Weekend Bags as Travel Pillow?
Weekend Bags
The first stop with our weekend bags and large canvas totes was departure from the International airport in San Jose, Costa Rica. For this trip I took a check-in bag packed full of large tote bags, weekend bags, shoulder bags, clutches and Costa Rican coffee! I always take advantage of carry-on luggage, using the weekend bag, in case a delay happens with check-in.One of the nice things about traveling with soft canvas weekend bags is that once they are packed with clothing they make for a very comfortable travel pillow! I always get comments from fellow travelers about the hand painted combo of the weekend bag and the large canvas tote bag I use as my purse. With travel these days one has to carefully plan what they take aboard a plane as check-in bags are ever increasing our travel costs.
Tagua Jewelry Exchange
This trip included attending a conference in North Carolina about International Investments. One of the attendees, Bonnie, purchases and resells crafts from Ecuador. Several pieces she had on display were jewelry items made from tagua, a seed from a palm tree in the Amazon jungle. Known as palm ivory because of its characteristics for fine carving, tagua has replaced ivory from the tusks of elephants for use in jewelry and carvings.
Yeah for the elephants!
As the indigenous peoples started working with the tagua seeds and
Tagua Jewelry Exchange
generating an income from the items they create, it has slowed the cutting of these trees now needed for their livelihood.
Yeah for the rainforest!
What do Tagua seeds have to do with hand painted weekend bags and large totes? Bonnie, the intrepid traveler and shopper, asked to do a trade: her tagua jewelry for one of my hand painted canvas bags.
Bonnie decided on the weekend bag as her purse because she wanted an even bigger carry-on bag. She does what she calls suitcase exporting. Her favorite design was the red eyed green tree frog which proved to be a hit at the weekend conference with other attendees placing orders for this same design.
Yeah for traders of handmade crafts from Latin America!
For more information on Bonnie and her shopping tours of Ecuador write bonnie@ateamecuador.com and tell her Laurel from Costa Rica sent you.
A little Weekend Bags Shopping, Perhaps?
Looking to buy a canvas bag for travel? I know, it’s like being let loose in a candy store. We debated on which of my canvas bags could hold the most: the weekend bags with its zipper going down the sides to open wide, or the large totes with its deep interior and wide comfortable straps? Hmm, I have yet to test a capacity comparison. Must do.
Red Eye Tree Frog Design
In the meantime, visit my Canvas Totes and Bags shop.
I’ll be writing more about use of the weekend bags and large totes as I continue to travel throughout the US over the next two weeks. But for today, the weekend bags and the large canvas totes have a new purpose: suitcase exporting and comfortable travel pillow. 
Adios!
Laurel
