We initially ran this list in 2015, but all of these ideas are still good ones here in 2017.
We weren’t going to jump on the Christmas Bandwagon with gift guides.
But here’s the very real situation as posted by one of our Facebook Group Members.
I’ve got family who really likes to buy us things even if we advise them that we don’t really need anything. I’m looking for ideas of things that you normally wouldn’t have in a sticks & bricks but have proven to be invaluable once on the road.Ditching Suburbia Facebook Group User
There’s enough waste at Christmas time. So much stuff gets purchased in the name of tradition rather than thoughtfulness.
If we can head off some of that waste by posting a list of ‘actually-useful’ gift ideas for RV-based suburban ditchers then we are happy to help.
What We Did
We didn’t move, really. No need - with 300 square feet of house we could just sit in our chairs and can quickly scan our world.
I asked MsBoyink and Miranda “what do we use daily that helps keep us sane?”
Hm - maybe that’s a new Christmas figure.
Sanity Claus.
Ahem.
The List
In no particular order, here’s our list of 10 good Christmas gifts for future RVers (and yes, these are affiliate links where possible):
- Lynx Levelers
Just about every RVer uses these to level their rig. They are sturdy, organized, and more consistent than bits of wood block. - Electric Heater
Save money on propane by using an electric heater (most campsites include electric). We prefer the Lasko brand of ceramic heaters. We have two - which we can run at the same time on a 50A connection. - Knife Rack
Keep your knives handy (for you), inaccessible (to young hands), and sharp by keeping them on one of these knife racks. In 7 years a knife has only fallen off twice. - Big Trailer Level
You can see this level from the driver’s seat in the truck - so it’s easy to find the most level spot in the site. - Command Hook Collection
Coats, bath towels, oven mitts, hats, jewelry, keys, headlamps, decorations - all of these hang in our RV using Command Hooks. - National Parks Pass
A perfect gift for a new Ditcher - see the amazing National Parks in the USA. - Clock with Day, Date & Temperatures
I use this more for temperatures than time, but the day/date comes in handy too. Yes, we forget what day of the week it is (I only wish it would tell me the city I’m in). - Rand McNally Atlas
With all of our tech we didn’t think we’d use an atlas. We were wrong. We use two. Get one for your kids to follow along with in the back seat. - Carpet Covers for RV Steps
These stop so much dirt from coming in the RV. - Good Sewer Hose
Yes, this might be a strange gift - but until we bought a Rhinoflex hose we went through several cheapies. You don’t want to worry about when one will fail. And you know you have one family member that would find it funny.
Bonus for DIY Types
If you have someone that loves to make you gifts show them these:
Loved and appreciated this list—we’re keeping our desire to ditch suburbia to ourselves for a myriad of reasons—so when the holidays roll around, I am especially a black sheep when I request clutter-free or NO gifts from our family. Luckily, I’ve converted both sides of the family toward the “no adult gifts—kids only” mentality—but it’s hard to keep excess from others in check.
James and I bit the bullet and bought our first camper last week—a Livin’ Lite Quicksilver 10.0 . We’re in love. We’ve decided that we need to be exploring “in the meantime” and while we love tent camping, a small camper makes camping so much more accessible since we can more or less hitch up and go and just repack clothing and food each trip. We’re beyond excited—and we’re spending our first trip in the camper this weekend at Wickham park. We thought it’d be nice to be close to home the first time we use the rig.
Still loving keeping up with you guys via the blog and Instagram. ; )
The year we hit the road I should have requested IKEA gift cards. It was the best place I found to get organizers and bins that fit well in our rig. For the kids, our parents gave blank notebooks so they could keep travel diaries. Memory cards for cameras, money toward good off-site photo storage websites (because the free sites are limited and you’ll run out of space quite fast). Heated mattress pads, because RVs are not well insulated and this will keep you from ripping through propane as fast.
Good ones Jenni! I had heated mattress pads on the list before I thought about the National Parks Pass.
Tristan - way cool! MsBoyink grew up camping in a tent camper. Have a great weekend @Wickham!
I love this list. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comments guys - glad to know it’s helpful!
As a future full time RVer, this is incredibly timely! Love the shoe rack idea. We are preparing for our RV adventure by asking for gifts like a french press for our coffee, electric tea pot, collapsable pots and pans…it’s amazing how much of the things we use in traditional kitchens can get micro-ized for use in small spaces! :)
Thanks! Glad it helped!
Enjoy the info. We move into 5th wheel Feb 1 full time. Millie works tell April 1 then we will see what is out there Been planning for years Can not wait for the experience Enjoy your e mails. Ronny
Awesome - good luck on the launch!
High on my list is a telescopic ladder for my 5th wheel.
Michael - this is unrelated to the content of your post here, but as someone who struggles with retaining what I’ve read (I have ADHD), I absolutely love how you format your posts. I can skim and still understand the whole of each post. Now if you could just reformat all the books I’d like to get through…. Ha!
Thanks Jessica - it’s not just you.
Usability studies find that people skim more on the web - which is why we try to break up our posts with lists, quotes, subheadings and short paragraphs.
Just don’t look at the older stuff - we’re trying to go back and edit the older content but there’s about 4 years worth to go through..:)
Glad you noticed and thanks for the comment!
Love that wooden block leveler, did you make that?
@Nathan - yep. Got tired of playing Jenga with a collection of scrap wood. Wasn’t my job when the boy was with us, but when it became my job I needed a better idea..;)
I’m not a graphic designer or in any way visually creative so I would have loved the gift of help from someone with those skills to create a traveling logo and/or web page graphic. They could also help create cool travel “business” cards a la the Bareneckers.
While we traveled the kids often asked for a deck of cards from the tourist shops (we play quite a few card games). So this Christmas I created a custom set of playing cards for each of them featuring 54 pictures from our travels with said logo/graphic as the card back. So perhaps someone with access to your pictures could do that as a gift.
loved the ideas
Huck -
Love the card idea!
Pam -
Thanks.
This is an incredible list of resources! Thanks so much for posting.