The only cost in having Dexter visit you, is the return shipping. If you have a question about the shipping costs, please see the question below. If your area is not covered, feel free to contact us about shipping questions.
If you are mailing him within the U.S. it will cost $9.60 to send Dexter in a flat-rate box through the U.S. Postal service. (if you use a regular box, this rate doubles. So if you want to save yourself some money, please use the flatrate box!) This price includes the cost of a tracking number, which we ask that you get, when possible. If you use the t-shirt size priority boxes, I believe it is only about $5.00 to send him within the U.S.
I will be adding International rates as I get them. If you do not see your country here, and want to know a rate, contact me and I will see what I can do. If you want to look up the rates yourself, Dexter and Ripley weigh 1 pound each.
Sweden - First Class International (lxhxd= 36" or less) is $10.40 through USPS.
Priority Mail International (max length = 60") is $20.00 through USPS.
If you know the rates coming back from your country and would like to share with us, we would be more than happy to post them here.
Some of the people that have signed up to have Dexter visit them have asked for suggestions of what to do with him when he arrived. So I thought I would post a few things here, as a guide. If anyone has any suggestions they would like to add, please feel free to contact us with them!
To start off with, Dexter has a passport that travels with him. This is for Natasha, and we would appreciate it if everyone filled it out. You can add pictures to it, or anything else you think would be neat for her to have in there. Perhaps a postcard from your area, or something similiar. A suggestion given to me, that I thought would be neat would be to take it to your local post office and see if they would stamp it. That way, Dexter has a stamp from each city he visits. (not sure if the post office will actually do this for you or not, but I thought it was a neat suggestion)
As for Dexter, you can do whatever you please with him. Take him to your local sites, treat him to your family traditions, or do whatever you want. Some neat ideas are to take pictures in front of your city signs, to show where he has been. Local sites are always fun, and though they may seem boring and average to you, they are all very exciting to us.
Dexter likes all sorts of things, and is willing to try anything. He will go on rides, visit parks, try new foods, share your holidays, (and even dress up for the occasion), watch games, visit museums, go to bbq's or picnics, visit the beach, or anything else that you feel like doing with him.
He can visit schools, daycares, places of work, nursing homes, and other similiar places. Dexter loves to meet new people, and he loves to go on adventures. Introduce him to your friends and family, and just have a great time with him!
But don't forget to take pictures. We want to see all of his adventures!!!
While we prefer that you use digital, so that we can be updated frequently, it is not a requirement. You can take your pictures and mail them to us when you are done hosting Dexter. (we do ask that you mail them as soon as possible, so we can keep our site updated)
We suggest that you keep Dexter at least one week, but no more than two weeks. We would appreciate it if you would let us know when Dexter arrives, and give us an idea of when you expect to send him on to his next host family, so they know when to expect him.
Dexter will be sent out in the order that he was requested. The only exception to this rule is when someone is requesting to take him on a special trip with them. These are considered special circumstances, though, and those are the only times that the schedule will be rearranged. We cannot give an exact time of expected arrival at your house, until your turn draws nearer. You can calculate that Dexter will spend approximately 2 weeks at each house, to get an idea of when it will be your turn. We will contact you before your turn comes up to make sure you still want to take him, and to let you know when to expect him. To keep track of his where-abouts, sign up for our monthly updates. This better gives you an idea of where Dexter is and where he will be going.
Absolutely! Dexter loves to visit all places, and finds great pleasure in returning to places he's already been. No one person can take him to all the great sites that your city has to offer, so if you feel that you would like him to visit your city again, please feel free to sign up.
Yes, after he has had a chance to visit other places, he can return to previous host families. I think that Dexter would be honored to know that a family enjoyed his stay so much that they requested that he visit again.
While we don't suggest it, we will not prevent you from doing so. Dexter is your guest, and if you want him to have a keepsake from your hometown, then that is your decision. However, if you feel the need to buy anything for Dexter that you want him to keep, we ask that you send it to his home, rather than send it on with him. The only reason we ask this is because if he starts collecting things, he may no longer fit in the box he came in, and the cost of shipping may go up. Not to mention, the more things he has to travel with, the more likely that something will get lost as he travels from home to home.