What I got for christmas: travel themed presents

First things first, this is NOT a sponsored post. I am however, enrolled in the Amazon Partner program and you can find the items listed here on Amazon. If you choose to purchase them via my site, I will get a tiny (And I mean tiny) amount from them for advertising. Other than that, Amazon or the companies listed here did not influence my opinion in any way. I just happen to like their stuff. 

Phew, now that that is out of the way, let me tell you what I got for christmas and why. Why? Yes, I feel the need to explain myself a bit here because these may not be the presents you would expect a girl to get. 

First off, we keep it small for christmas. Or well, relatively small. My parents usually spend around 100 euros for my brother and me and about 50 for the mister. My mister and me set a limit of 10-15 euros for each other. We could afford to give more, but we believe that christmas is about spending time together and being happy and cozy rather than showering each other with... well... stuff. 

We also visit aunts and uncles and some friends around this time of year and we agreed to not give each other presents at all. Instead, we throw potlucks and each of us contributes a dish to the gathering. This way, we can stay clear from accumulating crap we do not need or buy things we are not sure of the other really needs aka we give crap to others. Enough of the waffling, on to the things I did receive as presents.

Before christmas, my parents and the mister asked me what I wanted to have and I specifically asked for these items so I knew they would be put to good use. We are planning on traveling a lot next year, including city trips, hiking a trail and going to the USA, and all presents reflect this. I wanted to build a good foundation for traveling light and organized. 

First off, my Mister got me two Go Toobs from humangear, a small and a large one:

The small one holds 37 ml, the larger one 89 ml. They are made of a very flexible silicon and have a wide opening so you can easily fill them. They are also dishwasher-proof and thus can be thoroughly cleaned after use. They squeeze well so you can get every last drop out and are TSA approved. The small one holds my shampoo now, the larger one my body lotion. I also plan on getting another one for shower gel and I am all set.

Next, my parents spoiled me a bit. Here is what I got:

First off, they got me the Esbit cookset:

The cookset is available in a smaller and larger version. As we are traveling with the two of us, we got the bigger one with a max volume of 800ml in the larger pot. This set is incredibly light (417grams), made from aluminum and can be operated with two different fuel options, solid fuel or alcohol. The pot is big anough to cook some soup or pasta or boil water for coffee and tea, the little pan is nice for frying up some eggs or sausages and also serves as a lit for the larger pot. All handles are insulated and stay in place after unfolding and the whole shabam comes with a lightweight mesh packsack. The perfect little cookset for our hiking adventure.

My parents also got me three packing cubes from Eagle Creek:

Top to bottom: the clean dirty half cube (25.4cm), thetube cube (33cm), and the clean dirty cube (36cm). Both clean dirty cubes consist of two sides, a clean one with a mesh surface on one side and on the other side a "dirty" part made from water and odor-proof material that will hold everything from dirty underwear to wet swimsuits and what have you. The tube cube consists of only one side and is ideal for packing underwear, socks and workout clothes. I measured my suitcase before asking for the cubes and told my parents exactly what I wanted so they will fit together. They have traveled with me for New Year's already and I love them. They compress your clothes a bit so you could get away with packing a bit more, too. But most of all, I like that they leave your suitcase organized.
You can also use the clean dirty bags the other way around. I plan on taking the smaller one with me on the hike and pack my clean stuff in the waterproof part to protect them from rain. When I want to change clothes, I can just grab the cube from my backpack. No more digging for stuff and no more pierced ziploc bags, hallelujah! In fact, when the cubes arrived, my mom thought they were brilliant and will now get some herself ;)

So this is it, some useful christmas presents for the traveling minimalist. Happy, happy me! Thank you again, dear family and mister!