First Impressions is a series that introduces and reviews new brands to My Subscription Addiction, drawing from readers' requests for an insider's first look. Interested in seeing more reviews from this brand, or have another box in mind that you'd like to see reviewed? Let us know in the comments.
The Adventure Challenge is a monthly subscription that delivers everything you need for a unique, creative date to help you reconnect with your partner as you spend quality time together. While functional by itself, this subscription makes for a great companion to the Couples Camera Set, which is not included.
This is a review of the Adventure Subscription Box which is currently on sale for $39.99 a month.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
First Impressions
As I write this, I am in complete awe to think that my husband and I have been married 15 years already. As high school sweethearts, I really haven't known life without my Dustin, and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. That being said, our dating life has become a bit stagnant. Between the struggle of finding a babysitter, and the insane cost of going out - our typical Friday and Saturday night consists of us falling asleep on the couch while watching sitcom re-runs. I decided we needed to liven it up a bit and give The Adventure Challenge a try. Read below to see what we thought of this box, and how our date ended up going.
Diving In
I have reviewed date night boxes in the past and have had mixed luck. My husband, while adventurous, enjoys our TV dates over getting "overly mushy", though a bottle of wine tends to change the tune, so I play that to my advantage... This particular box is initially impressive. I love the quality of the flip-up box, and the fact that I can re-use it. Besides the box, everything was packaged so nicely, and the entire display was perfection.
The Paperwork
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Sometimes date boxes tend to be overly organized and almost bossy, so I was interested to see how this one was laid out. We found the instruction booklet to be straight to the point, with a bit of humor, and was really easy to follow. We appreciated the fact that this month's "Penny for Your Thoughts" theme was very customizable, and we were able to spend as much or little time on it as we wanted. Giving you wiggle room to complete this date as you see fit, they do include a bonus challenge with writing prompts for the included journals. While it doesn't have to be done, I appreciated the extra effort that was given to turn the date into a bit of a date week.
Journals
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Included in this month's date were two leather journals and a piece of practice leather. The entire point of the "Penny for Your Thoughts" theme is to tap into your creative side and create a scrapbook type journal that you and your significant other make for each other. The brown leather journals include an elastic tie for closure, and a cardstock pocket inside for little notes and treasures. Naturalistic and simple, I loved the look of the leather, and couldn't wait to start creating.
Tools
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Along with the leather journals, we received this fun leather stamping leather set, mallet, glue sticks, and scissors. So basically, everything you need for this entire kit, minus the pen. The leather letter stamping kit is really nice quality and was super fun to use. The only suggestion I have is this: DO NOT try and do this date when your children are sleeping. Because you are hammering, this is a very loud date, so plan accordingly.
The Adventure Challenge Magazines
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To create a photo collage (or just to look at) we received two different magazines with fun pictures, cute poems, and whimsical wording. Flipping through, you are encouraged to cut out things that make you think of your partner and paste them to the inside of the journal.
The Actual Date
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Interestingly enough, our date didn't quite turn out as I expected it to. We ended up unboxing this after tucking the boys into bed on a Saturday night and woke both kids up with the hammering of the first letter, so we ended up watching "Top Gun" — (a movie I have never seen before) instead. Side note: How in the heck did I go 33 years without watching that classic? I have no idea! Anyways, our letter hammering had to wait. Sunday, we decided when the boys were playing outside that we would work on our journals. Because I used up the wine to lure my husband into this date on Saturday, his interest had faded to a mere zero, and he opted to clean every window in our house instead. (I must say, this was a definite win for me anyways!) Needless to say, I created a journal for myself about my husband, and Hank came in asking if he could take over the other one.
Hank's Journal
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Hank is an outdoor nut, and absolutely loves to write. While I obviously wanted Dustin to use the second journal to write to me, Hank begged me to give it to him to customize. I obliged, with the stipulation that Dustin and I write back and forth to each other in the journal I created, and he agreed. Hank pounded out his title and used the magazines to create his cover page. While it wasn't exactly ideal to spend more of my date with my son than my husband, I ended up with a really cute journal, a happy son, and some sparkling clean windows. In my book, it was a definite win!
In case you were curious, Dustin pulled through for me and wrote me a really sweet letter on the next open page in my journal to him. Because he absolutely hates writing and is easily embarrassed, he asked me not to share a photo of it, but it really meant a lot, and I'm hoping we can continue using the included prompts to keep the written communication going and keep building our relationship up as we head into our 18th year of being together. Time sure flies when you are having fun!
The Verdict
This was our first time receiving a box from The Adventure Challenge, and while we didn't exactly follow the directions, it turned out to be not only an asset to our relationship as husband and wife, but also a shared one with our son. While I loved the curation of this box, my husband wasn't thrilled with the contents. Though the materials were high quality, and the guide was helpful, he just wasn't into it like I had hoped. With our next box you can bet I will have the wine chilled, and that he will participate - or I might just end up with a freshly painted kitchen. 😂 A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, right? I can't wait to see what next month's theme might be! Any guesses?
The Value: Because the materials in this box are custom made for this box, it is hard to put a retail value on the contents, though I did find a similar stamp set for $25. Between the materials, the ideas, and the quality time together, I found the $39.99 price to be fair.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Possibly. The Adventure Box is a preset monthly experience, so it just depends on which one they are sending out at the particular time.
Check out all of our date night boxes the Lifestyle Subscription Box List!
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What do you think of The Adventure Challenge?
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