Gifts for the Person Who Says They Don't Want Anything

Good chocolate is the easiest "I don't want anything" gift there is, because it disappears. This kit turns it into an evening: four bars from Vanuatu, Tanzania, Madagascar and Belize, each made from just cocoa and sugar, with a tasting wheel and cards for working out why they taste so different from each other.

Dick Taylor is a small bean-to-bar maker in Eureka, California, and several of their bars have won awards. At about $49 it's an indulgence, but a short-lived one, which is the point. For a smaller version, their Dark Chocolate Trio is about $36.

Everybody owns socks, and almost nobody owns good ones. These are mostly merino wool, with soft terry cushioning underfoot and a fit that doesn't slip or bunch, and the wool moves moisture away so feet stay dry. They're made in Vermont, and Darn Tough guarantees them for life: if a pair ever wears through, send it back and they replace it.

They're called hiking socks, but they get worn with everything once someone owns a pair. About $26 is a lot for socks and very little for the last pair of socks someone buys. The link is the men's version; there's a women's cut of the same sock.

People who collect fountain pens usually own a safari, and keep using it after they've bought pens costing ten times as much. It's light, made of tough ASA plastic, with a triangular grip that puts fingers in the right place and a steel nib that writes smoothly from the first line.

For someone who has never used a fountain pen, it turns writing a grocery list into something slightly nicer. It takes LAMY ink cartridges, and one blue cartridge comes in the box. The fine nib suits everyday handwriting; medium is wetter and bolder if they write large.

The best gift for someone who doesn't want things is a reason to go somewhere. This pass covers entrance fees at every national park, plus national wildlife refuges and day-use fees on Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Army Corps of Engineers land, for a year. One pass covers everyone in the car at sites that charge per vehicle.

At $80, it pays for itself in about two visits to a major park. The USGS store mails a physical pass, so allow time for shipping; for a last-minute gift, the same pass is sold as a digital version on Recreation.gov. Residents 62 and older can get a lifetime Senior Pass for the same price.

Midori is the stationery brand of a Japanese paper company, and the MD notebook is mostly about the paper: a smooth cream stock that takes fountain pen ink without feathering or bleeding through. It's thread-bound, so it opens flat on a table, and the plain paper cover is as understated as the rest of it.

It has 176 pages, enough for a journal that lasts a year or a commonplace book that lasts much longer. Put it with the LAMY and it's a complete gift that suggests a habit without insisting on one.

The one thing the person who has everything doesn't have is something made for them. It doesn't need craft skills, it needs specifics. A few ideas:

• A recipe book of the family dishes they love, handwritten or printed at a copy shop, with a line about where each one came from.
• A playlist with liner notes: twelve songs, and a sentence on why each one made you think of them.
• A framed photo of a place that matters to them, printed properly rather than left on a phone.
• A coupon for your time: a Saturday of yard work, a cooked dinner, a day of tech support with no sighing.

None of these cost much, and all of them get kept long after the chocolate is gone.

For some people the best gift is knowing something good happened because of them. Pick a cause that matches what they already love, give in their name, and tell them in a card. Most charities will send an acknowledgement to the person you're honouring if you ask. A few that fit common types:

• The outdoorsy one: the National Park Foundation, the official charity of the national parks. It pairs naturally with the pass above.
• The animal person: Best Friends Animal Society, or their local shelter, where a small gift goes a long way.
• The reader: Room to Read, which funds literacy programs and libraries for children.
• The cook or the host: Feeding America, which routes donations to the local food bank network.
• The one who worries about the world: Doctors Without Borders, medical care in conflict zones and disasters.
• The nature lover: The Nature Conservancy, which protects land and water.

Their local library foundation, public radio station or a school they care about works just as well. Before giving to a charity you don't know, look it up on Charity Navigator.