Pack it in a travel size and wrap it with a bow

Years ago I realized that I would pretty much buy anything in a travel size. Or sample size. It doesn't matter what you want to call it, but if you shrink the package it's in my basket. Every year Bath & Body Works sells a bag full of samples for like $20 and I'm standing in line to buy it. Every year. I have bags to hold my bags.

So when I read about Birchbox. I squealed. I get a box of samples EVERY MONTH? Free shipping? NO TAX???? How fast can I sign up. Turns out not so fast. There is a wait list and it took me several weeks before I was able to sign up. I immediately got the full year (with one free month). I was thrilled to get a box today (even if the theme is a TV show I never watch...Gossip Girl).

These sizes look small but the goods are quality. The moisturizer is $90 full size retail and I got 1/4 full size. Which means this little jar more than made up for the $10 I paid for the box! Not bad, right? Except I'm not the biggest fan of anti-aging products for my face. But I'll use it on my neck which needs all the anti-aging I can probably find!

The things I love best about travel size is they are small (duh, right!) but that means they take up little space in luggage and you can try different products for different locations when you go to various countries. My last trip to Paris and Morocco needed vastly different products for the two locations and full sized for both would have been too cumbersome.

I'm thinking I'm going to love this company!

Travel With a Purpose: Perspective

Matt Long's post today is about Poverty Tourism. It struck a chord with me because I have a tendency to find myself in poverty sections of places I am visiting, because I want to get away from tourists. I don't have a lot of pictures of those events though. This post made me really think about why. I think asking people to be in pictures can have a dehumanizing effect. Like they are part of the architecture or the setting. It's why my aunt got yelled at when we were in Marrakech because she took a picture of a donkey and the man on the phone thought she was taking a picture of him. It's why Said told us to ALWAYS ask permission before taking pictures of the people in Morocco. A simple wave to the camera and a gesture to the person will do. And if they say "no" you still smile and thank them. Because they are people too.

I'm posting this today on Travel With a Purpose because it makes me really think about why one spends time with people during travel. If and when you do volunteer, do it with the right heart and mind. It isn't a show. It isn't entertainment. But don't do it with pity. Do it because we are all stuck on this Earth going through this thing called life, doing it the best we can. Let it be something that bridges you to others. Something that makes you realize that your problems aren't more than others. But they aren't less either. Take a second each day to thank the Lord for the problems you have. And the problems you don't have and then figure out a way to solve them.

And when you figure out how to deal with one problem, send up a prayer that the people you meet in your travels have found a way to deal with theirs.

Travel With a Purpose: Global Volunteers

I love that Global Volunteers doesn't charge double for two weeks. The cost of one week in some cases is the same as two weeks. But you know what I think is the best part of this company. They have opportunities here in the United States! This way you don't spend all your money getting to a destination and for people who aren't as interested in international travel can still experience different cultures within their own country. And help out, because that is what is so addictive!

For $995, you can help for a week on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, and in this project children are welcome to join their parents. How educational and eye-opening would that family vacation be???

Wage Peace Through Service. Leave Your Mark on the World.