The "box" arrived...

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We got ABD hats and scarves on our Winter in Wyoming trip. They came in handy! The big zippered tote bags we got from ABD have also gotten a lot of use. I take them on just about every single flight no matter where I am going.

I've seen the winter hats--super cute! The hat we got on our first ABD in 2007(?) was a thick black baseball hat made out of a really heavy duty brushed cotton. Super cute.

I haven't used any of the canvas totes or zippered bags much--I have lighter weight ripstop nylon ones that I prefer. Ironically, the one bag I *love* from ABD and the one I thought I hated at first is the collapsible green ripstop nylon backpacks we got on our Scotland ABD. I hated them for carry ons, but we use them all the time--all the time--on our other vacations now. They pack so easily and make great day packs for when traveling. The lightweight material is awesome.

I feel badly every time I remember saying something bad about them when we first used them. I think I posted on here and/or said something to Bruce I take it all back. The mistake was in having the kids use them for their primary airline carryon, which they are definitely not good for. They are fabulous though as a day bag on the adventure itself. So Bruce, if you see this ... mea culpa, LOL! Bring back those bags!

An ABD ripstop nylon tote that you could fold up into nothing for use on as an extra airline carryon would be awesome (baggalini has one that I use all the time). My biggest wish list item though is an ABD sweatshirt

 

[acndis]

I've seen the winter hats--super cute! The hat we got on our first ABD in 2007(?) was a thick black baseball hat made out of a really heavy duty brushed cotton. Super cute.

I haven't used any of the canvas totes or zippered bags much--I have lighter weight ripstop nylon ones that I prefer. Ironically, the one bag I *love* from ABD and the one I thought I hated at first is the collapsible green ripstop nylon backpacks we got on our Scotland ABD. I hated them for carry ons, but we use them all the time--all the time--on our other vacations now. They pack so easily and make great day packs for when traveling. The lightweight material is awesome.

I feel badly every time I remember saying something bad about them when we first used them. I think I posted on here and/or said something to Bruce I take it all back. The mistake was in having the kids use them for their primary airline carryon, which they are definitely not good for. They are fabulous though as a day bag on the adventure itself. So Bruce, if you see this ... mea culpa, LOL! Bring back those bags!

An ABD ripstop nylon tote that you could fold up into nothing for use on as an extra airline carryon would be awesome (baggalini has one that I use all the time). My biggest wish list item though is an ABD sweatshirt

OMG! We LOVE the green ripstop backpacks. They took a lot of heat on these boards but they are still the ones we go back to over and over! So easy to pack and they hold a ton. My son even totes his sleeping back around in one. I wish they would do another round of those!

 

[SingingMom]

Hahaha - I was one of the "green backpack haters" I gave one away... but I kept two. I must be very challenged - I can't figure out how to work it! too many zippers!!

Sayhello - you missed out on the canvas tote! It's similar to what you get as a Castaway Member on the cruises, but it's got a sturdier bottom. It fits very well under the plane seat - so it's usually what I take as my carryon.

Hopefully the duffles are still given in the room - always love that as the last minute toss before changing hotels!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I love those folding zip bags that came in at least two different colors. We can fold it flat and shove it into our suitcase and then if we need a spare bag at the end of the trip, it becomes my other's half carryon since he never has two things to carry onto the plane.

And that open canvas bag is really quite nice. I wish it had a zipper or snap at the top, but it's really well made.

 

[Grifdog22]

My favorite were the AbD baseball caps from our first trip and the heavy canvas and leather backpacks with the abd embroidery. Still use them. The green backpacks fold up nice but all of ours ripped apart at the zipper within six months. My wife votes for the canvas tote and the grey suffelbag.

I like the idea of a field book but so few would use it I'm afraid. We took three to Costa Rica and even offered to share them but no one else was interested! We were the only ones that showed up for an early morning birding trip so you never can tell what makes people happy...

Overall we've appreciated all the things but the experiences are the best part.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

My favorite were the AbD baseball caps from our first trip and the heavy canvas and leather backpacks with the abd embroidery. Still use them.

Yes! That is mine, too. We received four backpacks--2 adult backpacks that had the leather bottom and two smaller backpacks for the kids. The kids backpacks broke right away, but we still use the others. They are really high quality. Those with the hats were the best.

 

[Lulu27]

How disappointing! We love our luggage straps and use them all the time. So easy to spot our bags on the carousel! If they are worried about obvious logos being a danger to guests, they could just do a tone on tone starburst design like the paddle of power. Orange would be nice!
We also enjoy the little laundry bags and the foldable duffles. Would have *loved* a baseball cap! #jealous

 

[CrazyZeus1]

How disappointing! We love our luggage straps and use them all the time. So easy to spot our bags on the carousel! If they are worried about obvious logos being a danger to guests, they could just do a tone on tone starburst design like the paddle of power. Orange would be nice!
We also enjoy the little laundry bags and the foldable duffles. Would have *loved* a baseball cap! #jealous

I'm with ya on the ballcaps! I wear baseball hats all the time and have said since our first ABD that I wish I had an ABD logo hat! Maybe someday!

 

[DCPhotoGal]

How disappointing! We love our luggage straps and use them all the time. So easy to spot our bags on the carousel! If they are worried about obvious logos being a danger to guests, they could just do a tone on tone starburst design like the paddle of power. Orange would be nice!

I have an orange luggage strap from one of our past years and I keep using it. So handy for spotting my boring silver suitcase.

 

[Calfan]

My favorite ABD goody by far is the knit cap we got on our Central Europe ABD for the ice cave (no scarf though). That hat got so much use during my first winter in Idaho, lol! I also love the luggage straps. They make the luggage so much easier to spot. We have used them for every long trip since we got them, most of which haven't been ABDs. For a heavy packer like me, it's also reassuring to have that strap around my rolling duffel We've also come to appreciate the ugly green backpacks we got in 2013. Sadly, when we went to China last summer, our green backpacks were in storage with most of our household goods, so I ended up buying another nylon one on Amazon. It's a bummer that the boxes have been paired down so much. While I do appreciate the security concerns, as so many have said, lots of folks are going to be carrying ABD-logoed items from past trips anyway. Plus, we don't necessarily bring the goodies like backpacks on our actual trips, but we love being able to use them at home.

I do have to chime in with Cinderella's Slipper and CaliforniaGirl, though, and call out NatGeo's pre-trip boxes. They are fantastic. I now have two NatGeo Adventures baseball caps that I wear all the time because the colors are great (one black and one khaki), a really nice England guide book and a similarly nice Ireland guide book, a NatGeo water bottle and a couple of neoprene pouches that have proved very useful. I use one for my small digital camera and accessories.

 

[BluesTraveler]

I agree, I love those luggage straps. So useful. I hope ABD will reconsider and put those back in the boxes.

 

[RebelHawk]

We got our box this past weekend for our upcoming NYC trip. Right up front it was a much smaller box than our Peru box last year. Opened it up and my disappointment was mirrored to what was noted in this thread. We at least got some use from some items from our last box, the luggage straps and even the laundry bag has been used every single vacation we have been on since Peru. While not a breaking point it would be nice if the items were personalized based off of the trip you had coming up something semi useful. Luggage tags? I have thrown away more luggage tags to date then I'll ever use in my life. My wife might decide to switch to the "cosmetic" bag but I think she's pretty happy with the much nicer one she is already using. I'm just glad that the box still has the nice ABD logos on the inside. We're planning on making shadow boxes with the inside of the box as the backing with pins and mementos on and around it.

 

[Cousin Orville]

We're planning on making shadow boxes with the inside of the box as the backing with pins and mementos on and around it.

We've made shadow boxes for our ABD's. Some are pretty simple with mainly the pins, and some have various tickets, hotel keys, and other mementos. It takes us forever to make them, but they're fun.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

We've never tried making a shadow box (great idea!), but we do use it for storing mementoes of our trips.

 

[calypso726]

I'm with ya on the ballcaps! I wear baseball hats all the time and have said since our first ABD that I wish I had an ABD logo hat! Maybe someday!

That's it! I'm gonna start stalking EBay for an ABD ball cap.

We've made shadow boxes for our ABD's. Some are pretty simple with mainly the pins, and some have various tickets, hotel keys, and other mementos. It takes us forever to make them, but they're fun.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the pins and mementos from each trip. Would you mind sharing a picture of one of your shadow boxes. I could use some inspiration!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Spoiler Alert - skip if you don't want to see pins.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the pins and mementos from each trip. Would you mind sharing a picture of one of your shadow boxes. I could use some inspiration!

France

Australia

SE Asia

 

[OhanaCuz]

Spoiler Alert - skip if you don't want to see pins.

Those look so great! What a wonderful idea to do that.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Those are gorgeous! Well done!!!

 

[Ava]

Those look great @Cousin Orville!

Has ABD had issues with guests or guides being harassed/targeted due to being part of an American tour group? Or is the elimination of logos just a precaution?

 

[sayhello]

Spoiler Alert - skip if you don't want to see pins.

France

@Cousin Orville, where did you get the ABD badges?? They are so cool!

Sayhello