Get Anything Hand-Delivered By Travelers From Anywhere

In my two years as an expat in Istanbul, I’ve asked visiting friends to bring me everything from bacon to Ziploc bags and iPads, and in return, I visit home with boxes of Turkish delight, baklava and coffee. But for those long winter months when I don’t know anyone visiting Turkey, how am I supposed to get my chocolate-and-peanut-butter fix? Now there’s a social network that connects locals and travelers who can bring you anything hand-delivered from anywhere in the world. mmMule aims to get hard-to-find or foreign items to locals everywhere, and rewards travelers with a local experience for delivering it.

Let’s say you are visiting Paris. You can log on to mmMule and find locals who want stuff ranging from Big Red gum to South African biltong cured meat. Maybe you want another jar of that Dijon mustard you loved on your last trip to France or some good old American mac & cheese if you’re abroad (seriously, all expats miss mac & cheese, and yes, we know we can make it ourselves). You can post a request on mmMule and wait to be connected with a traveler who can bring it. In exchange for the delivery, the “mule” is repaid for the cost of the item and rewarded in some way, from drinks at a local bar to an overnight stay in the local’s home. Illegal, embargoed and other illicit stuff is strictly verboten, so don’t think you can get someone to re-enact “Midnight Express.”

Should you feel inspired to help someone in need of more than supermarket goodies, you can check out the listings for AngelMule and bring supplies to non-profits. Your donations can be rewarded with cultural experiences like stays with local families or just an offer of “a big hug and eternal gratitude.” They’d probably be even more grateful if you threw some peanut butter cups into the deal.

Get whatever you want at mmMule.com or volunteer to bring stuff to someone else.

Toiletries Meet Pitotubes

Packing toiletries always becomes a major production. I have yet to master a way to shrink down the amount of shampoos, lotions, and travel-sized shaving cream I toss in my bags and then there’s the reoccurring nightmare of everything exploding while some 35,000 ft in the air. I’ve managed to soothe myself and my worries by wrapping the goods twice in recycled Target bags, but who am I kidding? If the lotion, baby oil or body wash is going to leak, it’s going to leak.

Leave it to the folks at CoolHunting to find some sort of travel gear/invention to help someone like myself out. They’ve discovered Pitotubes, the creation of a former flight attendant who too often heard the tale of ruined goods from explosive bathroom items. The tubes can are said to withstand the most brutal luggage handling and changing pressures. They are elegant, leak-free, refillable travel bottles made from high quality PETG recyclable plastic. A set of six bottles with labels costs about $50 and for that price I think I’m willing to chance my double-wrapping Target bag method a little longer, though my luck may be running out.

Pitotubes can be purchased at Flight 001.