Need Christmas gift ideas? Go abroad!
My favorite time to go on vacation is the fall (well, technically my favorite time to go on vacation is any time, but you know what I’m getting at). The reason for this is not the lovely crisp air and possibility of a sample sale, but so I can do all my Christmas shopping in destination. It’s great. Combine that with Christmas shopping (my other excuse to go wild – within budget, of course – shopping time of the year) and it’s the best combination since cookies and milk.
What better way to cut down on costs? I always call vacation shopping my “get out of jail free” shopping – I’ve technically already spent the money buying the currency, now it’s just trading it for goods. So as long as I don’t overspend what I’ve brought with me and have to break out my debit card, I’m golden. It’s a second layer of protection to make sure I stay on budget. With exchange rates being what they are, the dollar goes farther in many countries, so you can also get bigger, better, more awesome gifts for your loved ones. And you can plan for this in advance, too. A couple of years ago I knew I was going to bring back Costa Rican coffee for everyone for Christmas (plentiful, not too heavy to carry, and world-renowned while not being budget-busting) but the guidebooks said that the quality was best in the whole roasted beans as opposed to the grounds. So all year I covertly checked with every coffee-drinker I know whether or not they had a coffee grinder. If they didn’t, they got one for their birthday! That year was great, I got built-in ideas for birthday gifts, too 
Speaking of more awesome, instead of yet another scarf or gift card from Sears, I can guarantee your Aunt Mil is not going to get two of those hand-carved Guatemalan wine bottle holders from that tiny stall on the side of the tiny winding mountain road. That is going to be memorable. And knowing that you were thinking of them while on your great adventure, they appreciate the gesture more (in my experience, anyway). Plus, even if they don’t like it, they’re not going to return it (the airfare is too expensive) so you don’t need to worry about keeping the receipts.
The coolest thing, though, is that you can essentially get your loved ones anything, and it’s still special, because it’s from wherever. Seriously. Anything. “Yeah, it’s toothpaste, but it’s from Ecuador, so you don’t pronounce it Colgate, you pronounce it ‘Col-gaaat-eh’.” If someone gave you a couple of small pieces of wood tied together at one end with a string from the local Wal-Mart, you’d be thoroughly unimpressed. But if the same thing came back from Spain and were called castinets, now that’s cool.
So, if you’re having trouble coming up with Christmas gift ideas, just go on vacation between now and the holiday season, and everything will all fall into place for you. Simple, really.
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Love it! I do the same thing also. Yes, we learnt together. A good thing that Auntie Mil doesn’t have a computer or she would know she is getting something from our last trip.
Keep up the good work.