Shopping..

Often times, you will find that you’ve come home from vacation only to open up your luggage and find lots of junky souvenirs that don’t fit your house’s décor. The souvenir shop owners have somehow tricked you into buying their shiny metal pieces again. And now, you are stuck with more things to put in your drawer. The next time you go on vacation, keep these handy hints around when you enter one of these stores.

Give yourself a budget for souvenir shopping. Tell yourself that you are going on vacation to gather memories not junk. As you look around the stores for something that will stir good memories, you will have a budget that will keep you grounded as you consider a valuable piece to keep instead of a dozen key chains that will only gather rust. Make sure that your loved ones next to you help you keep to your budget.

Make a list of names for when you are thinking about whom to buy souvenirs for. Keep this list in your pocket at all times, since you will most likely go souvenir shopping on a whim throughout the day. Once you’ve bought the souvenir for the loved one, then quickly cross his name off of your list so that you won’t have to think “did I buy him a gift or not.” You will have more freedom to look for gifts for other people when you know that you’ve already shopped for uncle #3.

If you just can’t help yourself and have to buy something at every store that you enter because “I may never see this item again” or “I may not have time to buy this”, then schedule a day on your vacation when you are just going shopping that morning or afternoon. This way, you’ll feel good in knowing that you’ve built time just for souvenir shopping. You can enjoy the other experiences of site seeing, visiting friends, or getting Goofy’s hug without worrying that you may not be getting something tangible for memory’s sake.

Consider taking pictures of your experiences instead of loading up on key chains. Remember that most of your family and friends will want to look at pictures of your vacation, not the $5.00 key chain that you bought for them. These pictures can also be enlarged or put into a scrapbook that can become a wonderful memory keepsake forever. If you are not a good picture taker, then you can spend quarters buying postcards to put into a scrapbook.

If you collect something at home already, focus on a souvenir that can be added into this collection. For example, if you love spoons or teacups, look for these souvenirs in stores to add to your collection. You will be happy to know that you already have space for this souvenir and you will be able to show this off with your other collections. Ask storeowners for help in finding a special collection as most owners are happy to help you find something special to remember your vacation.

If you don’t have enough money for many souvenirs, spend time journaling all of your experiences and emotions. If you have the time during your vacation, spend a few minutes each morning or evening jotting your thoughts about each day. This will prove precious when you go back through your travel journal years later and read about your feelings and experiences. You can share with your loved ones those “remember when” feelings. This will prove more valuable than that cup you thought was so cute and ended up breaking in the dishwasher.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 27th, 2007 at 10:24 am and is filed under Shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.