Tick It Before You Kick It

Gear Up for Adventure: Best Gift Ideas!

• Alexandra Lauren | The Bucket List Mermaid • Season 1 • Episode 24

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🛍️Embark on a journey with me, Alexandra from the Bucket List Mermaid, as we unravel the mysteries of adventure gear that perfectly cater to the thrill-seekers among us. 

🥾No adventure is complete without the right equipment, and I've got recommendations to elevate your outdoor experiences. 

🎄Whether you're shopping for the holidays or gearing up for your next big adventure, this episode is packed with insights and laughter to guide you through.

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Alexandra:

can't believe that they have lasted me all of these years and through all of this use and they're still kicking. Get it Kicking because they're shoes. At least I think I'm funny. Hello, adventurers, my name is Alexandra with the Bucket List Mermaid, and welcome to Ticket Before you Kick it, the podcast where we talk about everything that should be on your adventure bucket list. Now, this week, we're going to be talking about something just a little bit different, just because Black Friday and the holidays are coming up, and we are going to be talking about some adventure gear that you can either buy for yourself tell a loved one to buy you or you can buy for that beloved adventure that you have in your life. On this week's episode, I'm going to be talking about several products that I have purchased, gotten as a gift and I use adventuring all the time, and they're going to be in different price points. So, depending on what your budget is, we're just going to talk about some really cool adventure gear to get for that special adventurer let's get adventuring or, in this case, let's go shopping To go adventuring, if that makes any sense. So let's start off with the cheaper side of this and maybe some gifts that are under $25 that you can get for adventurers. Now, number one on my list I have a multi-tool survival kit. Now I actually made fun of this the other day because I always bring it everywhere I go, but I've never actually had to use it, but it's kind of more of like an emergency thing, if you do want to. Another idea a waterproof travel journal. This is going to get dirty and it's going to have so many things on it dirt and mud so I really like the idea of journaling and I'm also a yoga instructor, so I'm a fond advocate of journaling and just spilling your thoughts out into the paper and having gratitude for all of the adventures that you are going on. I think it's beautiful.

Alexandra:

Another idea is an adventure scratch map. So when I moved abroad to England when I was only 18, I had this big, huge map and it was so heavy and I actually put a bunch of pins in it and it was my prized possession and it really is ironic because I would love to take it with me everywhere. However, I now live full-time in an RV and travel around everywhere as a mermaid, so this big, huge, fancy pinned map is just collecting dust in a storage unit and I would really love to have something that's more portable to take, but it's really nice to just figure out where you've been. But it's really nice to just figure out where you've been and it's really cool to see it all on the map. So that's another idea. If you're looking for a very cheap gift for an adventure, that would be a really good one.

Alexandra:

And, yeah, another one a waterproof dry bag. Now, this is specific for me because I'm a mermaid. I absolutely get wet all the time, obviously because I'm a mermaid and I also love paddleboarding. I always snowboard in the winter and I paddleboard in the summer and I have these dry bags everywhere. So if you're kayaking, paddleboarding, if you do have an adventurer in your life who does love, you know, going, adventuring in water, then this is probably a good thing for them. Now, I have to have a caveat. One time I was backpacking with this girl in this hostel and she had one of those phone bags where you put it in a little pouch, and I've seen these everywhere all over the world. They're everywhere. However, we were tubing and, yeah, we were pub crawling down this river and she dropped her phone in the water and it got completely ruined. So I don't like recommending those. I really like the ones where you have to fold them over several times and then you clip them shut. I've never had an issue with those guys. Now, moving on, let's go into the $25 to $50 range.

Alexandra:

A portable solar charger oh my gosh, if you could get one thing in the mid-budget range for an adventure, or just buy it for yourself, treat yourself A portable solar charger. So I actually went on a eight-day trekking Peru expedition through the Andes. We went over Salcante it was like over 17,000 feet and then back down to Machu Picchu, and people always ask. They're like how did you keep your GoPro charged? How did you charge your phone? How did you actually do this? And the answer is I had a solar charger, and so what I did is I just draped this solar charger over my backpack, so all day while I was hiking, it was charging and I just charged it for the minimum amount of time possible and I actually managed to do it. So that was really cool and I just think it's good for emergencies to have one that is solar.

Alexandra:

Now, I really thought that, having a solar charger, it would be charged within like a few hours. That is a straight lie, it takes so long to charge that thing. However, it's better than nothing, and when you're in the middle of the woods adventuring sometimes you just don't have a choice Would highly recommend. I think every adventurer needs one of these chargers. Now they do have two that I have found One of them. The whole block is the solar charger. This can kind of add on weight. However, I don't know, I think it's more portable than the second option. The second option you would actually unfold a solar panel. So this one might be better for time-wise because there's more solar panels to capture the sun's rays and do its magic. However, I did not go with that option. Maybe next time I will try that option, but that option seems to be very popular with the reviews.

Alexandra:

Next, maybe get them some hiking poles. You know these have saved my booty literally several times. Remember I was hiking Half Dome and in order to hike Half Dome you have to hike up this thing called Sub Dome and that thing was so sketchy and I'm pretty sure they just like saved my life. I mean, I'm a pretty young spring chicken as of right now, with this being recorded, and I still use hiking poles. No shame whatsoever. You know when you're hiking these strenuous distances, it's really easy on your joints. So if you have an avid hiker in your family, get them some hiking poles.

Alexandra:

Next, a multi-mode headlamp. Now, I am a fan of hiking in the dark. I love night hiking and I love moonlight hiking specifically. So I love a good headlamp and, honestly, sometimes you just never know when a hike is going to go awry and take a little longer than normal. So when this happens, you might be hiking into the evening or you might be waking up early to hike before the sun rises. Maybe you'll reach your destination at sunrise, which is beautiful. Either way, you're going to need a headlamp, because it's always good just to have hands free, especially if you are going to use those hiking poles. I personally like to have one with a red light mode, just because then, if you are going to do a little stargazing or you are taking that moonlight hike, you won't destroy your night vision, because it takes like 30 minutes for your eyes to actually adjust. A ranger told me this at Canyonlands, because I did a Moonlight Ranger hike at Canyonlands and it was amazing. But anyway, I didn't really need my headlamp, but sometimes when I was going over rocks, I used the red headlamp.

Alexandra:

Now moving right along portable water filtration straws. I'm going to be honest, I had no clue. This was the thing until I started doing longer, more strenuous hikes. The first time that I ran into this issue was during Half Dome. That was about 18 miles. And then I definitely ran into this issue when I did my Rim to Rim Epic hike in one day and that one I actually ended at around 25 miles for that one.

Alexandra:

And yes, they do have water stations on these strenuous hikes. Actually, they did not at Half Dome, however, rim to Rim they did have water spots, but sometimes it was very unreliable. They would shut off. Sometimes you needed to treat your own water. Now I did buy some purification tablets, which you can also do. However, all of the ones that I have found took like four hours for it to actually clear out all of the bacteria and gunk in there to make it drinkable and safe. But, however, I found this portable water filtration straw which, honestly, I'm going to just hike with all the time and adventure with all the time, because you just never know when an emergency comes about and you need to get some clean drinking water. This is also good for camping, fishing trips, anything where you're outside and you don't have a reliable water source. I invested in some of these after I was really scared that I was going to run out of water on my rim to rim ascent up the South Rim Super scary.

Alexandra:

Now another idea if you are more of a snow hiker, you could get crampons or micro spikes. Now the only times I've actually used these was I was hiking Fox Glacier. I also used them to hike Tongariro Pass in New Zealand and these are a game changer if you are going in snow. So if anything snow traction, icy you need that. You will definitely need some crampons. Luckily they're not actually that expensive.

Alexandra:

Pretty nice gift for an adventurer who maybe wants to do some more snowy, cold adventures. Now, if you're like man, that's all too physical for me. I just want to lay around. How about a travel hammock? I have used these travel hammocks everywhere. Now I'm not a huge fan of doing them on the trees, so I also have a hammock stand and I actually have a hammock outside of my RV at all times, because normal camping chairs boo. I'm gonna sit in a hammock outside of my RV at all times, because normal camping chairs boo. I'm going to sit in a hammock, if I have a choice. So there you go.

Alexandra:

Also, if you want to be that iconic person this Christmas to give people socks, I know it's like you open up socks and it's like the worst gift ever. However, I am obsessed with darn tough socks. I use them for both hiking and snowboarding and these socks are so, so nice. They have so much support, depending on what you're using them for, and, honestly, socks can make such a difference. So you might be that person who gets an adventure socks for Christmas, but trust me, they will thank you for it when their feet do not hurt the next day. I have spoken. Or, if they are into camping, maybe consider getting them a camping cookware set. I've seen a lot of things that are very portable and lightweight and although I don't I don't camp as much because I full-time RV and I'm like my whole life is camping However, I do camp a few times during the summer because I am a Colorado local and, yeah, these, these pots and pans are really, really cool, and sometimes you just need disposable, lightweight and really nice camping cookware. So now let's go into the bigger sections, the 50 to 150 section, if you're still with me here. Good job. I love it. You are committed to your adventurer and I love it.

Alexandra:

Number one a camelback. I honestly do not go anywhere without my camelback. I've done so many things with this camelback. I honestly do not go anywhere without my camelback. I've done so many things with this camelback and I have also tried just taking normal backpacks and snowboarding and you know, going hiking and doing all this stuff with a normal backpack and I just find myself getting so dehydrated because I'm a lazy adventurer and I don't want to take off my backpack and go get the water bottle out. I sound so bad here but honestly, when you're adventuring and you're having fun and you don't think about stuff like hydration, it does get lost a lot. I have invested in this CamelBak and my hydration level has gone up significantly since investing in it. Now, if you don't like CamelBak the brand specifically I also really like Deuter. I haven't personally tried their hydration packs, but I do have a backpacking backpack called Reggie that I love of them. So I trust the brand. I would also recommend them Now.

Alexandra:

Next, for the true adventurers, maybe a backpacking tent. So this is lightweight and it's very easy to set up and you would literally just hike with it and go backpacking. So if your adventurer wants to maybe go a little bit further into the adventure spectrum, get him a backpacking tent or, you know, you can just envision them sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground. Maybe that's amusing for you or maybe it's you. Maybe you want to sleep on a sleeping bag in the ground, and if you do good for you Personally not me, I think I prefer a tent, but you do you.

Alexandra:

Now, next on my list is Merrell hiking boots. I invested in these before my Peru trek and honestly, I am so surprised that they're still alive. I can't believe that they have still been cooking and they have as much traction as they do. I think I'm in the hundreds of miles that I have worn these shoes. Seriously, they are so, so nice. I rarely ever have foot pain and I did get my first blister, and again it was on that rim to rim, but I didn't notice it during the hike. It was after the hike, so I don't really think that counts, because that was an insane hike and I cannot believe that I haven't gotten more blisters. 10 out of 10 recommend. As I said, I can't believe that they have lasted me all of these years and through all of this use and they're still kicking. Get it Kicking because they're shoes. At least, I think I'm funny If they are into camping and they like the hammock idea, but the hammock is too cumbersome.

Alexandra:

I would also recommend there's this hanging camping chair, and I get asked about this all the time, especially for people with back pain for some reason or like, oh, I think that would be good for my back. But basically it's just like this swinging chair. It's very portable, very lightweight and I'm gonna be honest, I would rather have this chair than a normal camping chair any day of the week. I love it. It's a fan favorite there. It is the hanging camping chair.

Alexandra:

Another idea in this price range is Chaco sandals. Now, I'm a Colorado local so I have to mention this. Sometimes I do just want my little toes, my little piggies, to breathe a little bit while I'm adventuring, and Chacos are amazing. I especially like this for water activities. The amount of times I have rafted in these shoes pretty nice. Now I will say that one time I was in a hostel in Cambodia and it did not allow shoes within the entire building, so we all had to put our shoes outside and I actually had someone come up to me and say oh, you're from Colorado because you have a pair of Chacos, so it's a Colorado local favorite. So I just have to mention it. They're like these really sturdy hiking sandals and they just scream outdoor adventure, so I have to add them Now.

Alexandra:

Also, if you are looking for a portable, you know some way to charge your devices. They do have a portable power station. My mom is deaf. She needs hearing aids Something that happened with COVID, just really messed up her ears. So she is deaf, she needs hearing aids Something that happened with COVID, just really messed up her ears. So she is very, very hard of hearing and unfortunately, when we go camping she has a heck of a time charging her hearing aids. So we actually found a pretty reasonably priced portable power station in there and it actually does charge her hearing aids. Now, of course, you can get the Mac Daddy power station, totally up to you, but we just have this medium budget one and it works great.

Alexandra:

And lastly, in this section, a national park pass Love ours. This has saved us so much money, I believe as of right now it is $80. It's like the America the Beautiful pass, and what an amazing gift to give to somebody that they get to go to all these national parks With this park pass specifically. I believe that we have entered 11 or 12 just in one year that we have RV'd to and it has just been the adventure. And I just love national parks because obviously they're national parks for a reason and they're all just so unique in their own way and, yeah, what better gift for an adventure than just to get them a National Park Pass? So now let's go into the Mac Daddy gifts. These are over $150 and they are amazing.

Alexandra:

So the first one is my Insta360 camera. Holy guacamole, honestly, I have tried a lot of action cameras because I'm an adventure travel blogger and this one just has a very special place in my heart and here is why I travel everywhere as a mermaid. If you haven't seen it, go to thebucketlistmermaidcom. You can see me in my tail and people always ask me how do you get all these pictures when you're traveling solo and you're basically a beached whale? Well, I will tell you, a lot of them are with my Insta360 camera.

Alexandra:

Basically, you just hold it out in front of you. It takes 360 footage from every single angle and then you go back in there. You can get pictures from the footage. You can get horizontal, you can get landscape pictures, so you're getting multiple things with one shot, and then you can also get multiple videos from the same shot. So, for example, like if I'm going snowboarding, I have this thing out here, I can focus on my buddy in front of me or I can focus on myself. I get two different videos, both portrait and landscape, with the same video, and I can also get really cool epic photos that I would never be able to get. It's basically like having a drone, but it's like a huge long selfie stick, but then it edits out the selfie stick anyway. Love my 360 camera. Cannot recommend this enough. I think this is the ultimate adventure camera. Absolutely love it.

Alexandra:

Now, if you are looking for a beginner drone, I would actually recommend this new product, which is called a hover air. Now, this is pretty cheap for as far as drones are concerned and you don't need a remote. So basically, you just go on your phone or even just hold out the drone. It launches in seconds right from the palm of your hand, and you can tell it to do different things, like follow me or orbit or do a bird's eye view. So this is really good for adventurers who don't want to like full-on, take on a drone, but just wants to upgrade their footage a little bit. It's also very lightweight and very compact, very good for beginners. As I said, I don't have like a massive like DJI drone, but this Hover Air has gotten me some pretty good footage.

Alexandra:

Now next, obviously, a GoPro. This is like the gold standard for all adventure cameras. Personally, I like using my GoPro for underwater footage. I am a few models back and it still looks pretty darn good, so it will definitely last them a very long time if they do love GoPros. And it's also easy to mount and they have so many accessories depending on what adventure they are doing. For example, like you can mount it to a helmet and go mountain biking. That might be for your adventurer, who knows?

Alexandra:

Also, I'm going to talk about this jacket next and now, if you ask me to pronounce the name, if you've listened to this podcast, you know that my pronunciation skills are very subpar. However, it's called like a. Okay, I'm going to try it now. Arcteryx, I'm going to. I'm going to go with that. A-r-c apostrophe, t-e-r-y-x.

Alexandra:

Now, this is a very high-end, luxury outdoor adventure brand and I kind of thought it was full of it because of the prices. However, I ended up getting one of their jackets on a Black Friday sale and it was a men's jacket and whatever. No shame, it was the only one available. I ended up going for it and, I'm gonna be honest, this jacket has lasted me through everything. It's so warm, it's so compactable, so fortunately, I kind of see the price point for it. But honestly, it's lightweight, durable, squishable and it's probably the only adventure jacket you will need, unless, of course, you're hiking through the tundra. Then you probably would want a little bit more. However, it's a great layer for any adventure and it has lasted me four years. Again, I went 50 plus miles with this baby through the Andes Still good.

Alexandra:

Now next, an inflatable paddle board. As I said, I'm a paddle boarder and I just love paddle boarding because you can make it a workout, but you could also just like bring a bunch of friends and drinks and go hang out on a lake, so I absolutely love it. I did find a deal on Amazon. The one that I got was way more expensive and I got a hole in it because I left it out in like 120 degree weather. However, I did find this one on Amazon. I will link it in the show notes and it's really not a bad deal for an inflatable paddleboard. It's probably the best I've found, honestly. So check that out if you are looking for an inflatable paddleboard or you have an adventurer who would love to go paddleboarding. I also found that paddleboarding is really good with kids. One part of my family has these adorable little girls and they absolutely love paddleboarding and it's just adorable.

Alexandra:

Now, next one I'm going to recommend is a Via Ferrata harness. If you want to hike and you kind of want to climb but you don't want to fully commit to climbing, Via Ferratas are very, very fun. I've done this in Peru and I've also done this in Uruguay. Now for this, it's basically a harness and then you have these two carabiners and then you go on a via ferrata course and then you basically just hook the carabiners to the other side. This is so fun and it's not as physically demanding as actual climbing and kind of just feels like climbing, but you have security.

Alexandra:

The reason that I put this is not for all those niche people who want to go climbing. It's also because I've gone on a few bucket list hikes and experiences that I wished I had a Via Ferrata harness. One of the examples was climbing Half Dome. Those cables were so sketchy to do without a harness and I really, really wish that I would have had that extra support. And yeah, I've done just a couple things where I've just been like you know, I wish I would have been strapped in and a Via Ferrata harness would have been perfect.

Alexandra:

So that's why I put it on this list is that it can be transferred to multiple things and, last but not least, honestly, like a Yeti cooler. It's just like the dream just to have a Yeti cooler. They're so nice, they keep things cold for just days and days on end and they're super famous. True or false, a Yeti cooler signifies that you have made it in the adventure world. So that is what I have recommended for all of the travel gear that I can think of, just for, like, the basic necessities of camping and hiking and just general outdoor adventures. Again, these are things that I have tried and things that I would have loved to have gotten as a gift, as an adventure. Or, as I said, maybe you're just treating yourself, maybe you are an adventurer, maybe you're just looking for some cool adventure gear. Well, I've tried it. There it is. That's what I recommend.

Alexandra:

I also want to hear, because obviously gear lists are very subjective, so maybe you have something that you have on your personal adventure gear list. I would love to hear about it. I'm on all the social medias, at the bucket list mermaid, or you can go to my website, the bucket list mermaid. Now for all of these, I would highly highly recommend going to the show notes. Now I'm going to link on the show notes.

Alexandra:

I'm gonna link my adventure gear guide on here. It has every single link to every single thing that I can do. Know, if you do purchase through this, I am an affiliate, so I do get a small commission, but I would just really appreciate it because I'm a small business thing, mermaid, and it doesn't increase the cost for you. It just helps me out a little bit. If you are considering purchasing any of these things, please just go onto those show notes and purchase through my link, because if you're going to buy it anyway, you might as well support this little mermaid, you know. Thank you in advance. I really appreciate it and I wish you, your fellow adventurer, your family, anybody who you do adventure with. I wish you guys a happy holidays and a happy new year. Here's to another year of adventuring to the fullest and checking off everything on that bucket list. We will see you next week. Thank you so much for listening.