Ok, guys. I’ve been showing you glimpses of this on Instagram Stories for a week now and it’s time make official introductions. 2020, meet Doctor Pouchy. He’s here, and he’s ready to help.
10% of ALL REVENUE from Doctor Pouchy sales will go to COVID relief on Koh Samui.
Meet Doctor Pouchy – Tropical Travel Pouches
- Doctor Pouchy birds of paradise
- Doctor Pouchy dragon fruit
- Doctor Pouchy tropical leaves
- Doctor Pouchy (bundle of 2 pouches)
Shop my Koh Samui COVID Fundraiser
10% of ALL REVENUE from Doctor Pouchy sales will go to COVID relief on Koh Samui. Two organisations in particular:
1. Sisters on Samui’s FEED Samui campaign – An island food bank initiative to help Samui residents who have lost work in the travel industry (pretty much 90% of Samui’s economy – it’s a lot of people). At the time of writing, this campaign is THB257,000 (US$8,500 or £6,300) away from its fundraising goal. Doctor Pouchy’s ready and waiting.
2. Dog and Cat Rescue Samui – This one is particularly special to me and is in memory of my gorgeous puppy who I miss so much. If you’ve visited Samui in The Before Times, you can imagine the tireless work that this rescue organisation does for island cats and dogs. Then consider the reality with no tourists: no spare change in collection boxes and far fewer restaurants feeding their scraps to strays. Dire. Doctor Pouchy loves animals so much.
Shop NowGet to know Doctor Pouchy
The background
As it turns out, writing a travel guidebook for a living isn’t the best idea in a pandemic. (Less so for a country whose borders have been shut for the better part of a year.) One star, do not recommend. My website traffic resembled Wylie Coyote falling off a cliff, so after setting you up with some things to do at home … I wandered away in search of a new project.
After two months of Colbert/Buzzfeed/YouTube-Rabbithole/Repeat … I needed to DO something. Sound familiar? I’m way too old to learn TikTok dances and I’d watched all of Netflix. Someone else in my household had already claimed sourdough as their thing, and we shared day-drinking equally. What did that leave me for a cliché COVID project? Buy a sewing machine.
I had no idea how to use it and, Day One, followed a YouTube tutorial to learn how to thread it (a most confounding experience that took the better part of an hour). To the constant accompaniment of Tay-Tay’s Folklore (thank you!), I spent the summer learning to sew straight (straight-ish) lines, wind bobbins and use the scary fabric-cutter-roller without losing fingers (so far so good).
Then my Amazon orders got weird: Eight hundred zippers. Seam strippers. A Dymo label maker to ship the thing I hadn’t actually figured out how to make.
It felt SO good to learn something new.
It was brain time, it was meditative and most importantly, it wasn’t a screen.
Maybe you similarly spent your time? With your back firmly turned to the thing you couldn’t change or fix, slowly getting a little bit less-bad at a new skill. Now? I’m pretty proud of these pouchies.
While the world fell apart, I conjured Doctor Pouchy.
On first glance, he’s a zippered pouch to store your stuff.
What might you put in him?
Hopes and dreams for The Future Times.
All the extra feelings you can’t manage to eat (or day-drink)
Your Social Distancing Enforcement Kit
Anything you can’t quite deal with right now. Zip them up tight. (It’s a Japanese zipper so that badness isn’t going anywhere).
The thin air where your income used to be. =D
Diamonds to give the nurse who administers your vaccine shots.
Your #$@&%*! masks.
Items you’d normally carry about your person when you left the house and communed with society. Store them in Doctor Pouchy and know you can visit often.
I’m keeping two Doctor Pouchies for myself and giving others as gifts: they easily fit my day-to-day makeup and essentials, when I give them as gifts I’ll wrap them up with some chocolate bars inside. (Don’t tell).
In short, Doctor Pouchy’s ready to do some good.
He’s ‘Thailand tropical’ in design – dragon fruit and jungle leaf prints to start, more to follow soon. Do they conjure the vacation you so badly need and definitely aren’t getting? Hopefully.
He’s something to Add!To!Cart! – an activity that hasn’t failed me yet as Covid Coping Mechanism #2 (after gin, obviously).
He’s an easy way to help Koh Samui – as I mentioned, 10% of ALL Doctor Pouchy revenue will go to COVID relief on Samui.
Down to the details.
Each Doctor Pouchy measures approximately 9¼” X 6” or 23½ cm X 15¼ cm
Approximately! If you want a bag with exact measurements, buy a Tumi. While the U.S. election sharpened my mental math skills, you can see from the stack of Doctor Pouchies standing to attention that I’m not a robot. Lean into their handmade charm and delight in your one-off original.
The outside is 100% cotton twill, with a 100% cotton lining
Doctor Pouchy is interfaced*, too, so he holds his structure well. Note that he’s not padded (I wouldn’t want to drop it while my phone was inside), but is as thick or slightly thicker than a manilla folder).
*Finding the right interfacing was another strange week for my Amazon cart.
The zipper is heavy-duty YKK (fancy Japanese stuff)
Each bag comes with a small label on the side: ‘The Koh Samui Guide’
Sewing these tiny things remain my Sewing Everest, so please look on with awe (and ideally zero scrutiny).
After selling digital products for nearly nine years, it’s been a massive learning curve and such a creative recharge to have a physical thing to show for my day’s work.
(And by show I mean literally show – parading them for my parents on Zoom, eager for a gold star like any overgrown Millennial).
How to Get Your Doctor Pouchy
COVID shipping delays. It’s 2020 rules out there, folks.
Shop Now
Quick screening step: If you’re impatient, quick to anger, write one-star reviews and will lose your mind if it doesn’t arrive by Christmas … please terrorise Jeff Bezos and not Doctor Pouchy.
Doctor Pouchy will delight you if you’re happy receiving a package any damn day, especially when supporting a good cause.
Your choices: Choose between a dragon fruit print, a tropical jungle leaf print, or a bundle with both of them. The bundle’s great because you save on shipping – to many destinations, it’s the same shipping price for two or more pouches as for one.
Doctor Pouchy is US$28 (for one pouch) or US$55 for two pouches.
Please note: UK and EU buyers, in particular, may need to pay VAT/GST.
To my understanding, UK VAT is charged over £15 and in the EU it’s charged over €22. I wish it wasn’t, but please note before ordering that you may have to pay such tax. (You can find duty calculators here and double-check your country’s duty/tax thresholds here).
No returns, refunds or exchanges: All items are final sale.
As 10% of all Doctor Pouchy revenue will be donated to charity, all orders are final sale and no refunds will be given. If you have any questions before ordering, I’m happy to help. You can also zoom in really close to any of the photos on the product listing to make sure you’re fully acquainted.
Shipping – what to know!
U.S., Canadian and worldwide shipping options are available, please see options at check-out. Orders ship from Whistler, Canada with Canada Post.
The cheapest shipping option (Expedited Parcel and Small Packet Air) does NOT include tracking.
If you require tracking, please select:
– Tracked Packet USA/International
– Priority, or,
– Xpresspost
The three shipping options above also include up to CA$100 liability coverage with Canada Post. While I guarantee that Doctor Pouchy will leave my care in perfect condition, I’m not responsible for lost, delayed or damaged mail and do not offer refunds in such an event.
Shipping time will vary based on the shipping method you select, your location, (and perhaps some COVID factors beyond my control).
All orders are processed within 48 hours and a confirmation email will be sent once your order is shipped.
Please ensure you enter the correct shipping address. I can’t be held responsible for parcels lost as a result of the buyer inputting an incorrect shipping address during checkout.
Doctor Pouchy FAQS
How to clean Doctor Pouchy?
Please spot-clean with cold water (or a no-rinse stain remover), or gently hand-wash in cold water only.
Where does Doctor Pouchy ship?
U.S., Canada and worldwide to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Please note that some countries will charge VAT – almost certainly the UK and EU countries. If you don’t see your country listed, get in touch and I’ll do my best to sort it out.
More pics…
See more:
- Doctor Pouchy birds of paradise
- Doctor Pouchy dragon fruit
- Doctor Pouchy tropical leaves
- Doctor Pouchy (bundle of two pouches)
P.S. To clarify, Doctor Pouchy is an “in addition to”, not a total redirection for The Koh Samui Guide. There will be a future edition of The Koh Samui Guide – timed to the return of international travel to Thailand and all of us rolling up our sleeves for our vaccines, please. Likewise, there’s no change to regular blog posts and Thailand travel/COVID updates (subscribe here)… consider it “more good stuff” not “instead of”. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Doctor Pouchy is neither a medical doctor nor a sentient being. But he’d LOVE IT if you wore a mask in public.
