We found a pair of airpods today while traveling. Is there a way to locate the owner to return them?

Theres no way to locate an owner through the airpods alone. Even though they have serial numbers, only the case serial number would be taken into consideration.

all though its a kind act, you are better off keeping them or gifting them to someone if they need a replacement pair.

you could also just hand them over to local authorities but again not much that can be done.