You are never too young to need your “own space.” Introduce your children to their own space while on long car trips and save your sanity (which is the real point). No more “He’s hogging the whole seat!” or “Is not!” Is too!” or “Mom! She kicked me!” Imagine a quiet, peaceful drive on the way to your next vacation. The space traveler can do that for you.
Rachel Lincoln and Krissy Pruske have been friends for 30 years, from the time when they were children in Covington, Louisiana. They were always creative. One of their favorite things to do was hunt through the local thrift shops and concoct their own fashions from their treasures. Now they both live in San Antonio, Texas, and have children of their own.
Rachel and Krissy still enjoy their creative projects, usually products that make life easier for children and their parents. With five children between them, they find plenty of unmet needs that they then try to fill. They also find ways to improve existing products. They set up a company for all their inventions, Bright Ideas Design, LLC.
In 2018, Krissy was looking forward to much-needed vacation—except for the cross-country drive to Montana. Three kids in the backseat. Aha—maybe if she could keep them separated! She looked around and decided on mesh laundry hampers. They helped, but didn’t really do the trick. Next trip was to Orlando—16 hours from San Antonio. She tried collapsible dog kennels made from utility fabric. They worked better, but still not exactly the right solution.
Rachel jumped at the chance to collaborate with Krissy on finding the solution. It was a chance to use her graduate degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and her experience as an architect and interior designer. She and Krissy got right to work—in a garage where so many of the best inventions started—and created the space traveler.
The space traveler is a soft-sided compartment made from durable, easy-to-clean fabric. It is lightweight and 32” high x 19” wide x 19” deep. When folded, it fits into a convenient 13” x 13” x 3” storage bag. Each child has his or her very own space in the back seat. The sides have mesh window panels that open and close, and each compartment has cup holders and storage pockets for each child’s “stuff.” The space traveler can be used with most car seats and booster seats. Or it can be used with only the seat belt.
Rachel and Krissy made a prototype and found a manufacturer in China to produce a few samples. While they were waiting for the first space travelers to arrive, they saw that Shark Tank was having open auditions in New York City. Great excuse for a girls’ weekend. Even better, the samples arrived in time, and they were selected to appear on the show.
They are planning to adapt the space traveler for use on planes and trains and later for use in classrooms, e.g. for test taking or for children with sensory processing disorders.
UPDATE: The space traveler is no longer available.
