Every year at the holiday season, we get asked what are ideal gifts for RVers. Whether you have a RVer on your holiday list you are shopping for, or are a RVer looking for ideas to suggest to your friends & family … this guide is for you.
Considerations When Gifting an RVer
Giving gifts to full time RVers can be a tricky endeavor – for they have so little space to store things. Most RVers have painstakingly gone through everything they owned and purged most of it to be able to travel full time.
- If there’s something they need, they probably already have it.
- If they need it and they don’t have it, it’s probably because they’ve not yet found the exact RIGHT thing.
- And if they don’t need it, they don’t have room for it.
If you give them something they don’t need, it’s not just a matter of them sticking it the basement until that day they might be able to use it. They really don’t have room to put it anywhere.
If you’d like to give a gift that a RVer can utilize – ask them what’s on their acquirement list. They can probably provide you with exact model numbers they’ve researched that will fit in their space.
We keep a list of our Mobile Gear here on the blog – but don’t specifically recommend just going out and buying any of that stuff for your RVer unless they have specifically asked for it.
Carefully consider any gift to a RVer for if will they have room for it? Is it breakable? Will it serve a needed function?
If you don’t have ideas for a useful gift for the RVers in your life; they’ll probably much more appreciate a gift card, act of service or a video chat.
Note to our fellow RVers: You can also do your part to avoid receiving stuff you can’t use – remind your loved ones of your limited space and that you really do want less ‘stuff’. Offer to provide ideas for stuff you actually can utilize, such as keeping an Amazon wish list.
Gift Ideas for RVers
So what are some things that a RVer might appreciate and that won’t take up a ton of space? Here’s some ideas:
Memberships
Memberships to various clubs, groups and resources can be of great value to RVers, and take up little space while enhancing their travels.
Of course, you’ll want to check in to see what memberships they already have – because two is not better than one.
Passport America – $39
Passport America members enjoy 50% discounts at RV Parks across the country. There are limits on the number of nights, and blackout dates – but it’s very worthwhile. We use this discount quite often, and we’ve more than paid for the membership cost in our savings. (This is an affiliate link, and will net us a $10 credit towards our renewal if you purchase.)
America the Beautiful Pass – $80
This is an annual park pass that gives the owner free entrance to most national parks, forests, BLM Land and monuments. This can be a huge money saver for RVers, and because we always keep one of these passes, we never hesitate to route through our gorgeous national park lands. Keep in mind that seniors can buy this pass for $10 for their lifetime, so many over 65 already have it.
Did you know that your local zoo, aquarium or museum may be part of a nationwide network? If you get an annual pass to your local organization, often times the pass also includes free or discounted access to the entire national network. Us travelers get to benefit by increasing our exploration in new locations and you get to support a wonderful resource in your community. A win-win!
Clubs
There are many organizations that cater to RVers that will give the RVer in your life access to discounts, road side assistance, services and even lots of potential junk mail. Some such larger organizations include FMCA, Escapees, Coach-Net and Good Sam. And there are membership sites run by independent tiny businesses that provide access to directories of overnight RV options including: Overnight RV Parking, Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts. There are also non-RV clubs like shopping wholesalers (Costco, Sam’s Club, BJs, etc), massage chains and gyms that are nationwide enough that might be good values for RVers.
eStuff
Gifts that are digital make great gifts and only take up a fraction of hard drive space.
Digital Goods
Music, movies, apps and books in a digital format take up no physical space, and make great gifts! Many stores that sell them allow you to pick out specific content to gift, or you can buy a gift credit to allow your recipient to choose what they want. We love keeping iTunes credit on account for all our iDevices.
And for the nomad wanna-be in your life, giving them a copy of our No Excuses: Go Nomadic or The Mobile Internet Handbook is a swell idea.
Movie Rentals
Gift credit to DVD rental services like Netflix and Redbox can be wonderful assets to RVers. Many Redbox kiosks are at overnight free parking spots at Walmarts or even in walking to distance to campgrounds – making it super easy to grab a newly released flick for the night. And the Netflix DVD mail service is surprisingly easy for RVers to keep up with, and offers a wider range of content from movies, concerts, documentaries and TV shows. Unless your RVer has regular access to an uncapped internet source however, membership to a streaming service may not be as useful.
Charitable Contributions
If the RVer in your life supports a cause, perhaps consider making a donation in their name? Of course, do your due diligence to make sure the organization meets your & their requirements for a ethical, well-run organization.
Intangible Gifts
A lot of things we appreciate most these days are not things found on store shelves.
Acts of Service
Do you have a special skill that could aid the RVer in your life? Maybe you’re handy with wood, appliances, plumbing, technology or mechanics? I bet the next time your RVing loved one passes through town they’d love some help with a project. (We know we do!!) Or maybe you can hook your RVer up with some free RV parking, use of your laundry facilities, some blazing fast WiFi, personal tour of your favorite thing in town, hot tub, home cooked meal or a unique experience?
Rendezvouses & Keeping in Touch
Make a point to reach out to them – they may not be on your daily radar because they’re not always nearby, but knowing you’re thinking about them really is appreciated. Most likely, they’d love to get a non-Facebook version of what’s up in your life – just like you might have used to share regularly. And we have so loved when family and friends know where we might be headed and make an effort to meet up with us. Whether we’re visiting their town, or they’re on a trip of their own – getting to reconnect with loved ones is part of the joy of our lifestyle.
Edible Gifts
Gifts that can be consumed – like food and booze – also can make great gifts. They’ll take up space at first, but if it’s something yummy that problem won’t last long. As with any food gift, make sure you know of any food restrictions before gifting.
Stocking Stuffers
Small stuff can be a lot of fun to give, doesn’t take up much space and can be quite affordable!
Roll of Quarters – $10
Seriously. For us RVers without laundry machines in our rigs, a quarter can be worth its weight in gold. Why? It’s the only currency a RV Park laundromat will take. When we pull into a campground after office hours with no clean underwear left – it’s not about the actual dollar amount charged, it’s about the number of quarters we have available. One quarter can make all the difference. Increase joy (and clean underpants) in the world – and gift quarters!
Gift Cards
Since I hit the road, I’ve found I actually rather appreciate gift cards now. They take up no space, and allow us to choose what fits in our space when we need it. We keep an active Amazon Prime account, which gives us free 2-day shipping on anything they stock – so Amazon gift cards are something we’ll always make use of. And a pre-paid fuel card? Oh yeah, that’ll make any RVer’s heart sing!
Cat Treats
Kiki would like to add that cat treats, catnip and cat toys make great gifts! Even if your RVer doesn’t have a cat, they are sure to rendezvous with us, and Kiki has an *entire* cat treat drawer to fill up. So yes.. cat stuff. Lots of it.
Gifts for Dreamers
If you have someone on your shopping list who is currently in the preparation phase of hitting the road, it may be even more difficult to shop for them.
Unless they have already purchased their RV and are actively stocking it – then they don’t even know what their storage space is yet, or what accessories they’ll need.
Any technology purchased now could most likely be obsolete by the time they hit the road.
Any membership purchases would likely be expired by then.
My suggestion would be things that help their life while they’re preparing, but yet do not add clutter to their purging chores.
Maybe gifts to help relieve stress during the prep process, such as gift certificates to things they enjoy locally – spas, massages, movies and dinners. If you’re local, perhaps experiences together to share quality time before they hit the road – tickets to a show, a local attractions or promises of time to help them run errands while they prepare.
If they’re far away, perhaps ‘to be redeemed’ experiences for when they visit during their travels. Or perhaps the gift of promising their treasured items happy new homes to help make their purging easier emotionally.
Shop Mobile!
There’s an awesome movement to support local independent businesses, instead of only shopping at the big box stores. But did you know there’s quite a number of us mobile RVing folks who are running businesses from the road?
We’re not always local to you, but we’re definitely independents.
So this holiday season, consider supporting a location independent business by Shopping Mobile! There’s some great gift ideas from mobilely made jewelry, candles, books, apps and more within these Shop Mobile guides:
Motornomadics Shop Small Travel + Art Gift Guide
Technomadia’s Shop Mobile – Nomadic Vendor Listing
We are sending you lots of warmth this holiday season, and urge you to keep the important stuff in focus. Quality time with loved ones is where the memories that last a lifetime are created. That’s our favorite kind of gift. You don’t have to beat the holiday shopping crowds to get the best deal and it doesn’t take up room.
All great suggestions! I have shared your list in my post of Favorite Bloggers Share Gift Ideas and Free Gift Tags. Thanks for all you do to help the rest of us learn the techy stuff! Cheers!
Thanks for the ideas. Good Post.
Thanks for the post, a good read. Hope you are both well and enjoying your hiatus. Take care.
Great article! We aren’t on the road YET, but will be soon.
Great ideas, all of them!
The tiny house blog posted some good ideas, too. Some, of course, were the same or similar.
http://tinyhouseblog.com/yourstory/big-holiday-tiny-houses-gift-guide-love-living-small/
Love this post! I constantly have to remind people that if I receive something, I have to remove something in order for it to fit in my teeny space.
Just a heads up – the America the Beautiful pass for seniors is for 62 years old and older, not 65, as you’ve indicated above. Granted, most of your readers are probably out of that demographic but I personally am counting the days until I can get one (191 as of today!) because it’s probably the best thing going for us old(er) folks 🙂
Thanks for a great blog!
Oops nevermind, the answer was right in your post, doh! That will teach me to read rather than skim.
Do you guys get a referral benefit for Passport America if we go through the hotling above? We are about to join and we like to provide some bonus to those that have educated and helped us whenever possible.
Well written! We have found that the best present to receive for our lifestyle is Amazon gift cards. We are able to buy both digital and real world items throughout the year. The holidays tend to bring out the interesting in family and we have found that some passive aggressive relatives will purposely buy us very large items as a jab at the lifestyle. For example two years ago my MIL gave us a large carry on hard shelled bag and said “oh you can use it to fly back and visit us more often”. We politely thanked her for the thought and left it behind. A few months later while out for a visit she actually asked where the bag was; we laughed and suggested she may want to check her local Goodwill store. Oh how we love the holidays :).
A little tip for you about Passport America, i have found over the years that even though the book tells you that a place may only give you that rate for a certain number of days and or only during certain times,if you ask you may be able to stay longer at the discounted rate. On our way to Yuma a few weeks ago we stopped at a park in Ca. that the book says will only let you stay for one nite. There was a couple checking in ahead of me that asked if they could stay for 2 nites and the owners said that they would give them the 1/2 off rate for a month if they wanted it…..the park wasn’t even 1/2 full at the time. We are in a park in Fl. that the book says will let you stay Monday thru Thursday, not valid during holidays. I had been concerned about finding a place to stay during the Thanksgiving holiday but when we pulled in they asked how long we wanted to stay and i asked how long we could stay on the PA rate? They said “for the rest of your life if you want!”…..told them that 2 weeks would be fine and that i hope i would live longer than that!!!!!! :>)
We’ve found the same to be true at some PA parks as well – they can be rather flexible. We’ve even found parks that used to be PA members, who still offer the discount if you ask.
And we’ve also found parks that offer the discount exactly as they state. One park offered it for 3 nights, and not only where they firm in that – when we asked to extend at the full rate, they made us move spots to get out of their PA section. As the park was mostly empty, this seemed a tad silly.