Hey adventurers! Justin and Lindsay here, we're thrilled to share our ultimate adventure couples gift guide for 2024. After countless trails hiked and continents crossed together, we've curated a list of gear that's not just theoretical - these items have either gotten us out of tight spots or made our adventures together truly unforgettable. Let us share our favorite tried-and-tested picks!
Outdoor Adventure Couples Gift Guide 1. Essential Outdoor Tech and Navigation 2. Comfort and Convenience 3. Adventure Documentation and Memory Making 4. Camping and Outdoor Living 5. Adventure Gear and Equipment 6. Safety and Preparedness 7. Travel Convenience 8. Entertainment and Fun 9. Personalized Touches 10. Shopping Tips from Justin & Lindsay |
Essential Outdoor Tech and Navigation
Insider tip: Get one that doubles as a lantern! We take this with us on all of our camping adventures and we have yet to plug it into a wall. It re-charges in the sun! Check our our top pick here.
Justin uses his Garmin every single day to track his running, biking, and swimming activities. This one here even has solar charging capabilities so you can stay connected longer when access to electricity is limited.
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This saved our trip to Banff when we tracked down our "lost" bag that was accidentally put on a different flight. We were so grateful we could locate the bag that contained all of our camping equipment for the entire trip. 😬
Comfort and Convenience
Is there anything more annoying then when your tumbler doesn't fit in a car cup holder? Do you awkwardly hold it between your lap? or play the balancing game on the floor and hope it doesn't tip and leak? Gift your adventure partner a tumbler that will keep their warm drinks warm, cold drinks cold, and will easily fit in car cupholders for endless road trips. 🚗
We love our 400+ pound rated hammock - perfect for sunset cuddles and stargazing. Check out our top pick here! 💫
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Perfect for our romantic beach evenings, the Solo Stove Mesa is compact, smokeless, and easy to travel with. Just remember to check local rules before starting a fire!
Blankets are not all made the same. When it comes to outdoor blankets, we like them to be durable, weatherproof, insulated, and at low risk of collecting dirt. That's why we choose to take Rumpl with us on our outdoor adventures. Insider Tip: Make sure to find a blanket that allows for corner stakes, they have saved our picnics on windy beach days more times than we can count.
Adventure Documentation and Memory Making
After getting caught in a rain storm upon arriving in Dublin, we only buy waterproof journals now. We highly recommend journalling your travels, it is one of the best ways to keep you memories alive forever! Shop our favorite here.
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2. Binoculars with Smartphone Mount
We learned to get the rubber-coated ones after a few close calls with rocky terrain. Check out our favorites here, plus the tapestry strap and smartphone mount to pair! 📸
What better way to remember your travel memories, than to decorate your house with them! We've turned our favorite hiking trail maps into wall art - such great conversation starters!
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Camping and Outdoor Living
Make sure to get one with a heater - total game-changer! This one here also doubles as a great dish-washing station for car-camping or road trips.
We invested in stainless steal knives and a bamboo cutting board - lightweight and compact for all our cooking adventures. This set is the perfect gift for the travel partner who loves cooking in the great outdoors.
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Because we both agree that great coffee makes every sunrise better. Why settle for sub-par coffee just because you're traveling? Enjoy espresso wherever you go with this portable, lightweight espresso maker.
We always throw this in our pack as a 'just in case' item, but find ourselves using it it ways we never thought we would. For example, setting up our tent after arriving in the dark, hiking to a magical spot to watch the sunrise, or simply waking up in the middle of the night to stargaze. 🌌
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Adventure Gear and Equipment
Those pit zips have saved us during strenuous hikes - worth every penny! Every adventure couple needs a set of matching jackets. We highly recommend the recycled waterproof rain jackets from REI - shop mens here and women's here. Trust us, there's a difference between "rain resistant" and "waterproof". We learned that the hard way on a 10-mile hike in Glacier National Park with our rain resistant jackets that soaked through in minutes. 😅
Affectionally reffered to as our "banana boat", this has been one of our favorite investments. Inflatable kayaks means no car-racks, and minimal storage space required. We love taking this with us to explore our local lakes and rivers in Michigan.
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The built-in filters have been clutch during our off-grid adventures. We also love using LifeStraw for our European vacations, saving us from having to purchase bottled water in restaurants and allowing us to fill and filter tap water all within our lightweight water bottles.
Do you know someone who likes to capture every moment while traveling? Gift them a portable tripod that can be used to take steady photos or videos, with a Bluetooth remote for easy selfie shots or group photos. Here's the one we take with us on all of our travels, allowing us to capture group/couple photo's without the awkward selfie arm.
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Safety and Preparedness
Show your adventure partner you care with a compact, lightweight medical kit. We've personalized ours with extra hand warmers and zip ties - essential additions! Check out of top pick here!
A multi-tool is just that, a handy tool that comes in handy in multi-ple situations (okay fine, we made that up). In reality, it has multiple tools in one! Yes, we got the one with the bottle opener - perfect for summit celebrations! 🍻 Insider Tip: make sure to leave this at home when flying otherwise it may get confiscated by TSA (oops, not talking from experience 😬).
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This is one of our favorite books for learning about plants/species ahead of visiting a US national park. The information within is fascinating and truly helps us gain a better understanding of the area we are exploring. Check it out here!
Travel Convenience
If you and your travel partner are tired of e-SIMs, constantly switching out your SIMs in new countries, or overpaying for roaming fees then this could be the option for you. Most portable Wi-Fi hotspots come with a few gigs to start and then require an affordable buy-up plan when needed. Check out the one we recommend here!
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Here's the deal - not all packing cubes are made the same. To be honest, we found it difficult to find packing cubes that compressed our clothes down in order to maximize our suitcase to the fullest and travel as lightweight as possible. That is, until we found Tripped Travel Gear. The compression works so well, we can't even count the amount of times our family/friends have asked us upon arrival, "you only brought a backpack?" 😏
Here's the scoop - most people don't realize that you need to look for "dual-voltage" electronics if you plan to use them in other countries. For example, Europe operates at a higher voltage (around 220 volts) compared to the US (around 110 volts). There's nothing worse than arriving on vacation and your hair dryer doesn't work. Make sure you buy one with Dual-Voltage like our recommended travel hair dryer here.
Do you know someone who is horrible at remembering to drink water? Staying hydrated can increase your energy, reduce headaches, improve your immune system, and so much more! Consider gifting a smart water bottle to keep track of daily intake and send reminders directly to your phone on progress.
We've all been there. You're over the weight limit at the airport check-in desk and are forced to start re-arranging your checked bag and maybe even layering up to hit the weight requirements. Help your travel partner avoid this headache with a portable scale to weigh luggage on the go!
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Entertainment and Fun
Doesn't camping and board games go hand in hand? We have an extensive collection of board games, but we always like to gift each other unique games that can help us re-live our travel memories. Gift your travel partner National Park Scrabble and feel good knowing that a portion of the sale is going to the National Parks Foundation.
Built-in speakers mean movie nights anywhere - even in our tent! This one is compact and portable for on-the-go adventures and has a low-noise fan. Level up your next date night with this game changer.🍿
This idea is for the person who always prefers experiences over things! Gift them the state Adventure Bucket List from Reach International Outfitters for a year full of 50 local date ideas. 🎁
Personalized Touches
This one is for the romantics. Nothing says "I want to be your adventure buddy for life" more than a customized compass. Insider Tip: engraved yours with the coordinates of where you first met for extra romance point.
How many times have you sat near a crying baby on a flight? Never be bothered again with noise canceling headphones. Lindsay loves her Bose, especially the "aware mode" that lets her stay aware of our surroundings while still enjoying her podcasts.
The ultimate relaxation combination: black out darkness and meditation sounds in your ears. Connect via bluetooth to play your favorite sleeping podcast or soothing sounds to ensure you can get some much needed rest while traveling.
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Shopping Tips from Justin & Lindsay
Always read those negative reviews - they've saved us from some questionable purchases
Weight matters - we learned this after overloading our packs
Multi-purpose gear is worth its weight in gold
Durability over aesthetics - always!
We know this might seem like a lot, but every item here has earned its place in our adventure kit through real experience (and yes, some memorable mishaps). Whether you're shopping for newlyweds who love the outdoors or seasoned explorers who seem to have everything, we're confident these picks will help create amazing memories. After all, we believe the greatest gift for adventure-loving couples is gear that helps them experience more of the world together!
🎁 Looking for more ideas? Shop our entire Adventure Couple Gift Guide
Perfect timing for the holidays! Thanks J&L!