My annual gift guide has a theme that’s genuine to what I’ve come to know, own, test and love this year. I do not give recommendations based on free samples or paid promotion, unlike swag you see on most roundups. I guide you by telling stories and gabbing about things I actually like and use. In years past, I’ve recommended gifts for children, workout gear, and travel. Allow me to get personal to explain why this year’s Holiday GG is for outdoor adventurers.
At this time last year, I was putting the finishing edits on my first self-published book. The journey was like summiting Everest without oxygen. “Sweat with Brook Benten” is my greatest professional work. I would have liked to hunt down every woman who devoured “Girl, Wash Your Face,” and force her to read my book! Settle for more! Get to work! But that didn’t happen. I wrote SWBB not only to move women to change (people resist that), but because I like creative writing. I’m driven to help people, but underneath that there’s personal gratification. It’s the only way to make a difference without grieving people’s spirits with the heavy burden of my expectations.
Post-book era was a blank slate for me to figure out- now what. My spouse, Daniel, listened. Then benevolently offered this, “All the time you spent sitting and working on the book took you away from what you really love: being active. What if you just trained. You’ve still got it. When you do your thing, man, it’s incredible.”
Huh. “Just trained?” No one knows me better than Daniel and he wasn’t wrong. I did want that. And I’m tired of women my age buying in to a fallacy that their best days are behind them. I wanted to prove to myself that I can still accomplish great things, athletically. I also wanted to set an example for other active aging women that if I can do it, she can, too.
Triathlons and trail running became the apples of my eye. Exercise physiologists know there’s benefit to being outdoors. The extent of those benefits is beyond science. We know it works and cannot even measure the breadth and depth of how expansively it works. I knew that I wanted to pursue adventures that were going to put me outside most of the time. (Even when I do strength training, it’s outside!)
Triathlons appealed to me because they’re multi-sport events that take discipline to get right.
Trail running appealed to me because they’re technical and scenic. My spirit animal is a deer. I feel at home when I’m gracefully trekking trails.
I didn’t want to pigeon hole my 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to triathletes and trail runners. Our activities appeal to a niche demographic, and that niche tend to already have all the gear necessary for the sports. (Have you ever seen a triathlete without ALL the things plus the SUV to haul it?) To make this blog useful to everyday folks, here are my tip top recommendations of gifts for outdoor adventurers.
EXPERIENCES
ADERO Scottsdale Resort
The undeniable best gift for an outdoor adventurer is adventure. ADERO Scottsdale Resort is named after the iconic canyon that surrounds the property and offers elevated views of Arizona’s famous Four Peaks and McDowell Mountain Range. Located in west Scottsdale, Arizona, this certified Dark Sky Community boutique resort is miles away from the shopping, dining opulence you probably think of when you think of Scottsdale. It’s situated a mere mile away from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a protected area of land with over 230 miles of trails (36 times the size of Central Park!).
The resort offers two heated pools, one suitable for lap swimming, pickleball courts, and a boutique spa that specializes in services for active individuals. The Spa at ADERO was my go-to spot of respite after competing in nearby McDowell Mountain Frenzy Trail Run. You don’t have to compete in trail running races to feel wear and tear in your tissue from outdoor adventures. Anyone who moves somewhat intensely in nature will benefit from the service that had me purring like a kitten: a CBD Bliss Massage at The Spa at ADERO. (My LMT’s name was Alyssa. Highly recommend!)
Overnight rates at ADERO Scottsdale Resort vary by season. See www.aderoscottsdale.com for rates during peak season (now!) or off-season (summer).
Is your outdoor adventurer a runner? I recommend visiting Scottsdale, AZ for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon. The fast and flat 13.11 miles begin in Tempe, AZ and travel to Scottsdale and back. The Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon series are known for organization extraordinaire and really rockin’ swag bags and finisher parties. Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon will be held on Sunday, January 19, 2025.
Is your outdoor adventurer a cyclist? I recommend visiting Scottsdale, AZ for the Tour de Scottsdale bike ride. Cyclists of all levels will take in breathtaking views through the Sonoran desert. 100KM (62 miles) or 50KM (32 miles) are optional distances. The ride is presented by the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. Registration is affordable ($125 plus fees for standard registration) and benefits 26 local charities. Tour de Scottsdale is scheduled for Saturday, April 12, 2025.
MUDGEAR
Compression Socks
I became familiar with MudGear in 2022 when attending the inaugural Sandlot JAX festival, presented by GORUCK. MudGear was an event sponsor. I was new to the MudGear scene, but my outdoorsy husband wasn’t- when I looked down at his ankles, he was sporting a pair of their boot height compression socks with the conspicuous MudGear fist logo “RUCK” on the back. MudGear builds socks, shirts, sports bras, hats, and compression sleeves for modern hybrid athletes. MudGear is the top-choice performance gear of OCR, Rucking, Trail Running, Hybrid Fitness, and Endurance athletes. Founder, Alex “Malko” Thrasher, says “We believe outdoor adventure helps to unleash everyone’s extreme inner-athlete, and we’re proud to supply the gear that helps make it happen.”
Since then, I have sported MudGear in most triathlons and worn their socks every trail run (100% of the time, whether it’s a race or a training run!), hike and swim-run. I find them comfortable, blister-preventing, durable, fast wicking, cooling, and simply: MADE TOUGHER!
My top find of 2024 has been MudGear’s Tall Compression Socks. These socks prevent rock sediment and sand from getting lodged in my socks and shoes on technical hikes or water obstacles. The snug fit around the feet, ankles, and calves makes the most comfortable go imaginable at super-uncomfortable events, like trail running! I recommend these for anyone looking for compression socks, especially on technical terrain.
MudGear Tall Compression Socks are available for $44 at MudGear.com.
POWER MUSIC WORKOUT
Motivating Workout Music
The team at Power Music, the world’s #1 source of workout music, introduced Power Music Workout and changed the beat of my workouts. Prior to Power Music Workout, I’d listen to podcasts during my adventures. I love Dr. Peter Attia’s The Drive podcast, but there’s only so much Medicine 3.0 you can listen to during all-out effort bouts before you want to– as we said in the ’90s– pump up the jam! Power Music’s scientifically formatted music helps me to stay motivated and workout longer and harder with expertly-curated playlists. Power Music Workout is available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you stream music.
Power Music Workout is available wherever music is streamed. It is included in an unlimited subscription service.
WHOLESOME HIPPY
Born to Be Wild Muscle Relief Gel
I’m an old hippy and I didn’t know what to do about proximal hamstring tendinopathy (a pain in the butt) and a bunion that keeps nudging itself further sideways. I’m living proof that you can be a middle-aged athlete. But this-or-that body part will be nagging you. (Not always this. Sometimes that. Often, this and that!) The solution I’ve found to mitigate the pain is an all-natural muscle relief gel called “Born to Be Wild.” It contains a powerful blend of Menthol Crystals, Capsicum fruit, White Camphor Oil, Sweet Basil Leaf Oil, Black Pepper, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Helichyrsum and Ginger Root. These ingredients combine to provide cooling, heating, anesthetic and anti-inflammatory effects. I apply a quarter-pump to my bunion (even the name of that ugly bone sounds disgusting), a pump where the hamstrings connect into the glutes on each side, and about half a pump to my upper traps before a race. (I try not to run with my shoulders elevated, but it’s a tough habit to break.) The numbing sensation provides real relief and also calms my overactive, hypersensitive nervous system– as if to tell my brain, “I’ve got your trouble spots covered. Chill out. We’re good here. Now race!”
If the outdoor adventurer on your list isn’t the racing-type, he or she may find it therapeutic to apply Born to Be Wild after the work is done as reward and recovery.
Born To Be Wild muscle relief gel 4oz is available for $21.99 at WholesomeHippy.com.
VOYAGER
Environmentally-Conscious Skincare
Made in Vermont with clean and conscious ingredients, Voyager claims to have engineered skincare for the real world. Voyager retinoid serums and creams are Alpine tested and science-backed to protect skin under the toughest conditions. Voyager labels their products “Outdoor Performance Skincare.”
Since I quit drinking alcohol several years ago, I’ve pretty much maintained sobriety as my skincare regime. Although refraining from dehydrating and prematurely aging skin by ingesting ethanol is a grand leap in improving the moisture and suppleness of skin, at my age, there was room for improvement.
I didn’t want to turn to Botox. I have done that in the past. It makes me feel so icky for a few days with GI distress from injecting botulinum, a toxic chemical, into my body. Plus, it’s expensive and mismatched with my devil-may-care feelings about a woman’s aging face. Getting older is a gift. Spare me as I rock my present.
That said, the hours spent outdoors every day, albeit with a hat and some SPF, were zapping the moisture out of my already naturally-dry skin. I had white flaky speckles that looked like chalk dust all over my body, including my face, when I’d turn in after gallivanting in the great outdoors. My heart was full but my skin was bankrupt.
I turned to Voyager Skincare for a simple nighttime routine. It made a world of difference in the dewy, rich complexion of my face. (Results may be more dramatic if I’d add a morning routine, too.) I apply Extremophile Matrix first. It’s a gelled active hydration serum. Next, I generously rub a coat of Dark Side of the Moon. It’s an intense overnight repair cream. The serum contains four hyaluronic acid weights and peptides. The cream contains encapsulated retinol.
Voyager Skincare offer a duo of Extremophine and Dark Side of the Moon, bundled together. Originally priced at $195, the bundle is currently on sale for $97.50 plus free express shipping at VoyagerSkincare.com.
tasc
Performance Clothing
tasc is the softest clothing I’ve ever worn. As a highly sensitive person, I’m particular about the feel of fabric on my skin. (I hear your joke: “maybe that’s why she never wears a shirt.”) tasc uses a proprietary process called BamCo to optimize the natural feel and inherent characteristics of plant-based fibers, making their fabric more comfortable and durable. 85% of tasc clothing is made from plant-based and recycled materials. Respect for the environment and a focus on sustainable solutions have been top-of-mind from day one. Every bit of the power required to run tasc’s sewing facility is generated from wind and solar energy. 95% of the water used in fabric dyeing is recovered, treated, and reused (remaining 5% naturally evaporates). All tasc products are shipped in bio-degradable bags made from corn.
tasc offers a wide variety of golf clothes. They also have an extensive line of athlesiure, tennis, pickleball, and even socks and pajamas. I wear tasc sports bras often and love to toss on a tasc bamboo tank if I’m finishing a workout and rushing to school pick-up. My husband, Daniel, often wear’s tasc men’s Carrollton Fitness T-shirt and Recess shorts on our hikes. He and I have both gotten great use out of every item of clothing we’ve purchased from tasc. The performance features last for the lifecycle of the garment.
tasc Performance Clothing offers an array of men’s and women’s collections. Prices vary. Shop at tascperformance.com
The Comfy
Wearable Blanket
Some may consider The Comfy, a one-size-fits-all massively oversized hoodie, to be an article of clothing not to be worn outside of the house- unless you’re at a peewee football game or something. Yall, I wear this thing everywhere! It’s warmer than all of my winter coats stacked together. (If the adventurer on your list has an athlete’s typical low body fat, they’ll want all the thermal help they can get. Fashion police, lock us up!) I rock this to school drop-off, HEB grocery store; I jog the dog wearing it… a friend even told me that it looks like a cape blowing in the wind when I wear it while riding my Vespa scooter. The Comfy knows what it is: totally, indulgently, sinfully, overwhelmingly comfortable. Every outdoor adventurer deserves such simple luxury.
The Comfy Original is an absolute must for outdoor adventurers. The brand has added The Comfy Dream Pants, The Comfy Dream Big Blanket, and The Comfy For Your Feet. Any of these would be jackpot wins for the outdoorsy (or just always madly cold) person on your list.
The Comfy Original retails for $49.99 at www.TheComfy.com
10 Minutes to Slim and Sober
Ten Week Wellness Program (January 13, 2025 – March 23, 2025)
This program can be done from anywhere. It’s virtual, but guided as if I were to be gabbing in your ear every step of the way.
It’s my most affordable life coaching, mindset, personal training, well-being program EVER!
10 Minutes a day of Strength, 10 Minutes of Outdoor Therapy
10 Daily Habits
10 High Fiber, High Protein Recipes
7 Dumbbell Strength Workouts
7 Walking Workouts
Accountability, Check-ins, and Video Companions
Strength will entail: Legs & Glutes Mondays, Back & Biceps Tuesdays, Heavy HIIT Wednesdays, Chest & Triceps Thursdays, Power Endurance Fridays, Hard Core Saturdays, and “Triple Treat” Sundays. These strength sessions use just one set of heavy dumbbells and can be done anywhere– in 10 minutes!
You will receive a printable PDF book with a morning routine, sobriety guidance (by changing the way your brain thinks about alcohol, you can kick the habit with zero psychological warfare about it!), the building blocks of habits that stick (psst: it doesn’t take “21” days to build a habit. Learn what it does take.), and you’ll learn to approach (not avoid) feelings plus establish and hold boundaries.
As a professional life coach, personal trainer, exercise physiologist, and nutritionist, I put all of my education together in one place to help you get well, simply.
The healthiest people are the ones who get all of these things right. The World Health Organization holds that “No amount of alcohol consumption is safe.” Normalizing not drinking is one of the ways I want to inspire a movement (a culture shift) that gets people approaching, not avoiding, their problems. My life didn’t just get a little better when I quit drinking. It got exponentially better. I want that for you. I want that for everyone. This simple program gives a way. If you join, you’re not doing it alone. Only you can do it, but we’re a team. We’ll be in it together.
Register before the end of the year and you’ll receive $70 off the program (reducing your spend per day from $4 to $3!) plus a FREE Sweat with Brook Benten audiobook and FREE Run Like a Mother 36 minute audio workout.
10 Minutes to Slim and Sober is $280 $210 if you enroll now through December 31, 2024. Register at BrookBenten.com/product/Slim-Sober/
This program makes an excellent gift for outdoor adventurers, aspiring outdoor adventurers, and those just trying to find their path.
There is no ambassador/ShareASale/Skimlinks affiliation on any of the products listed in this gift guide. These are true representations of my favorite things.
Thank you for taking the time to read what I consider to be the best holiday gifts for outdoor adventurers. You can keep up with my outdoor adventures on Instagram @BrookBenten. If I left anything off of here that’s driving you bananas, drop me a message on Instagram.
I’m aware that Happier Camper should be on the list. It’s the coolest. Those that can afford a $35,000 gift trailer don’t read my blog.
I’ll be back in 2025 with a new-themed holiday gift guide. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Yours In Wild Adventures,
