Souvenirs

When we first started traveling, we would go into souvenir shops and buy souvenirs to take back home. Then we realized that when we got home, most of the souvenirs would end up in a drawer or closet and we would never look at them again. We started rethinking our souvenir strategy and decided to buy only those items which we would use or which we would be proud to display in our home. We also try to buy only those souvenirs which are made in or are unique to that country.

When we started cruising, we noticed the plethora of jewelry that is available in any port wherever you stop in the Caribbean, Alaska, or Mexican Riviera. Sometimes you even get great deals on your jewelry. We also noticed that cruise companies have favorite merchants that they want their passengers to use. I enjoyed buying Star of David pendants in Israel because that meant a lot to me. I had a cartouche with my name in hieroglyphics shipped to me from the ship's jewelry shop. This was because I was able to get better quality and know what I was getting instead of going to one of the ship's choice of souvenir stores. At least jewelry doesn't take up a lot of space in a carry-on bag or purse and doesn't add weight to your luggage. My students tell me that I like to wear my souvenirs when they see me with jewelry that I bought during my travels.

The natives of any country that you visit make it very convenient for you to purchase their product. At many ports, they have markets set up or are on the dock showing you their items. Sometimes they get downright pushy, as in Egypt, shoving postcards in your face. After a long day in Cairo, it was all we could do to walk from the bus to the ship because of the merchants blocking our path trying to sell us merchandise. It was late, we were hungry, and shopping was the last thing we wanted to do. We waited until the next port where the sellers were not as pushy.

You have to be careful when buying souvenirs. Of course in China, you want items made in China. I have a beautiful silk comforter and robe that I treasure. But you still don't want to buy cheap, poorly-made items. In other countries, you don't want to buy anything made in China; you want to purchase items made in that country. By the way, I had to buy another piece of luggage to get the comforter home. Fortunately they weren't charging for a second suitcase at that time.

Of course souvenir merchants know how gullible their customers are and that's why they are in business. I was glad to see a souvenir shop selling sweat shirts in Queenstown, New Zealand. I thought it was summer there and it was cold that far south. I still wear that shirt 10 years later. In Australia on that same trip, I bought so many animal puppets that I had a "borrow" a suitcase from a friend who was throwing one away.

The merchants in almost all countries love taking American money or credit cards for their merchandise. The only exception was Croatia, who wouldn't take either dollars or Euros. Just be sure to notify your bank that you will be traveling abroad. We ran into trouble in Turkey and had to go to the ship to call our bank to let them know that our transactions were OK.