CHOOSE GIFTS FROM A WORLD OF TRAVEL NICETIES.

Byline: Susanne Hopkins Daily News Travel Editor

'Twas the night before Christmas 

And all 'round the place

The travelers were waiting

(For a new suitcase?)

Their stockings were hung

By the chimney with care

In hopes travel goodies

Would soon be in there . . .

Got a traveler on your holiday gift list? Lucky you.

Travel gear - both useful and useless - is big business these days. You can buy everything from computer software and the new luggage made to be pushed ahead rather than dragged behind (American Tourister, Lark and Samsonite are among the makers) to videos, books and clothes.

There are tricks to buying the proper travel gift, however. Among them:

The item should be useful enough to ease the stress and strain of travel, rather than add to it.

It should be lightweight and easy to pack.

It should be inexpensive enough that losing or breaking it won't prompt a coronary.

Here are some possibilities we found on a tour of area travel shops and a perusal of mail-order travel catalogs (all prices are approximate).

Adventure travelers: If a hiker, camper or adventure traveler is on your gift list, particularly someone who's a novice, consider a kit of 10-plus travel essentials. Adventure 16 can put together a gift kit containing an emergency blanket, flashlight, compass, map, water purifier, whistle, knife, sunglasses, aluminum mirror, matches and a first-aid kit for about $30.

Here's a novel idea: a waist pack and handbag in one. Eagle Creek's Sidekick is a roomy, oblong bag of sturdy nylon with zippered compartments and an open pocket that can be used as a shoulder bag or a waist pack (belts are concealed in a zippered pocket). $35; Magellan's catalog, Adventure 16.

For those who travel with babies, Eagle Creek has a parent survival pack that doubles as a backpack and a diaper bag. There's a fold-out changing pad, bottle carrier and an organizer for things like a wallet and keys. $60; Adventure 16.

Business: Ever try working on a laptop computer in the dark? Very annoying. Now, Zelco has a small, battery-driven, adjustable computer light that clips onto the top of the laptop. $20; Distant Lands.

Quick reminders can be recorded in 10-second increments on each of two channels in Record'G's tapeless memo machine. It's credit-card sized and available in white or black. $14.95; Jay's Luggage.

For business travelers who must work on computers overseas, there are telephone jack adapters. They're available for just about every country. $12.95; Distant Lands.

General: For those who don't stray far without a hair dryer but don't like giving up luggage space to the unwieldy contraption, there's the Travel Smart Mini Cyclone 2000, an 8.5-ounce, fold-up dryer you can tuck in your purse or briefcase. The two-speed dryer is tiny, yet turbo-powered - but single-voltage only so it's best used in North America. $25. Distant Lands, Jay's Luggage, TravelSmith catalog.

Finally, a reinvented, convenient money belt that can be worn inside or outside clothes. The Kangaroo Pouch and Kangaroo Pocket are made of heavy-duty nylon denier and outfitted with zippered compartments to hold passports, money and credit cards. A soft fabric back makes them comfortable to the skin when worn inside one's clothes and there's an outside zippered pocket that allows easy access to one's money. $9.95 to $12.95; Distant Lands.

It's only taken 13 years since I first saw them, but finally, collapsible plastic bottles are available in the U.S. I discovered them on the road to Versailles more than a dozen years ago, when a traveling companion produced clear, plastic pouches filled with water for each of us. Once the water was gone, the pouches flattened out for easy storage. I was delighted (they're much easier to pack around than those bulky bottles); alas, I was told, they were then only available in Japan. Now, you can buy two, 1-liter Platypus pouches through Magellan's catalog for $7.85 or a 1-liter with carry holster for $11.95 at Distant Lands.

For folks who travel frequently on airplanes and suffer with popping, clogged ears, there's EarPlanes by Travel Smart. The ribbed ear plugs, which are designed to regulate air pressure and reduce ear discomfort, come in adult and child sizes. $5; Distant Lands.

Lumatec's FlashCard flashlight puts out good light for the dark times in a traveler's life. The disposable card is slightly larger than a credit card and just a little thicker. It comes in colors and with National Football League logos, is usable in extreme hot and cold temperatures and will burn for up to 60 minutes. $6.95; Distant Lands, Rand McNally.

For those who like to take their own pillows but hate wrestling with the cumbersome bulk, there's Therma-Rest's little pillows filled with a polyfill material. They come in bright fuchsia and aqua, as well as an endangered-species print, can be rolled up in their own little pouch and are available in different sizes. $18 to $24; Distant Lands, TravelSmith, Adventure 16.

Like to take your pooch or pussycat with you when you travel, but don't like the hard, bulky carriers? Sherpa's Pet Trading Company makes a lightweight, nylon pet carrier - the Sherpa Bag - that is ventilated, made to fit under an airplane seat and folds flat for storage. Comes in three sizes. $60-$80. Jay's Luggage.

Kids: Yes, Virginia, geography can be fun. GeoSafari's talking globe makes a game of studying a globe. Punch a few buttons and a voice asks multiple-choice questions (on levels ranging from beginner to advanced) about geography. Get the answers right and you hear enthusiastic praise from the globe. $99.95; Rand McNally.

Kids - and adults - can be engrossed for hours with one of the Brain Quest flash card games designed to be played in the car. Each plastic box of cards contains more than 1,000 questions - with answers - on a specific theme, such as English, history or math. There's even a set of cards for toddlers. $9.95; Rand McNally.

Keeping kids busy while traveling can be a challenge. Enter Travel Write, a travel/activity bag for children 2 and older that comes in bright colors like red, blue and purple, and unzips into a desk. Inside are a pencil, sharpener, book of games and puzzles, crayons and a pad of paper. The bag, which has a shoulder strap for easy carrying, can also be used for school supplies, even lunch. $16.95; Kid in a Box.

Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley have come up with 17 games - Connect Four, Yahtzee and Monopoly Jr. among them - for children over age 4 to take on the road. All are designed with storage compartments for game pieces. Most are under $10; Rand McNally.

On Location

Gifts geared to the traveler can be found in a variety of stores, including book and gift shops. We searched through these area travel stores and browsed through these travel catalogs:

Adventure 16, 5425 Reseda Blvd., Tarzana 91356; [phone].

Distant Lands, 62 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena 91105; [phone].

Jay's Luggage & Gifts, Topanga Plaza, Canoga Park, [phone]; Northridge Fashion Center, Northridge, [phone]; the Oaks mall, Thousand Oaks, [phone].

Kid in a Box, 1120 Yew Ave., Blaine, Wash. 98230; [phone].

Magellan's, P.O. Box 5485, Santa Barbara 93150-5485; [phone].

Rand McNally, Glendale Galleria, Glendale, [phone].

TravelSmith, 3140 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael 94901; [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: Fido or Fluffy can travel with you in comfort in this lightweight nylon pet carrier. It folds flat - without the pet, of course - for storage.

Box: On Location (See Text)