Jim and Barb’s Favorite Things

Because we are famous like Oprah, we thought the world is waiting with bated breath for our list of Jim and Barb’s Favorite Things! (Contains Affiliate Links) Having been on the road almost 4 years we have bought a lot of things for both everyday living or entertainment. Some of them are okay, some have been flops and some we absolutely love!

So with Christmas approaching, we thought it timely to create a list of our 10 favorite things along with a few items that we are sorely disappointing with that we will never buy again. I may have mentioned a couple of these items in previous posts, that just goes to show you how happy we are with them. And bonus, if you buy off the accompanying link you not only get the great product, you also support us and our blog!

So with no further ado, here it is…

By far Barb’s favorite purchase this year was her InstaPot. Over the past year almost all of our RV friends and several of our non-RV friends have become members of the InstaPot community. I describe it as a combination crock pot/pressure cooker that reduces cooking time without comprising flavor. As a frequent boondocker cooking time and how much power we are using is always top of mind and this item seems to be the ticket.

Her second favorite item is her Dyson Animal Stick. This is actually her third vacuum in as many years. Our rig came with a built in system which just did not cut it. Her next vacuum was a bigger bulkier unit that did okay but just took up too much room. The Dyson Animal Stick has great suction power, is cordless and takes up very little room in the rig. Barb said she would not go back to a traditional vacuum again.

Her third favorite item takes us back into the kitchen. When I asked her to list her favorite items I really did not see this one coming. She absolutely loves her magnetic measuring spoons. When asked why this made the list, she said she just loves the way that these nest together and take up very little room in the drawer.

Her next item may appear to be Christmas related but she actually uses them throughout the year anywhere we are set up for a week or two. Solar String Lights are a great way to light up your perimeter any time of the year. Barb puts ours around our sunscreen when we are in Quartzsite and on a tree/bush during the holidays. She just ordered more of these as Dakota took out our most recent set by running through them and dragging them behind her. 

Daisy said I just HAD to include the next item. Daisy is really rough on her toys. We have bought numerous stuffed toys for both her and Dakota and they usually have them torn apart in a day, two tops. That is until we discovered goDog toys. These things are virtually indestructible and is now the only toy we buy for the dogs.

Our favorite thing for Dakota is not her favorite thing but we really like it. She sheds like crazy and because her hair is so light it shows up everywhere. So one of my daily….. weekly…… once in a while duties is to brush her with the FURminator. It works great and really helps keep the shedding down to a minimum. 

I know you are all wondering “What are Jim’s favorite things?” Well my favorite thing is sitting on the couch next to me and is not available on Amazon. As matter of fact she is not available at all so I will tell you few of my other favorite things. (It just dawned on me that I did not make her list of favorite things, I was actually beat out by measuring spoons! )

The first is my camera. Fellow fulltimer Ingrid takes incredible pictures with this camera so I bought one so I could take some too. Although not up to her standards I am very happy with my Lumix FZ200. Not the newest model in this line but affordable and easy to use.

But what to do with all those pictures after you take them? This leads to my last two favorite things. The first is an external hard drive. We actually have a couple as we don't feel comfortable saving all these memories and other important files on just one storage unit and we try not to save too many pictures on our computer itself. 

The last thing is pretty simple actually. It is a 5x7 picture frame where we can display some of our favorite pictures. Ours is a clip on style where we can just clip the picture on the frame so it is easy to switch it up when a viable replacement is taken.

But wait, those of you who are paying attention know that was only 9 items. Well my last favorite item is something I have not found yet and leads me to our first least favorite thing. We hate, absolutely hate our water hoses. They are the same ones offered at every RV store, Walmart or anywhere else you buy RV related equipment. They are stiff, they are impossible to roll up when cold and heaven forbid you ever kink them. They are totally worthless. So my last favorite thing is a kink free/tangle free drinking water safe hose. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. 

Our other least favorite thing is Barb's camera. We have bought two of these, the same model in the past couple years. It is the Lumix DMCZ550. I know others have had great luck with them but in both cases dust has gotten behind the lens creating spots on the photos and grit in the zoom mechanism preventing it from operating properly. We have taken them into and called repair shops trying to get them cleaned and were told the labor cost would not be worth it. Barb attempted to take apart her first one to clean it (It is now in multiple pieces in a plastic bag and is why we bought another one). So we are once again in the market for a small pocket camera for Barb. Recommendations are welcome.

Well there you have it, that's our list. We would love to hear what some of your favorite things are as we don't know what we may be missing. If these items are not up your alley and you shop Amazon, we would appreciate it if you would use the link on our sidebar when you do your shopping. It does not cost you anything additional and helps support our blog!