TOS Review: Travel Kits

Nearly eight years ago now, I had this ingenious little idea. I was looking ahead at a nine (count 'em--nine) day cross-country move with Jo, Atticus, and Logan. At the time, my little angels were 5, 2.5, and 4 months. And you know, nine days in our Volvo 240 station wagon were sounding more like a challenge than an adventure, if you know what I mean.

So I had this idea: I'd gather a batch of fun little survival goodies. I'd wrap each of them in colorful paper, and even put some cute ribbons on them. Then, as the trip wore on, I'd slowly dole out the treats ... one by one.

I went to work. I got a box of those little fruit gummy snacks that I never buy, opened it up and wrapped each individual packet. I raided the dollar store shelves for light-up pencil toppers, post-it notes, cheap toys, etc. I bought beads to string, lacing cards, lap-sized puzzles, candy bracelets, wiki-stixx. It was a whole load of stuff, and to be honest, Mr. Blandings blanched when he saw me haul my box of treasure into the front floorboard of the already groaning Volvo.

"Seriously?" he asked, "We need all of that?"

Oh, baby, did we ever.

It was that box of goodies that saved the day on more than one occasion. We made it to our destination (WA) none the worse for the wear. And folks, we didn't (and don't) even own one of those dvd players for the car.

You know what would have made my trip west even more fun, though? If someone else had blessed us with those little doo-dads. And that, my friends, is the premise of The Old Schoolhouse's ebook Travel Kits. For $12.45 you get detailed instructions on how to pull together a fun, functional assortment of specialized goodies to literally bless the socks off of a family undertaking a long road trip, a novel vacation, a cross-country move ... whatever the circumstances are.

Travel Kits offer creative tips on what kind of container to use (my cardboard box wouldn't make much of an impression when held up against some of these neat ideas), how to include something special for mom and dad, and how to make the most of the individual event. It's a sweet "how-to" guide that your whole family will be excited about putting into action, especially since the kids can be actively involved in pulling together little lovies for their friends and family, too.

Having read this ebook, I'm inspired to revisit the idea of the blessing box for the sheer joy of sharing with others. Now I just need a friend to hit the road ...

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this product for review purposes. Refer to my general disclaimer for more information on my policies regarding reviews.