I bought these for my nieces and nephew thinking they would be great for the car. (We have the full size/at home version.)The travel size has two major drawbacks that the mat does not:The reservoir is too small (maybe about 1/5 the size of the regular pen); you have to refill it much more often.The drawing surface does not dry quickly. I drew on one side and flipped over to the other side and it still wasn't dry yet.It got dirty pretty quickly; I don't know if there's a way to clean them.I'd say if you want to get the aquadoodle, get the large size mat- not this travel one.