Looper’s Gift Guide for 2024
The holiday shopping season is upon us, and questions always arise on what to get for Looper’s that won’t take up too much space and will also be helpful. Living on a boat means we don’t have room for excess and must be thoughtful about what we bring!
Amazon's Black Friday Week has already started. My Amazon Prime Deals page has more product recommendations from previous sales.
These are all products that we personally use and love on our boat. I hope these recommendations relieve holiday stress and give you some great ideas!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. These links do not cost you anything, but they help me continue providing you with useful Loop Life content.
For Reading & Listening
Kindles
As much as I prefer paper books, I quickly packed too many when we moved onto our boat. We have kids, we homeschool, and we all read a lot. Local libraries are visited as often as possible as we travel, but there aren’t often opportunities to take those books with us.
So, we use Kindles. Our home library uses Libby and Hoopla, allowing us to check out a huge selection of digital books and media. The kids can find graphic novels and their favorite book series, and I can download audiobooks for free to listen to while I’m at the helm.
Many options are available for Kindles, but here’s a link to the newest version of the ones we’ve had for several years.
Bone-Conducting Headphones
I’ve had my Aftershokz for YEARS and absolutely love them. The benefit of bone-conducting headphones is that you aren’t covering your ears, so you can still hear everything around you. That means you can listen to your audiobook or music but can still hear if someone in your crew calls for you or if someone is saying something on the VHF. I also frequently use these same headphones for calls for work.
Find Bone Conducting Headphones on Amazon
Earplugs
Sometimes, the noise around me is too much; it might be the wind howling, the engine running while I’m in a meeting, or just my kids having a good time. I like having my Loop Earplugs to help dampen the sharp sounds that can create unnecessary anxiety. As a bonus, I can use them with my bone-conducting headphones to lessen engine noise (or other sounds) while on a call.
Loop Earplugs come in various styles, depending on how you hope to use them, so do a little research to pick the right ones!
Journals
Looking back, I wish I had given my kids prompt journals for our Great Loop Adventure to help them capture more meaningful bits of information than, “We are in Oriental, NC today. It is hot.” And I wish I had kept a journal myself.
That’s why I put together Great Loop Journals with prompts for Loopers of all ages, from the littlest explorers to the adults. Each journal has prompts to help you come up with ideas about what to write, as well as daily entries for stats, like where you are now, how many miles you traveled, the current weather, and more.
Check out the journals on our Loop Life Academy books page here.
In the Galley
Great Loop Coffee Mug
Start your day inspired by the adventure of America’s Great Loop! Whether sipping your morning coffee, enjoying an afternoon tea, or winding down with an evening beverage, this mug is the perfect companion. Featuring a watercolor map of the Great Loop route, it celebrates the iconic journey boaters traveled along North America's scenic waterways. Sturdy and glossy, this mug will withstand your on-the-go lifestyle, whether you’re cruising the Loop or dreaming of your next adventure.
Find this mug in the Loop Life Academy Store
Deli Food Containers
This may sound silly, but these have been life-changing for us. Living on a boat, we don’t have room for random mismatched Tupperware and lids that don’t ever fit the container you pull out.
Getting these deli food containers has been absolutely perfect for us. Not only do they seem to hold tight and prevent leaks (which is excellent in a deep galley fridge where containers are often flipped upside-down as we dig for something), but they all stack together, giving three different sizes, and all the lids are the same size. These have been so convenient to store and use. We love them.
So… maybe it’s a weird gift. But we love them too much on our boat for me not to share it with you anyway!
Find Deli Food Containers on Amazon
Thermal Cooker
We are often at anchor, which means shore power is a luxury we don’t often get. Our battery bank can’t support running many kitchen electronics without also running our generator, so we cook a lot on our stove and in the oven.
Our thermal cooker has been a great kitchen item because it allows us to start food on the stove and then use the residual heat to cook the food over several hours. Think of it as a slow cooker (or crockpot) that doesn’t require power but just needs a little bit of time on the stove to get started.
I use the 5.0-quart version for my family of four!
Find Thermal Cookers on Amazon
Silicone Baking Dishes
My son loves to bake (and I love to eat the baked goods!), and we frequently have homemade bread, brownies, cookies, and more.
We started our adventure with the baking dishes we had from home but found the glass not only cumbersome but also difficult to stow safely.
We use this silicone loaf pan for baking bread and other small-batch baked goods. It is easy to squash and stuff into the small space we have for baking dishes.
Find Silicone Loaf Pans on Amazon
Spacing Saving Games
Sleeping Queens
When the kids were younger, we loved this game. It still comes out occasionally, but it may be more popular with preschool and lower elementary-aged kids. Regardless, it’s easy to learn and lots of fun!
Find Sleeping Queens on Amazon
Pass the Pigs
This “dice” game from the 1970s is very portable and a great way to improve math skills! I keep it in my backpack and pull it out if we need to wait or have downtime.
Instead of dice, you roll pigs! It’s a great way to enjoy a quick game together while waiting for food at a restaurant or just taking a break.
Portable Chess/Checkers
I’ve found chess has been really popular with not only my kids but also other kids we’ve met at coffee shops and libraries as we travel. It’s been a fun way to make a quick friend when other kids see the chess board come out and ask if they can play a round, too!
While we have a portable set pieced together from a few different gifts, this portable set on Amazon includes a roll-up mat, chess pieces, and checker pieces.
Find Portable Chess & Checkers on Amazon
Regular Playing Cards
Don’t underestimate the number of games you can play with a regular deck of cards! Check out these blog posts for some of our favorite games and how to play.
Outdoor Play
Binoculars
Whether trying to read the name of the boat ahead of you or identifying a bird on shore, a nice pair of binoculars is a must when cruising on a boat!
Camping Chair
As a parent, I often take my kids to whatever playgrounds or green spaces we can find in the coastal towns we visit. Sometimes, these parks have places where I can sit; sometimes, they don’t.
I finally bought a compact camp chair for myself, and it has been delightful to have a comfortable place to sit and read or listen to an audiobook while I watch the kids run around.
Find the Compact Camp Chair that I have on Amazon
Pickleball Paddles
We don’t play pickleball everywhere, but it’s a fun way to get some exercise and practice coordination skills, rules and teamwork with the kids. We have a pack of four pickleball paddles and also bought a backpack to fit all our pickleball gear so we can easily grab the bag and go play when we find a nearby pickleball court.
Find Pickleball Paddles on Amazon
Luci Solar String Lights
We have these lights hung in our cockpit. The solar puck recharges them daily, giving us just enough light to enjoy dinner in the evening, visit with friends, or play a board game.
Sometimes, we also leave them on in our cockpit when we take the dinghy to shore to give us a little light in our boat when we return!
Find Luci Solar String Lights on Amazon
More Essentials
Under Cabinet Light
We use this light in our galley and in the spice cupboard, but it can be helpful in many spaces on a boat. Wherever it’s hard to see, and you find yourself turning on your phone’s flashlight, consider adding one of these lights.
The light has magnets that you can mount anywhere and have it set to automatically turn on with motion (like opening a cupboard door). It can be recharged with USB-C cords and works excellently.
Find Under Cabinet Lights on Amazon
Rechargeable Headlamp
Headlamps come in handy in all sorts of circumstances! Hand-free light is useful whether working on the engine or navigating at night.
Did I miss anything? What would you most look forward to under your tree this year? Comment below and let me know!
