Holiday Travel Gear Gifts 2015

As you can garner from my Best and Worst Travel Moments of 2015 post, the past year has been filled with so many exciting adventures and mishaps, and I have even more to look forward to in 2016. When the holidays rolled around and my family so kindly requested a wishlist from me, I reviewed my most recent year of travel and looked to the adventures ahead to assess what kinds of things I may want to ask “Santa” for, and boy did he deliver!

I just want to quickly say that I’m ao grateful to my family for dealing with the travelling lifestyle I hope to one day attain, and for their constant support and understanding even when they cannot fathom why I dream of backpacking through Colombia or why I would ever have a necessity for a portable hammock. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to show them.

Reads

Although the Reads section of my blog isn’t very active lately, I still try to fill my empty time with books; and my favorite kind are travel-related ones.

As a recent Pablo Escobar enthusiast following the incredbile Netflix series Narcos and after my travels through almost every destination featured in this book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries by Kim McQuarrie. I’m only a few chapters in, and already I’ve leared so much about a region I love and certain things about its history now make so much more sense!

My new Lonely Planet Cuba  guide is going to really come in handy for my Spring Break trip to the Caribbean island destination! My time there is short, so I want to make the most of my time that will be primarily spent in Havanna. I can’t wait to dig deeper and find the best spots for when I have time away from my group–I’m already dreaming of the colorful photos I want to take of Havanna’s vibrant streets.

Gear

I suppose the answer to the question “Can you ever really have too much travel gear?” is probably yes, but I’m nowhere near that point yet.

Remember how my flimsy sleeping bag kept me at a nice close-to-freezing temperature state during the Torres del Paine hike and I almost never slept? I still spend more money on that sack than I’m willing to let go and replace, so instead my parents really came through by picking me up a Thermolite Mummy Liner by Sea to Summit! Now I’ll be at least 25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer on those cold camping nights.

I know my new KAVU Rope Sling Bag in Military Green will also come in handy this summer while leading backpacking trips for college aged students and beyond–not only did I desperately need something sturdy by efficient to carry my camera, a notebook, and snacks, but I’ll now need to worry about carrying our emergency cell phone, traveler documents, and all of our itinerary information. This bag is not only adorable and lightweight, but it will basically be my entire office (minus laptop) and how I stay organized while on the go.

If you ask me what my most exciting gift recieved this year was, I would honestly say the Sriracha2Go 3-Pack , which is a set of empty mini-Sriracha bottle keychains that I can refill and bring on the go–a lifesaver since my unsatisfied tastebuds can’t bare to endure anything that doesn’t induce a burning sensation in my mouth. I loooooove me some spicey food. And when I’m traveling though countries in South America, which are surprisingly un-spicey, now I will always be set when I just can’t handle the bland.

And last but not least, that hammock that my parents don’t quite believe I’ll ever find a use for, becuase in their generation “hammocking” was apparentely not a popular hobby. I’m so excited for the snow to melt so I can break out my Eagle Nest Outfitters DoubleNest Hammock and its Atlas Polyester Hammock Hanging Straps and go chill in some trees in Minneapolis (or the rest of the world) with a fantastic book on a sunny day. 

What travel gear did you get for the holidays and what are you going to use it for? Did you give or recieve any travel as a gift this year? Let me know in the comments!

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