The 2022 Wanderland Holiday Gift Guide

If you all are following along on my Instagram Stories, you know that right now I’m off on a European Christmas Markets trip I have loosely planned since the beginning of the year. I have a lot to say about this trip in the near future, because it really has brought back the holiday spirit I’ve been struggling to find the last few years. 

So, I know if you follow many bloggers you may be burnt out on holiday gift guides by now — since y’all know me, I’m a last minute kinda gal! (Which is why I’m just bursting with pride that our Wander Women Retreats New Year’s cards to our customers are going out totally on time — not to brag.)

Gifting is my love language. For the same reason I love to host our retreats, there is something so special about the look in someone’s eye when you surprise them with a carefully curated surprise. When we look for gift bag items for our guests we do just that, carefully select pieces that we know they will love and work with companies whose values align with our own.

Thus, I am sharing my favorites with you to pass along to your own loved ones this holiday season — for everyone on your list. And I’ve got a lil gift for you too, within: discount codes galore!

For The Mermaid At Heart

• What is better than the gift of life as a mermaid? I mean seriously… you all know I’ve been doing my best lately to life live under the sea! Mahina Merfin were the first fin of their kind on the market and are regarded as the most functional, highest performing and safest mermaid fin available today. While it might not slip seamlessly into a stocking it will help you glide through the sea. They even have junior tails for the mini mermaids in training!

• I’m so obsessed right now with Blue Adaption swimwear! Whether you’ve got a diver, snorkeler or just general ocean lover on your gift list, you’ll find something totally original and completely crafted with love from this collection. Not sure on sizing and want to do the classic gift-card-with-something-cute? Check out founder Jamie’s shark fin earrings! Have a diver in your life? She’ll love this scuba hair don’t care top! Best of all, this is another merwoman-owned shell- business (hm, does that work as a small business joke? Ha!). 

• What to get that diver that is spending the holidays above sea level? This oh so cute Girls That Scuba whale shark beenie of course! Not only is Girls that Scuba the world’s largest scuba diving community for women but also are making products to shop for every ocean fanatic you know. 

• Mermaid Straw is a team of animal, nature and water lovers who are dedicated to cleaning up the planet and caring for the world around us. While the obvious gift grab from them is their rainbow mermaid straw, I am head over fins for their travel cutlery kits and cute apparel.

Use code “WANDERWOMENRETREATS” for 15% your entire order!

• Is that a shark doing yoga? Whoops, my finger just slipped and I added ten to cart! Fin Pin is run by two female biologists who love ocean puns and promoting an eco-friendly lifestyle. Your purchases with them help give back to wildlife conservation and scientific research. They have a wide range of products from stickers to stationary, check it out.

Don’t forget to use the code “FREESHIPSHARK” at checkout for free shipping.

For The Thinker + Drinker

Whether it’s coffee, a cocktail or just a cute cup to sip out of, we love these New York locals that will happily ship to you no matter where you call home!

• 2710 Coffee is the newest line from a family-owned business with strong roots in their community, that just so happens to be helmed by one of my childhood best friends Kenzie and her amazing sister Taylor. We’ve always been each other’s cheerleaders! They have four blends of beans available through their online shop that they are happy to ship to anywhere in the world, inspired by our gorgeous planet.

• Ninepin Cider is supporting New York agriculture by producing quality craft ciders using 100% local New York apples and fruit — and just so happens to be based all of five minutes from my childhood home. I love their light variety pack that not only tastes delicious but also comes in the cutest packaging for the ultimate gift to give to your girlies. Pick up their traditional mix to whip up some mulled cider for your next festive get together, a guaranteed crowd pleaser!

• PADI has teamed up with the Ocean Bottle to prevents 1000 plastic bottles from entering the ocean and support livelihoods at the sametime. If you have not yet found a reusable bottle that sparks joy every time you sip from it, I can highly recommend you add to cart. Part-flask and part-bottle, the Ocean Bottle is far more practical than other bottles; you can unscrew the wide mouth to fill, drink from the smaller lid or combine the two for a cup. Plus, you can easily put ice in and mix up a cocktail for the road as it’s one of the few bottles to be fully dishwasher proof.

• Whether you’re local to Upstate, New York a weekender or just a traveler passing through – this is just a very special corner of our beautiful country. That’s what Compass Life is all about celebrating, and their signature Upstate of Mind collection was born out of a need to escape the daily grind and reset. (Can relate!) I love everything in their collection but cannot help serving my guests a cocktail in their signature glassware.

Snag your swag with 10% off using the code “WWR10!”

For The Artsy One

While I could happily group myself under any of these categories, my inner art school student is incredibly drawn to our next suggestion for many of reasons!

For The Eco Warrior

In America, we throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Years than we do any other time of year. Womp womp. That amounts to an extra 50 billion pounds of trash every single year. This year, find meaningful and sustainable gifts for everyone on your list.

• 4Oceans, an Indonesia-based brand who manages one of the world’s largest ongoing ocean cleanup operations and employs hundreds of professional, full-time captains and crews who are cleaning the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines every single day. By purchasing one of their bracelets, you will remove one pound of trash from the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines.

• As the world continues to warm it has never been more important to protect our reefs as best we can. This is why I have been working with Steam2Sea for the last five years and why I love gifting these products. Their traveller pack was unanimously voted the best gift in our luxurious Maldives liveaboard and I can’t wait for you to find out why. They sell cute starter gift packs, too!

• TRSHBG is a trash collection bag, handmade of re-used materials and adorably fashionable. You can wear a TRSHBG during your dive, surf or swim and keep your hands free. You don’t feel the bag at all! Pick up plastic litter whenever you happen to encounter it, on every session. This is the perfect gift for the diver who seems like they have everything.

• I love working with Waterlust, a brand of divewear you’ve seen me in often around these parts! They’ve also launched just about the cutest giftable waterbottles I’ve ever seen this season, so you can truly match from mask to fin to pre-dive sip.

For the TLC Seeker

Okay so we all need a little TLC around the holidays, so maybe this one’s for you — you deserve it!

• I fell head over flip flops in love with Norshek this year, who believes each of their products act as an experience awakening the spirit and indulging the senses. Handmade in Egypt by a female owner company, I swooned over their wide variety of offerings on our last round of Egypt retreats. My favorites were the loose-leaf teas with reusable bags perfect for decompressing after a long day of travel.

• Waste free and fabulous – that’s the best way for me to describe everything that comes from HiBar. I have long been passionate about their solid shampoo and conditioner as an avid traveler who needs to keep my liquids low but hair standards high! This is far and away my fave set on the market, and they’ve recently introduced travel cases, making them the perfect gift for yourself or any other travel lover in your life.

• You guys know I’m Bite’s biggest fan — I’ve been hyping them up since their founder Lindsay was brewing up toothpaste tabs in her bathtub! Now, after a Sharktank round and endless other successes, they’ve expanded to take over your entire bathroom sink. Don’t miss their new refillable deodorants and body balms in sexy metal tubes — they just feel luxurious!

• We first met Milda Apothecary in my home away from home, Israel. Analise created medicine and skincare products on an organic medicinal herb farm in the Negev Desert of Israel, a part of the world renowned for their Ethnopharmacology – swoon. Her gift sets come perfectly packaged for the holidays and shipped free to your door within the US. 

For The Yogi

Know a yogi on the go, who’s trying to get into a flow? Gift her a Wander Women On Demand Retreat! These classes are still some of my favorite I’ve ever sequenced. The price works just about $10 per yoga class alone — yet you also get access to meditations, educational workshops on everything from smoothie bowls to crafternoon-ing, and a week of journaling prompts. Many of the workshops are led by the women mentioned above! And you can download them and keep them forever, coming back to your favorites over and over again. It’s also fun to do with a friend, if you want to gift a long distance bestie and have something to enjoy together, from afar, in 2023. 

Rather practice in person? Well, there’s always a Wander Women Gift Card 🙂

Believe me, I know no one is perfect — sometimes I think I may have personally sent Jeff Bezos to space. (Forgive me!) But I am setting an intention to move steadily towards buying more from small businesses and brands, and supporting other women who are waking up every morning and working from the heart on their dreams.

And aren’t the holidays a special time to do just that.

What do you think? Will any of these make it under your tree?