanywhere.net.

Staying wired

I have a problem with earphones. If I don’t lose my earbuds or leave them on a flight, I find them hopelessly entangled, often with phone-charge cords or other wires.

The Engraved Leather Earphone Organizer by SimpleFraction addresses this problem in handmade leather. The cable winder neatly secures earphones or cables within a small case connected with easily opened brass buttons.

Each organizer can be monogrammed or personalized with the engraving of up to six characters or symbols. A set of three is priced at $15.99. Find them at www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleFraction.

Drying out

It seems that the last thing to dry, especially when we’re packing to go home from a beach trip, is our towel. We’ve got everything else in the suitcase, but that towel is still soggy. Even folding it into a plastic bag, it inevitably makes other clothes damp and adds a smelly odor to the entire satchel.

Enter Discovery Trekking’s Ultra Fast-dry Towel. As described on the company website, it dries four times faster than most other towels, and it resists smells thanks to recycled silver that is woven into its fabric, inhibiting bacterial growth.

Even the largest (34 by 58 inches, $34.95) of four sizes weighs just 9 ounces. (The extra small size, at 10 by 13 inches, costs $12.95.) Offering 97 percent protection from ultraviolet rays, it can be compactly folded into a suitcase or its own carry bag, or used en route as an inflight blanket or a wrap-around sarong.

Visit www.discoverytrekking.com to see the towel in its 12 different colors and order. One last, quick shower before we head to the airport is no longer out of the question.

What to read

I always need a good book, or two, to get me through a long flight or to while away time on the beach or in a quiet café. And nothing moves me like a travel narrative, especially those that evoke a particular place and time.

Great Britain’s esteemed Telegraph newspaper has compiled a list of what it considers to be the 20 greatest travel books of all time, including titles by late-20th-century American writers Jack Kerouac (“On the Road”) and John Steinbeck (“Travels with Charley”). Among the other noted authors that The Telegraph suggests are Graham Greene, Jan Morris, George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway and even Hunter S. Thompson.

The list features “The Great Railway Bazaar” (1969) by Paul Theroux, “Notes from a Small Island” (1995) by Bill Bryson and “In Patagonia” (1977) by Bruce Chatwin. I personally prefer Bryson’s “In a Sunburned Country” (2000) and Chatwin’s “The Songlines” (1986), both about Australia. And I’m looking forward to reading Theroux’s newest book, “Deep South” (2015), in which he travels the back roads of the American South much as William Least Heat Moon did in “Blue Highways: A Journey into America” (1982).

A personal favorite of mine, not listed, is “The Drifters” (1971) by James Michener; while the author is better known for such books as “Hawaii” and “Tales of the South Pacific,” this story is set primarily on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Also on my list is John Berendt’s “The City of Falling Angels” (2005), a tale of Venice, Italy. The Telegraph, meanwhile, raves about John Gimlette’s recent “Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge” (2011). My reading list just keeps growing.

All of these books are available on iPad as well as in paperback editions.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com