Mailing souvenirs home?

How do you get your new treasures home if there's no room in your suitcase?

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How do you get your new treasures home if there's no room in your suitcase?

 

 

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I take less with me to begin with. However on our Asia trips I've usually had to buy another suitcase when I was there to get everything home...Love the shopping in Shanghai and Saigon.

How do you get your new treasures home if there's no room in your suitcase?

 

 

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Souvenirs or treasures? Big difference.

If it's an unusual piece of cultural or otherwise artistic significance that needs careful handling, any dealer with a good reputation will pack, insure and ship your purchase at an often negotiable price. Some good research before your trip should make your negotiations go smoothly.

If you're talking about Christmas ornaments and tee shirts, leave space and weight allowance in your checked baggage at the start of your vacation.

If you're considering a "local" booze purchase abroad, reconsider. As good as you think are the spirits in that "special" bottle, do your homework and you'll find it or something better in most major US cities or online. Even at a higher price, it's a lot easier than carting bottles around in transit.

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Mailing items across international borders requires filling out a customs declaration form. You would have to find a local post office that is open while you are in port, complete the required forms in the local language, and pay the appropriate postage in the local currency if they don't accept debit/credit cards. And how will you pack the items for mailing? Will you carry empty cartons or padded envelopes? Sealing tape? Do you want to spend an hour or so of your time in port to do this?

Mailing items back home can be done but it's not simple. Instead plan ahead and take an extra bag. Or throw the old sweat shirt or other item away during the trip to make room for the souvenirs.

Although I no longer purchase souvenirs, I used to put a canvas bag in my luggage as an additional "carry on". Even used a beach bag once to put extra purchases in.

We love to mail ourselves a Souvenir post cards from other countries. :D

.

With less luggage allowances I purchase food treats on amazon from places I would visit before I go... pass them out to friends when I get back... it is amazing what you can find on amazon.

With less luggage allowances I purchase food treats on amazon from places I would visit before I go... pass them out to friends when I get back... it is amazing what you can find on amazon.

Hahahaha. That's cheating! :D

If you are cruising in the Med, for example, and you want to buy something large and breakable such as pottery in Positano or Sorrento, the stores will gladly mail your purchases back to your home. They do this all the time and are very trustworthy and wrap things very, very well so they arrive in perfect condition. It takes several weeks for the items to arrive and customs may call you and ask what you purchased if the list of contents is in Italian (for example.) But this is the best way to get larger items home.

We don't buy souvenirs, instead we buy items for our house -- treasures.

Reputable stores will gladly mail your treasures to your home. You may wait a while before they arrive, but worth the wait.

Hahahaha. That's cheating! :D

Yes, but those chocolate covered macadamia nuts are oh-so-good!

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Depending on the size I use the same method I pack my cologne. Inside a ziplock bag stuffed inside a dress shoe wrapped a few t shirts.

We put all our port purchases on our carry-on bag that is always lightly packed. If the purchased items are not allowed by airlines on carry-on, we interchange them with those for checked luggage.

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How do you get your new treasures home if there's no room in your suitcase?

 

 

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Option 1: bring a collapsible bag with you in your checked luggage

Option 2: buy another bag either in port or in onboard shops

Option 3: Don't buy large items.

If you are arriving back in the US prior to jumping on a plane, you could bring with you a flat priority mail box with postage and addressed to you. You can then mail the treasures (or dirty clothes to make room in suitcase) home prior to getting on the plane.

I don't know how many souvenirs you need...we don't need many! There is no way I'd pay postage to mail stuff home...the postage will cost more than the item. Go smaller, or just don't buy the stuff!

In many places post offices do more than just handle mail (St. Maarten, Mexico, etc) so there are often long lines. Do you want to spend port time obtaining packing material, wrapping the junk you buy, locating the post office, waiting in line, paying the postage, etc?

If you cannot fit it in your luggage, do not buy it - no problem.

We use expandable bags. We keep them un-expanded when packing for the trip and then expand them if needed when we pack to go home. Always insures extra room for souvenirs. As others said, don't pack every inch and bag you are allotted. Assuming u check your suitcase you are usually still allowed a carry on and personal item per person so can bring your beach tote or a store bag as your personal item.

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The UPS store and other similar packaging / mailing stores are located throughout the world. They will package and ship your items. Google is your friend -- easy to find the service.

If you cannot fit it in your luggage, do not buy it - no problem.

The best advice!

We took one big suitcase per person even though they were not all filled. When we came back, we put all the dirty clothes in one bag, unworn clean clothing in 2 others and had one left for our loot which included port purchases and booze from the ship.