How to Snag the Best Souvenirs
If you’re like me, you love picking up souvenirs from places you’ve visited. It’s hard sometimes to pick something out, whether it’s a souvenir or a gift for a friend or family member. Here’s some inspiration for unique, memorable, and meaningful souvenirs that you will be so glad to add to your collection and how to get them!
What’s something the city or country you’re visiting is known for? Finding out the answer to this makes for not only a fun little history lesson but gives you an idea for a memorable token of your time there. Italy was all about the arts, but each place specialized in something different. In Venice, I learned women for decades had gone to Venetian lace school to learn how to make delicate works of lace from scratch - anything from table clothes to window curtains. I visited the last Venetian lace school in Venice, where an instructor gave us all a little lace coaster; I also picked up a Venetian lace bookmark for myself and a pin cushion for my mother. In Florence, I supported a local artist by purchasing a card stock painting of the Duomo, and in the Amalfi Coast, I grabbed a handmade swim suit from a small local shop that would always remind me of the sunny, Italian Riviera.
Shop local! I have picked up so many cool items from small boutiques and vintage shops across my travels. These aren’t just mementos of my trips but items I use all the time. I bought lots of handmade jewelry from Greece and a handmade backpack, a vintage cross necklace and wool sweater in Iceland, and vintage faux fur coats in London and Budapest. Not only are you supporting local businesses but you’re picking items that you’ll actually be able to use, instead of a trinket that will sit on the shelf untouched.
Hit the markets! Don’t just check out singular shops but the huge marketplaces. It’s a great way to check out the local people coming together, browse a variety of items, and snag something at a great price! Markets are a great price to try haggling if you’re in a country where haggling is a common practice. Research a bit into this: some places it’s customary to start at 1/10 of their suggested price (like Morocco) where in others, vendors will shake their head if you try cutting their price in half. If they don’t look like their willing to lower their price any, simply say that’s alright and you can look elsewhere and start walking away; they’ll immediately call after you with a better price. You can find anything from vintage clothing to old technology, antique silverware, handmade jewelry and bags, to paintings and more, which makes the markets a wonderful place to find a souvenir for you and gifts for all your loved ones. Some of my favorite souvenirs have been from a market: a broken but vintage blue camera in Barcelona, an elephant tapestry and jade bracelet from Thailand, and a small brass lamp from Morocco.
Purchase photos from a fun activity you did. Yes, these can sometimes be more expensive than you would like, but pictures are worth a thousand words. Some activities you do while traveling are ones you can’t do back home, or wouldn’t do, so why not document it? Some companies who organize these adventure activities will allow you to bring your own camera/GoPro while others won’t; the latter is more common. This might be frustrating it the bright side is that you’re able to live in the moment and fully enjoy your activity without worrying about getting the perfect photo. I went skydiving in the Austrian Alps, surfing at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, and parachuting in Turkey - the photos and videos I have from these are some of the best souvenirs I’ve gotten! Be careful of tourist traps, however, where people will offer you photo(s) for “a donation” or free and demand you made an absurd amount after; this happened to me in Cartagena, Colombia with the fruit basket ladies. After they yelled at me that my donation was not enough, I had to fork over about $20 USD. While it wasn’t worth $20, the photos were great and now I have them for memory - if this happens to you, make the most of it!
Think outside the box when finding an alternative. Some souvenirs you want will be really expensive, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for nothing. All the tourists I met in Turkey said they bought a Turkish rug from the market because it’s such high quality and a good price. Little did I know what a “good price” for a quality rug cost: thousands! I naively walked into a shop and asked what their cheapest rug was, then proceeded to walk out. I was bummed! But then I stumbled onto another small shop, where a guy was selling gorgeous pillow cushions with tassels. I picked one up for a discount after telling the guy I was a student and had really wanted to buy a rug while I was in Turkey but couldn’t afford it, and hanging a pillow cushion up on my wall was a fashionable alternative! I also visited the oldest ceramics shop in Cappadocia called Kappadoykia Ceramik, where ornate hand-decorated vases and serving dishes cost hundreds of dollars. I searched all the show rooms for a small piece I could afford. I stumbled on a small dish and picked it up, only to have the store owner look at me and say: “You don’t look like a smoker.” When he saw my puzzled face, he responded that what I was holding was actually an ash tray. I told him that it looked perfect for a trinket dish for my jewelry and a tea bag holder for my mother!
Custom order something. If you’re visiting somewhere long enough, consider getting something custom made. I found a Superga store in London that customized their shoes and thought it would make for a great memento of my time studying abroad in London. I even designed what I wanted the shoes to look like and sent off my ideas to the artist, who brought them to life! If you are going to splurge on something customized, make sure you know your size or the size of whomever you’re gifting the item to; I made the mistake of assuming I would be the same size in their platform sneakers as the flat ones and sadly, that was not the case.