Imogen Calderwood“ARE we there yet?”
When it comes to travelling long distance, children are not known for their patience. But now an expat entrepreneur is coming to the rescue.
Brit Dan Cooper, 42, a product designer living in Genalguacil, has spent two years creating a new ‘huggable’ backpack that transforms into a costume.
“As a parent myself, it was travelling with kids that inspired me. I have two children and we do lots of travelling between here and the UK,” said Dan, who has been living in Spain for 10 years.
“There’s very little you can take onto a plane, so the idea was to create a backpack that also turns into a toy so you can make the most of all available space.”
But Dan, from Nottingham, also has an environmental concern, as the characters are all endangered animals and the venture will help to protect and preserve them.
“For each backpack we sell, we are going to adopt an animal in the wild,” he said. “The range includes a koala bear, a grizzly, a panda and a polar bear, but we’re working on lots more.”
However Dan and his business partner Carol Smith need some additional funding to get the product – which is due to appear on Channel 4’s The Gadget Man in January – into the market.
They have launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website to raise £20,000 in a month.
“Without people helping us with fundraising, the product won’t happen,” Dan said.
For more information or to donate, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1107402688/hug-mitm-the-huggable-costume-backpack
Good to see Brit inventors looking to do good!
Bit like reinventing the wheel. The limited luggage problem is easily addressed by wearing a lightweight gilet with many commodious pockets.
Saves wearing the embarrassing animal head hood too.