We all love to take vacations, especially to exciting or exotic places. Many people want to bring something back to their friends and loved ones, to share the joy of their vacation. Often, people choose to do this buy bringing home souvenirs. Tourist hot-spots are full of gift shops and souvenir emporiums containing New York City key chains, Eiffel Tower scissors, or Niagara Falls t-shirts.
While souvenir shopping is sometimes fun, it often ends up being unnecessarily stressful. Looking for perfect gifts for each friend and family member can often lead to a frantic rush on the last day of vacation. Here are a few tips for avoiding that rush.
1. Set a realistic budget. We all spend money a little more carelessly than usual on vacation. Add this to the fact that gift shops (like other stores) encourage impulse buying, and you create a potential financial disaster. Avoid this by setting a budget and refusing to exceed it.
2. Make your gifts personally relevant. Gifts should reflect the things you know about the person you are giving them to. If you have a brother who cooks a lot, bring him oven mitts. For a friend who is a writer, bring a special pen. Knick knacks like snow globes and spoons should only go to people who you know collect that sort of thing.
3. Be creative. Think outside of the gift shops and souvenir shops. Chances are, there are other types of stores around. You could bring food items, candles, or jewelry instead of traditional souvenirs. Sometimes this is more appropriate, as some people feel uncomfortable wearing a t-shirt or displaying a knick-knack from somewhere they did not actually visit.
4. The smaller, the better. You do not want to add crazy amounts of stuff to your luggage, especially if you are flying. Airlines have a limit on the number of carry on bags you can bring, too. Sometimes they will let a shopping bag slide by without counting it, but not always. Try to find souvenirs that are small and easy to pack, such as key chains, pens, and other non-fragile items.
5. Do not leave your shopping til the last minute. If you wait until the end to do your souvenir shopping, you are guaranteeing yourself a stressful, frenzied last day of vacation. In order to have a relaxing, enjoyable day, get most of your shopping done before hand. You can save a couple of items for the end, but you don't want to spend the final hours of your vacation sweating in lines at gift shops. Also, if you leave things until the end, you are more likely to overspend. This is especially true if you end up buying things from airport gift shops, which are notoriously more expensive.
It is a wonderful thing to share the fun of your vacation with other people, and to show them that you were thinking of them. Follow the tips above for wise souvenir shopping. Your friends and family will definitely appreciate the Eiffel Tower scissors, Niagara Falls photo books, or London snow globes that you bring back for them.
While souvenir shopping is sometimes fun, it often ends up being unnecessarily stressful. Looking for perfect gifts for each friend and family member can often lead to a frantic rush on the last day of vacation. Here are a few tips for avoiding that rush.
1. Set a realistic budget. We all spend money a little more carelessly than usual on vacation. Add this to the fact that gift shops (like other stores) encourage impulse buying, and you create a potential financial disaster. Avoid this by setting a budget and refusing to exceed it.
2. Make your gifts personally relevant. Gifts should reflect the things you know about the person you are giving them to. If you have a brother who cooks a lot, bring him oven mitts. For a friend who is a writer, bring a special pen. Knick knacks like snow globes and spoons should only go to people who you know collect that sort of thing.
3. Be creative. Think outside of the gift shops and souvenir shops. Chances are, there are other types of stores around. You could bring food items, candles, or jewelry instead of traditional souvenirs. Sometimes this is more appropriate, as some people feel uncomfortable wearing a t-shirt or displaying a knick-knack from somewhere they did not actually visit.
4. The smaller, the better. You do not want to add crazy amounts of stuff to your luggage, especially if you are flying. Airlines have a limit on the number of carry on bags you can bring, too. Sometimes they will let a shopping bag slide by without counting it, but not always. Try to find souvenirs that are small and easy to pack, such as key chains, pens, and other non-fragile items.
5. Do not leave your shopping til the last minute. If you wait until the end to do your souvenir shopping, you are guaranteeing yourself a stressful, frenzied last day of vacation. In order to have a relaxing, enjoyable day, get most of your shopping done before hand. You can save a couple of items for the end, but you don't want to spend the final hours of your vacation sweating in lines at gift shops. Also, if you leave things until the end, you are more likely to overspend. This is especially true if you end up buying things from airport gift shops, which are notoriously more expensive.
It is a wonderful thing to share the fun of your vacation with other people, and to show them that you were thinking of them. Follow the tips above for wise souvenir shopping. Your friends and family will definitely appreciate the Eiffel Tower scissors, Niagara Falls photo books, or London snow globes that you bring back for them.
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