The Care Package

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About

NOTE: This page is a daughter page of: Gift ideas


The care package, is a concept that should be self explanatory, and yet rarely done. Simply put, if you have a friend or family member going through hard times, you can assemble and send them a gift basket or box filled with items to cheer them up. It's better than flowers and more than a single gift, because the very name of it says that you care, and the effort you put into selecting the items shows that you care. An especially good time for a care package is if someone is going through a difficult breakup and a breakup care package' is just what they need.

Generic care package - professional jobs. In my humble opinion it's better when it's homemade, and a little rough around the edges.


My First Care Packages Sent

The first amazing care package I ever witnessed was my first ever girlfriend making a care package for a female friend going through a breakup in a different city. She got a lovely basket, and filled it with chocolate, soaps, perfume, and packaged it nicely with tissue paper and a card. The friend felt touched. Well a few months later, very sadly, one of my most amazing friends was cheated on and went through divorse. It was insanely unexpected because this was not even three months after my amazing friend Alby and I were MCs at his wedding. He lived in a mining town that was a little too far for me to fly to on my PhD scholarship money, so I wanted to send him a care package, but I asked my girlfriend "oh what on earth does a care package for a guy look like". My friend was in the mining industry: flowers, soaps and day spa passess all felt out. But after a day of thinking about it I realized, I could get him an amazing book (Who Moved My Cheese), some guy toys (flask, camping stuff), a aftershave set and to be funny I threw in a porn DVD. I packaged it pretty well and was about to mail it when to my surprise he showed up at the door of our place. I was living with Alby and some other friends and in his sad state he obviously just wanted to escape from him awful wife (the divorse process is far from instant in Australia, especially if you only just got married) for a while and it was great to have him visit Brisbane.

It almost felt awkward handing him a care package in person, but he really appreciated it, but what I did was even more powerful. Since he was visiting Brisbane my girlfriend suggested I take him to a high ropes course to help get him out of his head. It was a genius Debbie moment, and so I got us a high ropes ticket. So it turns out we're both afraid of heights, so I tapped out about half-way through, but Tristan in his determination just kept going with me cheering him on. It wasn't an easy course either, easy to fall (still with the caribena of course). He told me later how amazing it was to get out of his head and feel that adrenaline. Obviously he was still sad, but it certainly helped a little to get him back on his feet, to feeling good about himself again, and a few years later he met his current wife who is absolutely amazing. They have two adorable children. It made me realize though, just with any type of gift giving occasion, experience gifts are often the most powerful.


Care Package Ideas

The Container

You want to start with the container, usually a basket or box and fill it. If you need to mail it, then it should be of appropriate size. If you want to get creative with your container:

  • Personalized wooden box ... (etsy)
  • Beer cooler ... (so you can visit the beach together)
  • Laundry hamper ... (you can get a good one at Ross and then joke that they can use it to pack up their ex's stuff)

Whatever the container, you probably want to gift wrap the whole thing, or part of it, and buy gift tissue paper to pad inside.

Experience Gifts

Experience gifts are always way cooler than any physical gift. In a time of breakup, forcing someone out of the house is especially important, and you can print out, or write on cardboard the adventure you are taking them on and put it on the top of the layer of your care package. It's probably better to go along with them and have a date locked in so they can't wiggled out of it! Thanks to sites like google offers, groupon and living social in the US, "experience" gifts are now cheaper and more popular than ever.

  • Either gender:
    • outdoors: horse riding, paintball, shooting, hiking trip, helicopter ride, scenic flight, etc. (see here)
    • music & arts: band/concert tickets, a good comedy show, opera tickets, movie vouchers (not one about love though!).
    • up high: skydiving, bungee jumping, high ropes course, hot air balloon ride.
    • at sea / water: kayaking, paddle boarding, scuba diving, surfing lessons, jet-ski, parasailing, bridge climbing, rock climbing abseiling/rappelling, fishing adventure, white water rafting.
    • indoor classes: dance classes, cooking classes, art classes, indoor shooting.
  • For women:
  • relaxing: spa vouchers, pamper vouchers, nail and hair, watsu massage. *
  • heath: gym membership, yoga.
  • For men:
    • drinking: pub crawl tickets.
    • sport: tickets to anything: baseball, soccer, roller derby, ice hockey etc - all easy to visit a website and book.
  • Overseas getaway:
    • Thnk plane tickets to Vanuatu/Cabo/Africa/wherever, ski trip, remote cabin or anything else you might find on living social escapes, and depending on the location:
    • tropical vacation: snorkeling/diving trip, dolphin experience, ATV ride (not a dangerous one), zip-lining, etc.
    • city vacation: art tour, photography tour, city bus tour.
    • pretentious vacation: golf pass (boring), wine tasting tour.


For Women

  • Wine / cocktails ... (better if you are there to share with them)}}
  • Hot outfit ... (underpants)
  • Vibrating lady toy ... (funny but probably practical, add the words "who needs a man" of course)
  • Chocolates ... (pretty cliche, but better than being empty handed)
  • Book ... (try comedy or Who Moved My Cheese is an excellent read after a breakup)
  • Beauty products: ... (anything will do, maybe a mirror that says "you are hot")* Flowers ... (especially home delivered!)
  • Soft toys ... (something funny, unless you know her really well)
  • Jewelry ... (subtle over bulky)

For a Man

  • Car accessories / tools ... (there is a car section later on)
  • Lego / toys ... (Lego or GI joe is great for any age)
  • Power tool set ... (I recommend the Ryobi One cordless set)
  • Shaving set ... (only if he doesn't have one already)
  • Drone ... (see my Drones page - some camera drones are under <$500 and racing ones cheaper)
  • Funny shirt ... (something about a breakup)
  • Porn ... (little bit funny)
  • Engraved watch or pen ... (can be very touching)
  • Swiss army knife ... (a 'Leatherman' is also a good one)
  • Cufflinks ... (some people believe a man should own at least one pair, even though they are rarely worn)
  • Silver flask ... (another old-fashion gift)

Funny Ideas

  • Strip mug ... (like this one)
  • Inflatable boyfriend / girlfriend
  • Boyfriend / girlfriend pillow ... (has an arm to sleep on)
  • Piñata ... (k-mart sometimes sells them)
  • Naughty magazine ... (funny to give to single people)
  • Weener Kleener Soap ... (here and other novelty items like wiener warmers - great laugh)

Random Other Ideas

  • Bath pillow ... (get one from world market or amazon)
  • Vase / sculpture / earring box
  • Dream catcher
  • New quilt set
  • Zen garden
  • Beach gifts ... (umbrella, snorkel set, wagon, fishing rod, spikeball set - anything to encourage them to come the beach with you)
  • Camping gear ... (only if they like camping, and maybe a compass or something else that fits in your basket)
  • Workout gear ... (thing yoga matt, weights, singing bowl etc)
  • Bonsai tree / cactus ... ("less of a prick than your ex")

Food Gifts

A Poem

This is easy, just write a poem about how amazing they are, or how crappy their ex is. Just make sure there's no chance of them getting back with their ex.

Visit Them

Because visiting a loved one far away is the best gift!

A Virtual Greetings


Final Advice

So there you have it! What you can keep in mind is that there are various places that have pre-assembled gift baskets, and I'm not opposed to buying such a basket and making it your own, but there's something special about the homemade job. Better yet, make sure you personalize it to them. If they love art, buy them tickets to and art show, or a fancy toothbrush. If they were breaking up with a narcassist, find a comedy book about narcassists. Let them know that they not only matter to you, but that you love them enough to know what they are most into. You can be cheesy too by adding in a free "shoulder massage coupon".

This article is very rough right now, but I'll improve it in good time and include photos.

Sincerely,

    Andrew Noske


Acknowledgements: Debbie my first ever girlfriend, who inspired my first ever care package to a friend.