Maverick tours / Protocol cards / Kitchen sponge
Recomendo - issue #504
Maverick tours
I’ve taken several tours with Young Pioneer Tours. Their motto is “leading group tours for people who hate group tours to destinations your mother would rather you stay away from and at budget prices.” They deliver all that, famously taking small tours to restricted places like North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, and to “Unrecognized Countries” in Africa. They just started offering a new tour to Least Visited Countries, which happen to mostly be Pacific island “countries” which are normally very hard or expensive to reach. While these tours may sound dangerous, they don’t go where it is actually dangerous. Rather they are contrarian, and an affordable travel adventure. — KK
Protocol cards for nervous system regulation
Protocolcards.com is a digital deck of evidence‑backed nervous system “protocols” you can pull up when you don’t know what to do with yourself. They’re not magic quick fixes, but if you follow the short guided practices and prompts, your system will start to feel more regulated over time. Cards are organized into five categories: Emergency (for when you need instant regulation), Focus (to upshift into more alertness), Recover (to downshift from activation or transition into more chill), Sleep (for evening wind‑down), and Feel (for when you want to be with and process your emotions), and you unlock the full library by signing up with your email. — CD
Best kitchen sponge
Scrub Daddy sponges have replaced every other sponge in our kitchen. They have a rough, grippy texture that removes stuck-on food, but they won’t scratch nonstick cookware. My favorite feature: you can squeeze nearly all the water out of them, so they dry fast and don’t develop that funky sponge smell. — MF
Shrinkable child car seat
Car seats keep kids safe, but are surely a pain to travel with. For kids 2-3 years old or older, there is a legitimate alternative, which is a DOT-approved vest that the child wears as a harness. The child + harness is then strapped into a regular seat belt. The pioneering safety vest is Ridesafer. It comes in different sizes, for larger kids too. When not worn, the vest shrinks to a small, easy to pack lump about the size of a folded jacket, fitting into your bag. This makes it perfect for taxis, ubers and rental cars. It also makes it perfect for grandparents, who may not want to keep their back seats perpetually occupied with car seats. We’ve found the Ridesafer easy enough to put on and off, and with some patience to buckle in – but still faster than loading a kid into a car seat. (I would lean toward getting a size larger, it will still work as well.) — KK
12 Home Library Ideas
There are two types of list articles I will always click on: best book cover roundups and bookshelf “shelfies.” This Zillow list of 12 home library ideas scratches my book‑voyeur itch, and now I have names for all the little libraries scattered around my house, most of which fall into the “strategic library” category, but the dream is still a library in every room. — CD
How well do you remember colors?
The free online game Color revealed how terrible I am at colors. It shows you a color for a few seconds, then asks you to recreate it from memory using sliding color and shade pickers. It sounds easy — it's not. I swore I nailed that shade of green, only to see my guess was way off. Play solo or challenge friends in multiplayer mode. — MF
THIS ISSUE IS SPONSORED BY Pigment
Too successful to complain. Too tired to keep going. It's a really lonely place to be. Pigment named what I was feeling without making me sound ungrateful. It maps who you are to work you should actually be doing long-term.
UNCLASSIFIEDS
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Handmade wool slip-ons from Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek Kicks are 100% natural, biodegradable, and synthetic-free. Breathable felted wool with natural rubber soles for indoor or outdoor wear. Fair-wage craftsmanship. Five colors, $99. Free shipping. Shop Kyrgies.
Deals on stuff that’s actually good. The Recomendo Deals daily newsletter tracks prices on products recommended by Recomendo & Cool Tools. We alert you when a trusted pick hits a great price — with 90-day price context so you know it’s real. Free newsletter.
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Powerful Handheld Vacuum. Rechargeable car vacuum. 4-in-1 design includes vacuum, air blower & pump. 40-minute runtime, USB-C charging. Includes HEPA filter, 3 anti-static heads, storage bag. Perfect for cars/home/kitchen.
Declutter your inbox! The Meco newsletter reader app lets you organize and read newsletters in a dedicated space. Connect Gmail/Outlook. Features offline reading, topic grouping, highlights, saved links, and custom themes. Available on iOS, Android, web. Free version with premium features.
Power up anywhere with Anker’s 5-in-1 Nano Travel Adapter! Ultra-compact design 43% smaller than competitors, charges 5 devices simultaneously with 20W fast charging—universal compatibility for 200+ countries, smart temp control & built-in safety features. Perfect travel companion!
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