Because my man loved the “Open When…” letters I sent him last year, and I’m a big fan of surprises over time (instead of opening a bunch of things all at once) I decided to make him this Open When Care Package. Each envelope includes a handwritten letter and a few treats.
He’ll be away for 7 weeks with work in Africa. Most of these are practical things because he will have to carry them in his luggage (there won’t be enough time for a package to be mailed over) and he can only bring so much with him. I wanted to make sure he’d have everything he might need, and a few extras to make his time away a bit more bearable :).
Open When… You’re Missing Home Comforts
My man is a huge fan of hot sauce and beef jerky, so this travel sized hot sauce seemed perfect. Also, since I’m not sure what the food will be like out there I sent along a bit of salt & pepper to add some flavour to his meals.
Open When… You’re Thirsty
These little Robinson’s Squash mini’s are great; just one of them will flavour about 20 drinks and they’re small and lightweight to carry around. In North America, flavour crystals (like crystal lite or kool-aid) would make a good substitute.
Open When… The Bugs Are Driving You Crazy!
If you’re staying out in tents somewhere like Africa, you definitely want some quality bug spray with you (something high in deet). This roll-on 50% deet jungle formula will hopefully keep the bugs from biting my man (only I’m allowed to do that!). And for the bites and stings he might get, some soothing After Bite. Not sure if After Bite works for scorpion stings though.
Open When… You Need Some Energy! (x2)
Because living off of ration packs doesn’t sound like fun, I had to send some snacks along. I made two of these envelopes each filled with a protein bar, a granola bar, nuts and dried fruit.
Open When… You’re Bored
For the open when you’re bored envelope I included a couple silly dollar store things (a jelly alien slingshot and a whoopie cushion) plus a couple crosswords that I made online, with all the questions relating to us and our adventures together.
You can make one online right here: Crossword Maker
Open When… You’re Hurtin’
In here I enclosed anything my man might need if he’s not feelin so great. Heartburn tablets, Immodium, Paracetemol (Advil), Deep Freeze pain relieving gel (for muscles and joints) and some band-aids for blisters and cuts.
Open When… The Sun is Getting To You
While I wish there was a better option for cooling down, I thought this mini travel fan was a neat little thing to add to my envelopes plus I got it free in a buy 2 get 1 free deal with the bugspray and after bite. There’s also a cooling aerosol spray you can buy (Magicool) which I would have liked to add; not sure how well it works but wouldn’t mind trying it out.
I also sent some sunscreen along and would have liked to send aloe but had to keep my list to the essentials because of dollars, particularly my lack of dollars. And I printed some inspirational quotes as well.
I also did an Open When… it’s Your Birthday as sadly, he will be away for it. As I’m super duper broke at the moment I sent a birthday card with some beef jerky and a promise to have something nice for him when he gets back.
Also on account of being broke I had to get pretty creative with my wrapping since I couldn’t afford to buy envelopes :p He liked my creative wrapping job hahah
I hope that my man will enjoy and make use of things things in Africa and that it’ll remind him of me, and how much I love him.
I’m also going to look-up the football stats each day so that I can update him when he calls. 🙂
What else would you include in an Open When Care Package? If you have a partner in the military, what things did they appreciate/use the most or ask for? 🙂
ldr13 