If you’re planning a big trip this summer, it’s likely those carefully packaged suitcases will come home a bit heavier than when you left. The lure of shopping for decor whilst on vacation is great, and also the promise of bringing home a one time treasure is nearly irresistible. These 10 tips can help you track down authentic finds without stressing your credit card a great deal or overstuffing your property.
CapeRace Cultural Adventures
1. Remember the power of images. Hone your photography skills before and during your trip, and you might come away with a wall-worthy print for just the price of a frame.
The best way to shoot better travel photographs with your Mobile Phone
Bosworth Hoedemaker
2. Start a low-maintenance collection. When choosing an item to collect, think small, mobile and easy to discover. Maps — whether antique or current — matchbooks and even humble postcards may make fine collectibles. Seek the same thing in each area you travel, and you may soon have a special collection.
SchappacherWhite Architecture D.P.C.
3. Scoop up local specialties at the source. Whether you’re searching for marketplace totes and classic grain-sack cushions in France or embroidery in Mexico, try to source your finds out of a industry or neighborhood haunt for the very best price. It is worth it to do a bit of research before you leave home so you’ll feel comfortable straying in the tourist-filled areas.
Canoe
Botot Toothpaste – $20.50
4. Surprise friends with exotic blankets with trendy layouts. Drugstore basics from other countries often have beautiful packaging and also make unexpectedly interesting (and budget-friendly) presents for friends back home. Start looking for pretty soaps, creams and, yes, even toothpaste, at the corner pharmacy, and earn a trip to the market to get entertaining pantry goods.
SFGIRLBYBAY
5. Collect art wherever you go. My husband’s grandparents did so, and after more than 50 decades of traveling together, they’d gathered an impressive collection of original artwork — and each slice had a story to tell. They were mostly tiny pieces by unknown artists, some classic, some new; the purpose wasn’t to make an investment but to purchase what they loved — great information for us all.
6. Take home versatile textiles. Fabrics are a wonderful way to bring home a bit of the soul of a place, and they do not up too much room in a bag. If you know a fantastic seamstress, you can save money by buying fabric and having pieces created — as contributor Samantha Schoech did using the gorgeous cushions created from a part of Mexican Otomi embroidery revealed here.
Platform
7. Save room by bypassing the filling. Buy poufs vacant and fill them when you get home, purchase pillow covers without springs and go to get a mild duvet cover as opposed to a hefty quilt. You will be thanked by your suitcase.
Uncle Goose
French ABC Blocks – $39
8. Give foreign-language children’ toys and books. For your little ones, look no further than a neighborhood bookshop or toy shop for affordable gifts. Picture books, alphabet blocks, flash puzzles and cards are all more enchanting and add to education when published in a different language.
Astleford Interiors, Inc..
9. Take care when buying fragile items. A couple of delicate items can locate a secure home in your carry-on tote, but do not expect delicate items packed in checked luggage to come through unscathed. Even if you did an expert job placing it your best efforts can be completely undone during one safety test.
If you must have that complete pair of hand-painted dishes, then see if the store can send them to your house — and even then, be comfortable with the risk that they could not arrive in one piece (or at all).
Mykonos Blu
10. Get to the root of what you want to get home. Can it be the thing — or the lifestyle? It’s easy to slide into the trap of thinking the more things you bring home, the more of the vacation feeling you will bring home, also. Instead of overloading your suitcases and stretching your wallet, notice the things you have made a habit of doing on vacation that you don’t usually make time for — and commit to doing them more often when you get home.
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