Five Things Gift Guide
It's the time of the year!
Hello and welcome back to Five Things!
Black Friday is tomorrow and it seems that every ecommerce site I ever ordered from now needs to send me their most amazing Black Friday deals. As every year, I sit Black Friday out. Not because I don’t like to save money, but rather that I don’t want to be rushed into shopping something just because there is some sort of deal available.
But I have an idea that might give you some inspiration for the upcoming shopping season that leads up to Christmas. Here’s the Five Things Gift Guide for you! And since it is divided into five times Five Things, I call this the Five Five Things Gift Guides. Or maybe just Five Things Gift Guide.
I picked five different categories for you and each section has five things as inspiration for you. We obviously start with books, because that’s something that everybody needs. I’m a big believer in gifting books, while I hate getting books, because it just increases the pressure that I should get more reading done. Also, I prefer reading on my Kindle, because a Kindle is so much lighter than a book, I can quickly pick a different book when I’m not in the mood for the book I’m reading right now, but most importantly: it’s not so intimidating to start a book, because a kindle always has the same thickness… The second category is running, basically because I run a lot and my wife thinks I talk about it too much, too. The third category is fashion, because secretly I’m a total fashionista who cares a lot about clothes and I am also very peculiar about the brands I wear. The next category is cooking, because I like cooking and eating. The final category is tech, because we all like personal tech stuff, don’t we?
Oh, and to get this out of the way: nobody paid me anything for putting these items on my list. If you order from Amazon after clicking on the link, I get a tiny commission fee. I have a partnership with New Balance, Acid Running and Coros, but their items were not put on this list because of that, but rather because I really like and use their stuff and I think you would to. Also, I compiled this list just for fun and to give you some inspiration. Sometimes I used the US site, sometimes the German one. The Williams Sonoma site is blocked from Germany and my VPN didn’t work, so good luck with the link.
Basically, I did this Five Five Things Gift Guides exercise because my wife asked me to compile a wishlist for Christmas with different price ranges, so she could share items from it with friends and family, and she wanted more than, I quote “just your ridiculously overpriced running stuff”. Well, I tried. And then I thought: “ha, maybe my esteemed readers would like some inspiration for the upcoming shopping festivities as well!?!” - and this is the result. Enjoy.
Five Things Books
- All the Light We Cannot See - this is a book I was not interested in reading at all, but then my wife said I should read it and wow, what a book! I’m glad I listened to my wife, again.
- On the Road - my favorite book of all times. If you haven’t read it, you should do it. Again and again. And the last paragraph is just so wonderful.
- Where Wizards Stay Up Late - if you ever wanted to know how the internet got invented, you should read this book. And even you never wanted to know this, you should read this book.
- The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners - Ultra Marathoner and Professor for Philosophy Sabrina Little tackles the big questions and looks at running as a way to living a better life.
- Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier - Kevin Kelly co-founded WIRED a long time ago and is somebody who has been thinking about the future for a long time. The older I get, the more I wish I had paid more attention to advise from smart people when I was younger…
Five Things Running
- New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 - this is the shoe I currently like the most. I liked v4 and this version is even better.
- Acid Running 2-in-1 Shorts - these shorts are amazing and I look very fast in them.
- Raide LF 2l Belt - according to all the reviews I have read, this is the best running belt out there. No bounce and you can carry everything you need. I’m intrigued.
- Coros Pace Pro - I got this watch last week and it is just plain awesome. The display is fantastic, the watch basically weighs nothing, the battery lasts forever, the GPS is very accurate, I can highly recommend this watch!
- Janji Transit Tech Pants - I wear these all the time, both for running and for walking the dog or looking good on the couch.
Five Things Fashion
- Flint & Tinder Flannel-Lined Waxed Trucker Jacket - I bought this jacket in 2018 and it just looks better the older it gets. In fact, it looks so good, that our son now likes to borrow it when he goes out.
- Blundstones - hands down my favorite boots, I have been wearing them for decades now. Sometimes it even rains in Hamburg and then they are even more practical.
- L.L. Bean Chamois Shirt - bought my first one 35 years ago, this is just a wonderfully thick shirt for when the temperatures drop. And I look like I own my own tool shed when I wear it.
- Anton Meyer Socks ROTOTO - this is a local shop in Hamburg and the style of socks reminds me of my skateboarding days wearing tube socks, just that these socks are quite a bit more stylish and also just a tad more expensive.
- Merz B Schwanen Sweatshirt - a man needs a grey sweatshirt. My wife borrowed mine a few years ago and now I feel like I should get compensated with a really nice new one from Merz B. Schwanen, but somehow this idea doesn’t really resonate with her…
Five Things Cooking
- Lodge Cast Iron Skillet - My wife gave me this skillet for christmas a few years ago and this is by far the best skillet I have ever had. I think that was also the year when I only put one item on my wish list and then acted surprised when she got what I wanted.
- Le Creuset Dutch Oven - we bought the classic round dutch oven in orange quite a while ago and I use it a lot for soups and stews and what not. I guess I like heavy equipment.
- Pyrex Measuring Jug - I just love this style. Also, the kids are getting old enough that we can hopefully throw out the cheap plastic measuring jugs.
- Williams Sonoma Silicon Spatulas - when I’m in the US I like to buy those and gift them to my wife as a souvenir (and then constantly use them while cooking when she’s not looking).
- Martha’s American Food - this is a wonderful cookbook that covers plenty of American dishes and I gave it to my wife for christmas five years ago. I have used it ever since. The book is greasy and falling apart by now, that’s how good it is.
Five Things Tech
- Shokz OpenRun Pro - you look so much faster wearing those. Honestly, I oftentimes think it would be better if I could also hear some of my surroundings while running.
- Oura Ring - this was a Christmas present from my wife a few years ago and she totally nailed it. I love the Oura Ring and I attribute plenty of smart lifestyle choices like more exercise, more sleep, much less alcohol to the ring and the app.
- Meta Ray Ban Wayfarer - I haven’t tried these glasses, but I’m seriously intrigued by what they offer already. Looking forward to the moment when smart glasses finally tell me who that person is that seems to know me and I just cannot figure out why we know each other…
- Remarkable 2 - every once in a while I think about how cool it would be to take lots of real handwritten notes. Whenever I do, I cannot read my handwriting or find the notebook. I hope this would be a game changer for me.
- Hover Air X1 - sometimes when I’m running around some really nice trails I wish I had a drone to capture some nice video of me running around some really nice trails.
Also, you could get a paid subscription of Five Things, wouldn’t that be the greatest gift of all?
Thanks for reading this festive edition of Five Things!
— Nico
Great list! I’ve been intrigued by Raide's running belt since it was unveiled, but haven’t been able to justify replacing my Naked belt (yet?).