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New PDF for the Passport & Travel Document Keeper... |
Since I wasn't making things to sell, I would very often ask myself what I
would do with the finished project if I were to undertake the making of it.
The best outcome, of course, is to make something that is both useful
and will be used. In that respect, today's new PDF is for something that I've
used on every airplane trip since 2019... of which – since Covid happened
shortly afterwards – there have been all of two such occurrences!
You likely missed the
original post about my search for a passport folder/holder
that would meet my precise needs; it appeared in early 2015. I lamented the
lack of important features in most of the designs that I had come across, and
had already been planning my own solution. It ultimately took another four
years for me to finish it and post it here as a
quasi-tutorial.
For those of you not familiar with the background that led to the project,
here are the features that I deemed to be important when I came up with the
idea.
Apart but Together
I never did come up with a super snazzy solution for this requirement, but
what I did ultimately works for me and that's fine. (I'll leave it to others
to dream up something more elegant for themselves!)
What I'm referring to is that while each individual traveller has his or her
own passport holder, it would be nice to be able to keep two or more of them
together when not in use.
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| One way of keeping a couple of these attached... |
For the two that I have, I installed some adhesive velcro "dots" onto the
back. When not needed, the two of them stick together as one unit. In the PDF,
I show another possible solution for corralling three or more of these.
Holds Boarding Pass & Passport
Most other passport keepers out there are either simple book cover type things
that hold a passport and little else, or zippered folder style organizers that hold
several passports and maybe some important papers.
I've said before that I'm not a fan of the "big wallet that holds everyone's
passport" because it's ultimately inefficient. When you step up to board (unless you're a
child under a certain age), you are expected to show your own passport
and boarding pass. If all you have is a super-sized wallet that carries your
family's passports, at some point you're going to have to remove and
distribute them to the appropriate people.
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| Must hold both passport and boarding pass... |
My goal was to keep everything that each traveller needs to have within
a single organizer, which meant that a spot for a boarding pass was a must. It
has a place here under a vinyl window and can be easily removed when the
circumstance requires.
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| A bookmark style strip to hold your passport open... |
As for the passport, it actually has two homes: a diagonal see-through vinyl
pocket on one side and a bookmark style strip on the reverse that keeps the
passport open at a specific page.
Holds Travel Documents
I never rely on a cell phone to refer to travel documents (like hotel, tour,
and flight confirmations), preferring to keep a hardcopy on me. No matter how
convenient our modern phones can be, I find it cumbersome to scroll a small
screen looking for a confirmation number. (Also, a piece of paper doesn't
require the internet or need electricity to be charged up; yes, I am quite old
school that way.)
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| A slip pocket for travel docs... |
Even if you're a diehard smart phone addict, you might see the advantage of
having a (backup) set of documents in paper form. The full width slip pocket in the
centre of the unit will accommodate several 8.5" wide folded pages.
Holds Other Valuables
Finally, currency, visas, tickets, memory cards, SIMs and various sundry
that need to be kept more securely can be stored in the zippered
pocket.
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| Secure zippered pocket... |
In terms of difficulty, I'd say that there isn't too much here that's
complicated. There is a basic zipper installation but I'm assuming that
you've done one before. (Instructions are skimpy for the zipper part.) If you
haven't worked with vinyl, it may prove tricky – and sticky – but we all learn by
doing.
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| A look inside the pockets... |
This is an easy to carry solution for all travellers. It can be easily slipped into any backpack, purse or laptop case that you'll probably also be
carrying. At your destination, it'll fit into the average hotel room safe
without issues.
By the way, this PDF is not merely a copy of the blog post. I found some old photos of the creation process that I added to the mix. I changed up some of
the wording in the instructions. And because I was recently cajoled into making a
couple for a sister-in-law, there are some new photos as well, such as this
one.
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| A rush job for one of my SILs... |
This is a scrap friendly project that uses minimal fabric and ribbon.
The exterior part requires just a single 11.5" x 9.25" (29cm x 23.5cm)
piece. Everything else is a lining and not immediately visible,
presenting a good opportunity to use up scrappy remnants that may not be your favourites.
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| An example of how to make them slightly different for two people... |
If you use the same fabric for the whole family, choose different ribbon to
tell them apart. For hubby and me, I actually just
used different coloured thread along the passport bookmark strip.
Get your free copy of the
PDF for the Passport & Travel Document Keeper
here.
'Til next...
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