Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Travel Kits ~ A Simple Way to Bless Others.



We spent our 5 week Christmas holidays on a road trip with 3 three little ones camping in our camper trailer. We stayed in free National Parks which means drop toilet and no showers. Me and my empty softdrink (soda pop)bottle became best friends as I would fill it where ever I could find fresh water and use it to have cold 'showers'. Anyway having this experience still fresh in my mind I read Travel Kits with interest. This E-book is available online from The Old School House Store and is jammed packed with ideas for you to use to put fun 'Travel Kits' together. These can be for either yourself or others hence the title 'A simple way to bless the lives of others'.


It's filled with lots of great ideas to use whether you or someone you know is going on a long vacation or a weekly trip to Grandma's. This book is written more in a conversational context which after 93 pages I found a little arduous to get through, but Donna Rees the Author puts it right up front. She said:

"For those of you who like to “cut to the chase,” here’s an overview of travel kits. You can read it and totally
understand the basic concept. Then, you can just skim the rest of the content, reading the subheadings and
looking at the pictures, and you’ll be ready to get started. Some of us, though, like to read the details, go
back and underline and take notes, and then get started. So, for the fast starters, read this part first and then
explore selectively. Everybody else, start here and then read on to learn a lot more details and hear about a
lot more ideas. But whatever your style is—have fun!"





Before shot



Well fun we did have!! We decided to send a Missionary Care Package to one of the Missionaries in our ward who's serving in the USA. We used the essence of Donna's book which gave us so much to work with. We boxed up lots of little gift's that we added a spiritual thought or just wrote something on it.



We included things like:

glue stick - stick at it.
4 packets of Life Saver lollies - the message you bring will tie families together forever.
Hand wipes - clean hands & pure heart
Block of chocolate- serving a mission will bring you the sweetest rewards.
Extra Chewing Gum- we are always blessed when we go the 'extra' mile.

We also included a rocket toy (made out of foam) that I could just see the boys aiming it at each other!! Razors, post it notes, pens, Oreo's which is so American I realize. You get the idea. Just lots of little fun & yummy things for him.





Donna Rees has included lots of pictures in her e-book to give you great idea's to make up travel kits. In the final chapters Donna adds things like tourism websites, how to get the car ready and great travel ideas for you to follow if traveling with kids of all ages.

I found though that I had quite different ideas on suitable gifts/items for a travel kit which is probably why we went with the Missionary Care Package. I would never include food. To me, food equals energy. When we traveled we kept the food Low GI and never had lollies. I would hate to have the car full of wrapping paper and lots of little toy parts floating around the floor. Donna Rees adds all those concerns in this book. She reminds you to be mindful of the recipient and their needs. She also brings attention to allergies and suggest that you check with the parents on some things.




This book is available online for US$12.45 and I would recommend it for those looking for something on this topic. My kids enjoyed putting this together and I'm sure you would too.


Click here for a sample of what you can find in the book.

Disclaimer: I received this product free to review as part of The Oldschool House Review Crew.

4 comments:

Denise said...

Awesome job! Being the night owl that I am, I am sitting here at 12:40 am reading everyone's reviews! LOL

Cheryl said...

Stopping by on the blog walk. Great Job on your review!

Rachel said...

Nice review. I'm just reading through a few of my fellow mate's blogs.

Catherine said...

I like your review. That was a great idea, to make one for a missionary. The photos are a nice touch.