Each year we have learned better ways of doings things and what items to bring on the trip. This is probably one of my favorite post of this series because I hope it’s able to help someone else who is planning a trip like this. Let’s dive in!

Bikes: Without bikes, this trip would be very trying on my fitbit! We have had to travel miles in some places to get to our overnight accommodations. The bikes are also very handy in getting around the towns we’re visiting!

Bike locks: We bought a three pack of bike locks that all work with one key. We originally thought we would each use a lock on each of our bikes. Because these were so long, we were able to share one. This actually worked out perfectly because we were able to use the other two to secure things on the boat (fishing rods, coolers, etc).

Bike phone holder: The first year I biked around, holding my phone in my hand with GPS open, and I almost ran off the road more than a few times. On our second trip, I brought this along and it made life so much easier on our bike rides!

Bike seat cover: Ok. I promise, I’m almost done with bike stuff. I bought this waterproof cover for my bike seat. Rusty still refuses to get one because he thinks it’s ridiculous but I prefer not to walk around with a wet butt after our bikes get rained on. Just saying…

Backpacks: Specifically, we purchased these backpacks! Unfortunately this one is unavailable currently but this one is very similar. The first time we did this trip we had duffle bags. Let me tell you, duffle bags are not easy to carry on a bike! I found this backpack for our 2017 trip. We only ordered one since this was a shorter trip and we were able to share (along with a few other small bags). We still have that original one and got another one in 2018. These bags are awesome and they were very affordable! Don’t get me wrong- I love my North Face backpack but didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a larger pack. These have several compartments, a rain cover, and are super comfortable!

Packing cubes: This was a new one for me last year. It’s hard staying organized in a backpack so I wanted to try these packing cubes. I was able to fit all four perfectly in my 60L pack. This made finding things in my bag SOOO much easier! Rusty even liked them and we just got him a set for this year!

Portable steamer: I hate ironing, even at home. When you pack so many clothes in one backpack, things are going to get wrinkled. I do roll my clothes, but some of my stuff still wrinkles. This probably isn’t a necessity but I think it will probably make it on this trip, too.

Selfie stick: My brother is totally rolling his eyes at me but let’s face it, I want pictures of us on our trip and don’t want to bug strangers the whole time. Granted, if there are people around, we do ask to avoid the embarrassment of whipping out the selfie stick.

Flag: Most people doing the ICW/Great Loop will fly a flag from where they are from. We fly an East Carolina University Flag since we live in Greenville, NC and went to ECU.

Itinerary binder: This was a first for us last year but I really liked having it! I created a guide for our trip that would make coming into each stop easier. Each destination had a page laying out where we were docking, where we were staying, check-in times, phone numbers, marina maps, BoatUS discounts and any other helpful information. Not having to Google numbers or marina maps as we’re approaching saved us a great deal of stress. When you radio in and they tell you dock C, you know exactly where that is. I also left room on each page to write about restaurants and things we did to reference back when people asked about our trip. I also included the next day’s drive time so we would know what time we needed to leave.

Items we’re buying this year include:

Snorkel gear: Since we’ll be down in the beautiful water of the Keys, we decided to purchase some snorkel gear.

Phone accessories: I’m sadly super paranoid about my phone going overboard. My iPhone is “water resistant” but not sure how much I trust it. I’m thinking about getting this phone pouch, take off the strap it comes with it, and attach this floating wrist strap.

Bike tire lights: My cousin has these on her beach cruisers and I thought they would be good to have to keep us visible at night and because they’re super fun!

Bike covers: Each year we do different things to prevent the bikes from scratching or scuffing the boat. This included towels between the tires and the boat, and socks on peddles. This was becoming a hassle because even with bungees, towels would fly and tires would scuff the boat… it was just a mess. So, we came across these and they just came in. I think they’re going to do the trick!!! Yes, they’re crazy looking but we don’t want to mess up our pretty girl!

Have other product recommendations? Drop them below!