TaKe mE & mY StUffiE oN a 1 WeeK VaCaTiOn

Kind of like a "flat Stanley" with use of a stuffed animal?

Yes exactly! Instead of using a "Flat Stanley" you would send a stuffed animal!

Watching for now but I love this idea. I had a traveling toy on the ToyVoyagers site that had been all over the world until she was lost (stolen?) in Australia. I loved looking at all the photos people took with my toy!!

Hi picupurcross (love your name)!

Please join. We hope that your new toy will not get lost. I will always ANGEL swaps if for some reason this happens. We would love to have you to come along with us on this new journey!

RecycledSoul

Oh wow! I am so excited to see this! I did one of these back in 2007 and it was insanely fun.

Hi! These are such fun (I've hosted a few Flat Stanleys and Stephanies and travel bugs). I know the vacation is to be a week but the completion of the passport could take a bit of time. Will you offer participants a suggested mail back date? Also, for postage sake (and toting around) will you suggest a max size for the stuffie?

Thanks to CarlaDMG's suggestions please recheck the instructions. Note these three important additions:

1. You must return/postmark you partner's stuffie/completed passport/tourist surprise no later than MARCH 28TH.

2. Please mark below when you have returned your partner's package.

3. Please also mark below when YOU receive YOUR stuffie/passport/tourist surprise back.

HAPPY SWAPPING and ENJOY YOUR VACATION!

Thanks for taking my suggestions to heart.. 3/28 might be a super speedy turnaround if one's partner doesn't mail their stuffie until the 3/14 send by date. It could take as long as a week for one to receive the stuffie and then one would only have a week to take the stuffie on its vacation, complete the passport, and get everything back in the mail. I'd suggest 3/31 as the earliest return by deadline (to make sure recipient has at least two weekends) and 4/7 would be even better (to allow two full weekends for the passport production). ☺

Hey CarlaDMG...you've got so many excellent suggestions! Thanks for your input. Hope you'll join us in this swap!

Hello Everyone...EXTENDED THE FINAL SEND HOME DATE to March 31st to make sure everyone has enough time to finish the passports. THEN WE WILL START ROUND 2...same rules WITH NEW PARTNERS!

Can't wait for this swap to start! HOPE YOU'RE WORKING on your Passports now...so we can send out as soon as partners are assigned!

Cheers!

Hello Everyone...EXTENDED THE FINAL SEND HOME DATE to March 31st to make sure everyone has enough time to finish the passports. THEN WE WILL START ROUND 2...same rules WITH NEW PARTNERS!

Can't wait for this swap to start! HOPE YOU'RE WORKING on your Passports now...so we can send out as soon as partners are assigned!

Cheers!

OKay too cool to pass up now that thats all figured out I'm in

I've adopted my kitty softie from the Etsy adoption agency and she's coming home soon. Can't wait to send her on a vacation. :)

HOW EXCITING...just checked everyone's profile for the final time! Everyone in good standing! (YAHOO!) PARTNERS ARE ASSIGNED!

EVERYONE have fun showing our stuffies around town, pack those passports, and don't forget to include the touristy surprise! Get those passports and stuffies back to their owners as soon as possible!

ENJOY YOUR VICARIOUS VACATIONS and wait for ROUND 2!

Love, Cher aka RecycledSoul

Awesome! Let's hope in Round 2 we will finally get some spring weather.

Sounds like toyvoyagers.com by the way ;)!

Thanks for posting @BubbLeGumGirLie I am checking it out now...

I will be sending mine tomorrow :)

I am sending mine out today.

HI Victoria,

Enjolras arrived safe and sound yesterday 3/10/14

Just a quick clarification..my partner I send to (my stuffie)is Betty but she rates me so is she is merely rating I sent with a passport? And I rate the person (Victoria) who sent me her stuffie since he arrived with a passport ? So the actual person who does the vacation with the stuffie never gets rated for that, is that correct? I have my guest here and mine is going in the am

nancylee...unfortunately this is true. You get rated for sending your stuffie and passport. I just plan to post a HUGE THANKS on the page of the person that sends my stuffie on vacation.

The only way we could change this in the future is if, you do one swap to send your stuffie/passport. You take it on the one week vacation then hold it until the next round. Then on the next round, the person who receives it gives you a 5 for sending the owner's stuffie on a vacation, then take it on another vacation. After the completion of the passport, then the stuffie/passport is returned to its original owner.

The only reason I didn't do it this way, was because everyone was so afraid that they would not get their stuffie back from this first round. So I thought if we only did one round HOPEFULLY everyone would do the vacation, fill out the passport, then return it by the return date to the original owner.

SO WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK? In the future would you want to make this swap like a "round robin" where you send it on its vacation, then wait until the next round to send it to another partner who will take it on it's next vacation? Then when the passport is full, send it back to it's owner? What if I started a group just for this type of swap?

What are your thoughts everyone?

Cher aka RecycledSoul

Possible other thought ,, next time you mail your stuffie l to who you rate next time and I love this swap when its an official rating or just a posting.- it's fun I would not let my stuffie stay on an extended trip but thats just my opinion ;) .

OH and Chester is on his way!

Glad to know Enjolras arrived, Nancy! I was worried because I didn't get a rating for him, but then I checked here to see if you posted.

I would let my stuffie stay out for a short while. Say, if the round-robin was only four rounds and the swap-requirement were higher (20 or so rated). Mine was hand-made and pretty dear to my heart, so the idea of losing him is one full of anxiety.

When this was originally posted, I thought about the expense of the stuffie always coming home after its vacation; makes rounds of the swap 2X the price ... but you know sooner if you've lost your stuffie and who had it last. Also, if we were to continually pass the stuffie on, the passport would need to be much larger (if each person will provide seven 4x6 photos) and as we got further along in the swapping process, that passport would weigh more and cost more to ship. People figure whether they can afford a swap when choosing to join and they could be caught unawares if they were to receive something that would cost more to ship then they had budgeted. I thought about suggesting that recipient make passport and mail it to stuffie’s “mom/dad.” It could be very satisfying for the stuffie’s mom/dad to see the adventures closer to when they happen. But here again there is more expense [two mailings] (and time – making a passport). There is no perfect answer. As for me, I think I’ll only be sending my girl out this one time. Not sure I want the expense on a monthly (or even every other month) basis. Also, the time commitment is too tough to determine and weigh against other commitments [Swap-bot and “real” life – LOL!!]. I’m sad to see that the send by date has passed and my partner hasn’t mailed her stuffie to me. I’m concerned about the 3/31 postmark date for returning her stuffie to her with other things that are on my slate – what are the odds that I’ll even have the stuffie for an actual seven days? If she flakes and doesn’t send, it’s disappointing for me to not get to play the game but doesn’t feel like a 0 rating situation (I think I simply wouldn’t rate her at all). If she sends, it’s unfair to me to not have a decent amount of time to accomplish a nice vacation for her stuffie.

@CarlaDMG did you message your partner? Sometimes people forget to mark "Sent". I hope that is the case for you. I also worry about the time to get it postmarked by 3/31. You never know how long it takes the mail to get to its destination.

@nancylee Chester has arrived!

Received my stuffie, Babet, back from debbee2014 -- W O W ! ! ! Would that I were rating you: ♥♥♥♥♥

@nancylee Chester is on his way home :)

Still haven't received this swap. :(

Sending Snoopy back!! HAd so much fun with him! :)

KitKat has arrived back home.

correction: JanieKat has arrived back home.

Enjolras is on his way to the post office- this was great fun! inamerica 8 he did arrive, I will post a thank you in a bit gotta run

I still haven't received my stuffie from RecycledSoul and she hasn't responded to any of the messages I have sent her. I hope all is well with her. She did mark it as sent on the 14th.

Albert is on his way back home. :]

I received Albert!! What an adventure he had! :D This was sooooo much fun! :D

@ Grammy13: Porter Panda is on his way home to you & Aiden. We had a good time together. Hope you and Aiden will enjoy it all, too.