Have you ever been in a situation like this - There are just 20 minutes (sometimes less) left until the gates are closing, but instead of enjoying the last minutes of your trip, you are running around the airport like a headless chicken only to find the last souvenirs/ gifts for your brothers? You end up buying something that is overpriced and not that great either. I used to be this person and believe me - I didn’t feel good when after returning home and giving this souvenir/gift to my brother, he wouldn’t even really appreciate it. I always ended up blaming myself – it’s because it was the last moment grab… It took me years until I finally stopped doing this and also my husband who has become a minimalist helped me a lot. It wasn’t easy, but I feel actually much better when I don’t have to think about buying something for almost everyone I know back home.
If you would want to be free and stop buying while traveling, here are
8 Great Reasons and Tips
1. You don’t really need them.
Most of them are just collecting dust in your home. Yes, some things might be practical, but just think – do you really need another mug/ can opener/ ashtray at home?
2. There is not enough space in your luggage
And don’t think of buying an extra bag just to bring back everything you have bought. Remember it costs extra (the bag PLUS the airline fee). If you think there is something absolutely necessary to buy, remember you can shop online when back home!
3. They only look good in the shop.
Most of the souvenirs look really good because they are among a lot of other souvenirs. However, if you take one home, it will just look a little sad all alone.
4. Spend your money on experiences instead of gifts.
You will have a memory of the experience for much longer and most likely you will have a wonderful story to tell others.
5. Stop your collections!
As cute as it is to have a collection of little shot glasses or playing cards, or snow globes, or cups from all around the world, they are just material things that will break, look ugly, stay in a box and/or collect a lot of dust over time.
6. Things don’t bring you happiness.
Sure, you might think – they do to me, but think again… Imagine this situation, you come back from a trip and you could either a) tell a story where you hiked a local mountain saw some goats and skulls on the way, saw some interesting fruit trees that don’t grow where you are from and had an amazing view from the top overlooking the city or 2) went to buy a souvenir and in the best case scenario the shopkeeper smiled at you! Which makes you happier?
7. Take a photo of a souvenir instead of buying it.
If you think you truly want a souvenir - take a photo of it. You will have fed your desire of buying because you can always look back at the photo later. You will most likely never do it because you will want to see the photos of the beautiful views, nature, even the people you met, but not the souvenirs.
8. It is stressful.
It really is. Just read again the beginning of this blog post...
I hope you will think about all this and next time you start to stress about what to bring everyone from your trip you will stop, take a deep breath and say: 'No I don't need to buy new stuff! Let's better go and explore!'
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