Your far-flung vacation has gone wonderfully for the most part, you had a lovely time, but all good things come to an end and now the most stressful moment has arrived—souvenir shopping! You want to be sure to remember everyone, and make sure that your gifts actually make sense for each person. AND, you’ve already spent most of your holiday money on yourself of course, so you can’t afford to be ripped off by the parade of tourist-preying vendors lurking outside your hotel. If you want to (and have time to) bring back items that are actually thoughtful representatives of the places you have encountered, rather than just t-shirts or magnets with the name of a city, here are some ideas for souvenirs that you can be proud to give.

• A book of city or country legends. These are usually fun and colorfully illustrated books that can provide a lot of fascinating and in-depth information on your vacation spot, and put a lot of things about the culture and its people into perspective. Great for history buffs, bookworms, and generally curious personalities.




• Music is another type of eternal souvenir that reveals an entirely distinct and new dimension of a culture. If you happen upon a concert during your trip, be it a local band or DJ or solo guitarist, find out if you can pick up their CD either at the venue or at a music store in town. Or simply browse the local music store’s regional/folk music section and find out what’s playing on the speakers. Ask the sales people to recommend something, or you might want to ask them who their favorite local musicians are.

• It’s likely that your destination will have its own special brew of alcoholic beverage, so you might want to snag a small bottle or two for your thirsty friends and relatives. However, if carrying liquids is not an option, you can take the empty drink bottle and fill it with something nice like local wildflowers or shells, or collect different coasters and/or bottle caps from the pubs and cafés you visit.

• Hit up the corner grocery store! This is great for foodie friends and family members and much cheaper than purchasing those shiny, gift-wrapped items at the duty-free shop or the touristy plazas in town. You can buy some spices particular to the local cuisine and throw in a recipe book. Or see if there are any “just add water/eggs/meat/etc” meal packets or boxes for traditional stews, cakes, breads, etc. And of course, local coffee, tea, chocolates and sweet/salty snacks are always a treat, especially if you can find established brands that the locals love. Ask around, you’ll be surprised how much fun that can be and how much you’ll learn.

• If you run across any open air markets or used bookstores or knick knack shops, have a look for handcrafted or historically significant items, like locally produced candles or soaps, or a gently worn copy of sheet music with traditional folk songs.

• Your gift doesn’t always have to be directly related to the place  you are visiting. If you stumble upon something so unique and perfect for someone, something that makes you instantly think of that someone, then by all means go for it. Just the fact that you pictured them when you saw the item will make them happy.

• What about the hundreds of photos you couldn’t resist taking? Use the plane/train/bus ride home to tag the best snaps on your camera and when you get home, print them out on your own photo printer or at a photo shop, and arrange them into a gorgeous scrapbook or collage. Or, many photo printing shops nowadays have gift options right on their website so you can turn your best photos into a professional-looking calendar or coffee mug–souvenirs that are both practical and pretty!