According to the Travel Industry Association, 63% of travellers see buying souvenirs for themselves or loved ones at home as an integral and important part of your holiday. But it’s all too easy to leave it to the last minute and dash round duty free, or get totally carried away at an exotic market and buy really impractical objects things that get left behind in the grand suitcase packing mission. Well, watch out for our unusual souvenirs on your travels and never be stumped for something to buy again. From odd things to buy your gran to bizarre presents for your mates, look no further!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aschaf/3912192336/
by aschaf
Kangaroo claws are top of the list for odd Antipodean souvenirs. Whilst the cute creatures are protected by law, population control is government sanctioned, so that doesn’t just mean kangaroo burgers for you to eat on your holidays, but their claws are fashioned into back scratchers and bottle openers for the discerning souvenir-purchaser too.
by Muffet
Bringing back bottled water from your holiday is one of the weirder current trends, just don’t pack it in your hand luggage or we all know it’ll get confiscated at customs! Hawaiian MaHaLo water, pumped from 3km underground is very popular at the moment, as is the perennial favourite of Niagara Falls Water, which has bravely “made it down the falls”.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mehrit/4231537247/
by Meggrs
Now we’ve all been somewhere that seemingly has only one thing they want to be remembered for, and Scotland seems to be the king of this, churning out tartan items in increasingly more bizarre forms. From kilts for bottles to tartan bikinis I’m pretty sure that if you can think of it, then it will exist in tartan form.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenagata/4205296768/
by Steve Nagata
With all the severe restrictions on bringing back food through customs, taking tasty treats back home is a thing of the past, but if you go to Japan you can get around this quite easily. Restaurants there tend to have hand-painted miniature models of all of their dishes, on display so you can see what you are ordering. What better way to remember the moment than with a plastic version of the real thing?
And finally, what’s a good holiday without something really tacky, and religious iconography cashes in on your need for holiday souvenirs like no other. Almost any out-of-the-way religious site you go to you can find snow globe icon paperweights, Mary dolls singing Ave Maria, and even the occasional wind-up Jesus to see you on your way. Now hurry back home and don’t forget to distribute your gifts!
top photo by Ghost of Sasha