Five Ways to Travel and Spend Not So Much

The hardest thing to do when traveling (at least for me) is trying not to buy EVERYTHING. Who knew it was so hard to fight SHS (Souvenir Hoarding Syndrome). It's even harder to pick what you should buy out of the thousands of choices. Here are five guidelines I more or less followed on my trip that really helped me save on the little expenses that add up to a lot. 

5) Never Buy Anything in the Airport.  Souvenir-wise, just don't do it. Key chains I could buy on the street for a dollar were thirty inside the terminal. 

4) Limit Your Souvenir Recipients. You're going to want to bring something back for everyone, but that's just not practical. Limit  souvenirs to grandparents, immediate family and a few close friends. Pick the smallest items possible. Hair bows were very cheap and a lot cuter in SoKo than the U.S so my goddaughter received four hair bows. 

3)   Leave 1/3 of Your Bag Empty. It's tempting to fill that backpack or suitcase all the way up, but leave a little room. This way if you do purchase any items you'll have room in your existing luggage and you won't have to buy an extra suitcase or two (like I did). 

2) Photographs as Souvenirs. Invest, before your travels, in a decent camera (whether it's on your phone or a low end DSLR) make sure you have a way to document your trip artfully and extensively. The photos taken by myself and my friends during our travels are much more precious to me now then any thing I brought back with me. These can also double as souvenirs. Take the time and take pictures of cool buildings, perhaps you have a friend who's into architecture, or for someone who enjoys fashion snap a shot of a unique store display. Document your trip the way you see it. The things that make you look a second time, no matter how small are the things to photograph. 

1)  Free Souvenirs are the Best Souvenirs. I love saving unique things I find on the side of the road or at the beach. I brought back beach glass I found at the beach, bottle caps found in an alley, clothes a roommate was going to toss because she no longer wanted them. I have a piece of an Alp from Austria I pulled off the side of the path when we visited the Ice Caves, pebbles and sea shells from southern coast of England, and skipping stones from a remote Korean village. There's a project I saw online where you collect sand from each beach you visit and display it in a shadow box with a map of each beach's location. The point is, getting creative with what you can find for free might bring you the most rewarding souvenirs of all. If you're on a super tight budget, free souvenirs might be the way to go for all your souvenir needs. Plus it becomes more of a challenge to find cool, unique items for free instead of buying whatever you like.