To Buy or Not to Buy? The Souvenir Trap

To Buy or Not to Buy? The Souvenir Trap

In this episode of TravelEssary, we tackle a travel dilemma every explorer faces: should you buy souvenirs or skip them? We break down the real impact of impulse purchases, how to stick to your travel budget, and ways to choose keepsakes you’ll actually treasure.

From postcards and patches to pressed pennies and local artisan finds, we share practical souvenir ideas that create lasting memories without adding clutter. You’ll hear our personal travel stories, tips for setting souvenir rules, and how to turn keepsake shopping into a fun family travel tradition.

Whether you’re on a family vacation, road trip, or international adventure, this episode will help you make thoughtful, intentional purchases that truly capture your travel experience, without falling into the souvenir trap.

Transcript

  We are the Essary family and we're exploring America one destination at a time. On this episode of TravelEssary, . We are gonna talk about that biggest dilemma when traveling. To buy or not to buy? Do you get the souvenir? Let's chat. Welcome and thank you for joining us on this episode.

Man. This is gonna be one that it could get hot and heavy,, because we don't always see eye to eye, mainly because I am on one spectrum and Misty's on the other spectrum, and there's always an nice balance that we have to come into. . Whenever we were younger, didn't have children and we were kind of just traveling on our own, it was really bad.

Yeah, really bad. But now that we're a little bit older, a little bit wiser, , we've calmed down and this is one of those topics that. , It can lead to heated discussions or debates or just straight up fights and arguments on a vacation yeah. I am usually a less is more kind of person. , I'm the budget person. So I don't usually like buying souvenirs. When we were dating, I remember everywhere we went, Jeremy got a key chain with the pictures on it.

He bought all the things. It was all the stuff, and I was always like, Hmm, I don't have any money, so I'm broke. That's not happening. But I can definitely think of a few things over the years. That we have purchased that I love and , I am glad we purchased them. And then I can think of a few things that I'm like, oh, that was such a waste of money.

You have to be very mindful when you buy souvenirs. If you go willy-nilly, you're gonna blow your budget or. Whatever resources you have really quick

yeah, so every family has their own budget, they have their own resources. And the things we're gonna talk about today, take what applies to your family and what doesn't apply. Just ignore it. If it doesn't apply to your family, if you don't have a vacation budget, then I guess just ignore it.

But, first I wanna talk about something that we have purchased throughout the years that I'm glad we purchased and

something we all love and we use almost on a daily basis. And that is our mugs from Disney World. Our coffee mugs that we got from Disney World are definitely one of those things that we use all the time. Yeah, we each picked one out and. Even though coffee rarely goes in them, but we use them for all of our other drinks and we absolutely love our mugs.

They're big, they carry a lot. They're not like , a normal, tiny little mug. They're big mugs and they're cute and they're quirky, and we use them every single day. And they're sturdy and they're just nice. And we've had them for years and years . We got some in 2016. We got some in 2021, so we've had them for quite some time.

Things that I regret purchasing. , Or maybe not so much us, although we did a few times, but more so grandparents. Those grandparents, , if you're taking grandparents with you on vacation, you're gonna have to set the souvenir rules for them before you leave. Just FYI. If you try to do it while you're already on that trip, the grandparents don't care and they're gonna buy whatever they wanna buy for the grandchildren.

But over the years, we've visited a lot of zoos. I think we have visited like. Almost every zoo in Texas. Almost everyone. Yes. Major zoo in Texas. And every single time we left, each of our children left with a stuffed animal. If grandparents were with us, there were times that we bought them as well.

Yes, kids, but especially if grandparents. Well, because grand grandparents started that tradition and then it was like every time we went to the zoo, our kids thought they had to have, we gotta get one, a stuffed animal. And so we bought one and then. Jeremy had to make a zoo, so to speak, in the kids' playroom because we had so many stuffed animals that they really never played with after.

They were purchased and that, I think that's one of the things that you need to look at very first. Like the very first thing is how practical is this gift? Yeah. How practical is this souvenir? Is this something that we're gonna be using a lot or is this just something we're getting on a whim? And, you have to ask yourself that question.

You can't just be like, oh yeah, this is cool. Or oh yeah, we'll use this. Never really think about are you really going to use this? 'cause there's been several times where we've purchased things going, oh yeah, we'll use this for doing this and doing that, and then we never use it. Mm-hmm. You know, it's like, oh yeah, we'll put it on our key chains and you know, we'll, it'll always be with us everywhere we go.

And it never gets to our key chain. Right. So as we go in today's topic, keep in mind is it meaningful for memories or unnecessary clutter? For us at the very beginning. It was just unnecessary clutter. Yeah. . Now granted, whenever we started dating, we're gonna date ourselves a little bit whenever we started dating.

, And right whenever we got married, uh, smart devices were not really a thing. Mm-hmm. Yet, no. So, you know the Polaroids, , the old cameras where you had to go get them? Yeah. Developed digital cameras were still really crappy. So, you know, getting pictures while we're there. Either on key chains or the photo package or something like that mm-hmm.

That, you know, we actually had to physically take out of the park was just clutter at that point in time. Although it was really good memories. I don't think that we have any of those pictures left over actually. I do have, I know we have some and we have two of 'em on a key chains. Yes. But that's it. Yeah.

And so the rest of the pictures just kind of disappeared, or a few of them we were able to get digitized. . , We were able to put 'em on digital, but a lot of 'em just went away. Yeah. But even now, purchasing digital pictures from. Amusement parks. Mm-hmm. Is not something we do anymore. No. 'cause we have our own smart devices.

Right. We don't have to purchase that anymore. Correct. So let's talk about the souvenir trap buying just to buy. Oh, this is such a huge one. And it's really interesting because . Whenever you go into convenience stores, target, Walmart.

You impulse by you. Impulse by, yeah. They're set up to create an atmosphere for impulse by those stores. Learn that from the souvenir trap. I feel if you're in a, especially a high tourist area where there's a lot of tourist traffic, that they're definitely. Set up to be impulse buys. Yes, they are laid out to be very strategic As far as buying the small things, yeah, I think the most common things are key chains.

Key chains, chains. We talked about like. Pretty much any souvenir slash gift shop that you can find. Magnets, stuffed animals, mugs, little license plates. Oh my gosh, yes. My mom used to, , get spoons from every state that she went to. Salt and pepper shakers. Yes. And it's the small items that you know mm-hmm.

Would quickly fit inside of a purse or, and you're like, oh, it's cheap. And then you get one. Here. And then you get one there and you get one there, and you get one every single stop that you make. And then you've spent like 50 bucks and you have no room for 'em. And yeah, you travel to four different states and now you have all this stuff that you know has taken up a good chunk of , the space that you have for your traveling time.

Yeah. Impulse buying is a real thing. Oh yeah. It is a real thing. , It's a tourist trap. It's probably the number one thing that as tourist we face the most, as far as like a dilemma of not having any intention of buying a souvenir and then going away with the ton ru are you going to a place and you get caught up in , the culture and the excitement of it all.

,, since we've already talked about zoos, we'll talk about zoos. Okay. The entrance is wide open. . You go through a zoo, but to exit you have to go through the gift shop. You go through the gift shop that's strategically set up. That is so strategic. That is that tourist trap.

That souvenir trap. Absolutely. And then, which you know, brings me to the next point that we're gonna talk about is the pressure. That your kids put on you to buy something. Oh, and this is the younger they are, the worse it is Uhhuh. And like with ours for zoos, for example, , I think it was Ariel's first birthday and Justin's third birthday, and we took 'em to the zoo and it was like.

The grandparents bought them stuffed animals because it was their birthday trip. And then it was like every single zoo trip after that, the kids thought they had to leave with a stuffed animal. They each had to pick one. In fact, , when I took Jasper a couple of weeks ago to the zoo with a bunch of other moms and babies, I almost bought him.

A stuffed animal because it was so ingrained in me when the kids were little that when you go to the zoo, your babies leave with a stuffed animal. And I was like, wait, we live in an RV now. He doesn't play with stuffed animals. What am I thinking? But it's that trap of going through there and seeing them and your kid's like, I want that.

I want that. I want that. I want that. Yeah. Most of the time. Especially whenever they're about, you know, five, six, they have a favorite animal. . And so they see it in the zoo and they're like, oh my goodness, I got to see it in real life. And then it's like, I need a stuffed animal that looks just like it, and they'll name it, you know, whatever weird name that they wanna name their stuffed animal and they'll hang around with it, , if we're good, weak.

Two weeks and then it's off to the side and you've just wasted $30. Yeah. If they even play with it for that long. Yeah. Oh yeah. $30 because they are not cheap, cheap. And, but it's not only that, even going through a convenience store, say something like Bucky's even, oh yes, we love Bucky's, but whenever you go to go pay out, they have all this small stuff.

. And you know, little Bucky's, are they woodchucks? No, they're not woodchucks. What are they? Beavers. Beavers. Little beavers set up, you know, little silhouettes and stuff. And it's like, that is such a trap that people just come in. We actually have a method that we use with our kids when it comes to them wanting souvenirs.

But we're gonna save that for the end. 'cause, I wanna address that in a little bit. Right now we're just kinda talking about, you know, what traps us, what draws us in to purchase those things. , So make sure you stay tuned for the end. 'cause we do have a really great method when it comes to children and souvenirs.

. So talking about just like what draws us in, and that's that vacation dopamine high. So when you're having a great time on vacation and you're enjoying yourself and you're just in that vibe and in that zone, you're so much more likely to spend money. When you go anywhere, you're gonna spend more money.

When you're eating out, you're gonna buy all the things. In the gift shop, you're more likely to say yes. To your children, you're more likely to say yes to yourself. Like, ah, I'm just feeling that vibe that high right now. Absolutely. Let's buy it. Yeah. Something where it's like, ah, you know, it's not a big deal.

You know, we're, it's not worth fighting over. It's just like, ah, we'll just keep rolling with it and. You go to one store and you purchase a thing and then , you go to another store, especially if you're in one of those destination places. Mm-hmm. If you're like, um, in San Antonio, south Padre, Disney World, Disney World.

, You're going through like the museums and stuff at Washington and places where, no matter what store, no matter what building you go in, there's something to buy. There's something to buy. There's souvenirs. Yeah. And it's like, oh, that'd be cool to have.

Oh, that's cool. I was like, oh yeah, , let's just go. Yeah, that looks awesome. Let's grab it, let's grab it. And then by the end of the day, you're like, wait a minute. , What did we just purchase? Why did we get those things? Mm-hmm. And it's because you were feeling so good. That everything was just rainbows and sunshines.

Yeah, so keep your dopamine in check. Ask yourself, am I purchasing this just because I'm in a really good mood right now? , Or is it necessary? Or is this something that we need? Is this something that we're definitely going to use more than once? Yeah, so be mindful of the souvenir traps. There are several out there.

, Your kids being one of them. Be mindful of those souvenir traps. Let's talk about when are they worth it. Sometimes I do believe that souvenirs are worth it, like Jeremy said in the beginning. It's a balance we've had to learn. It's a give and take. There are times that I am. Grateful that we purchased what we purchased.

Oh, absolutely. , One of the things we ask ourselves and we ask our children is, does it serve a purpose? Is it something that will be used on a daily, weekly basis? So this is kind of twofold. . And the reason I say that is because , the souvenirs that you buy are different depending on your age group, right? The little ones, they just want things they can play with, with play, with things, something that entertains them. So one of the quick stories of children is whenever you go to Disney World.

, We purchased toys while they were there. Right. And it was something that they played with forever. . It wasn't something that, oh, it looks like a toy, but it's not something that can be played with as a toy. Which whenever you start getting into souvenirs, a lot of 'em are like, oh, they look like toys.

But then you find out that they're breakable. Mm-hmm. Or they have small pieces and they're not really a toy. Right. So going to Disney World, we actually picked up toys . Whenever they started getting a little older, yes. They were still toys, but you know, the lightsabers came into play.

Right. So they were bigger, but it was something that they still used. Um, coffee mugs mm-hmm. Came into play. And so it was like, is this something that is going to be used more often than not? Right. If you're purchasing something that serves a purpose, um, , on one of our Disney World trips, my shoes broke and I needed new shoes.

, They were like creating blisters on the back of my feet, and it was a whole thing. I think I was breaking in some new shoes. It was a whole thing. I had to stop and get shoes. Like there was no if, ands, or buts about it. I couldn't walk another day in the shoes that I had. And I have those shoes to this day.

They are still some of my favorite pair of shoes. They're so versatile and they're so comfortable, and they're great water shoes. They served a purpose, , on our South Podge trip. Justin forgot to bring a hat with him. We were gonna be on the beach for a week. He went and purchased a hat that he still wears because it's a hat.

You know, we've broken sunglasses on trips and we've had to go purchase sunglasses. Those are things, , that I feel maybe not like are necessary. Well. Unless it's shoes. You have to have shoes. If they're broken, well, they're, they're practical. Maybe not necess, yeah, practical. And they will get a use out of them.

Even t-shirts, although I do see t-shirts as a souvenir, they're still practical. If you have room for them and you're actually going to wear them. Because some of those are impulse buy, right? They're like, oh, , that graphic looks cool. And then going to Padre and going to Port Isabelle and going through all of those shops.

I will tell you, Jeremy and I had a really hard time not buying t-shirts. Like we both really wanted to buy some t-shirts and then we were like, stop. We are weeks away from moving into an rv. And we didn't know how much space we were gonna have, but that was a difficult one. It was because. On different levels.

Number one, we wanted a T-shirt just because That'd be cool. Well, they were soft and comfortable looking and they were cute and, and then we started looking into the practicality of the T-shirt. Like I wanted a very specific style of T-shirt. Mm-hmm. Because I knew what mm-hmm. The job I was gonna go into, ?

And so it was more of, we went on a search, not necessarily just to buy a souvenir, we went on a search for, I need something practical, specific T-shirts , that fits my needs. And if it says South Padre on it, that's fine. It's not a big deal. We ended up not getting any, we kept talking ourselves out of it.

We didn't purchase any, but maybe next time when we go. . When are they worth it? Thing to consider is if it's something that tells a story or represents a specific memory.

When thoughtfully chosen. So you can pick up any random little thing and be like, oh, this represents this memory. But think of a specific memory you want to capture. , For instance, you had a romantic stroll along the beach with your significant other, and you want something that absolutely captures that memory.

Maybe you find something on that trip that makes you think of that specific memory, or maybe it tells a funny story of something that happened to you guys. , I'm trying to think of something off the top of my head, but I can't, but there have been a couple times where. We have something , and people ask us about it and we're like, oh, funny story about this.

Let me tell you what happened. And then we'll tell them the funny story of how we ended up with this item. And it's something that, you know, may not be worn or carried with you. Mm-hmm. But it's something that may be displayed. Yeah. Where if someone is over, it starts that conversation. Right. Or something you can put outside like, oh, that's pretty, where'd you get it from?

Well, here comes the story of where it came from. Mm-hmm. But if it's just something that's just gonna sit in your closet. And never. Or in a tote somewhere. Yeah. Which is one of my biggest pet peeves is purchasing something to sit in a tote and never be able to give you the opportunity to tell the story of why you have it.

That's probably not gonna be a good purchase. Yeah. So create rules to follow for your family , when it comes to purchasing souvenirs, like maybe you have a one souvenir per trip, per person role, or maybe you have The role that we like to use is, is it usable? , Does it have a purpose?

, And making you happy or entertainment can serve a purpose. Okay. Is there room for it? Do you have room for it? And if not. What is it going to replace? For example, I had a rule for Ariel where, okay, you have five purses you or five bags, because this girl loves her backpack. Purses, and the rule is you can't have more than five.

And so if she sees one while we're out and she's like adamant about I have to have this, I'm like, okay, so which one at home are you getting rid of? You already have five. And so I make her decide and think of that before she purchases the new one. Do you have space? So create rules for your family that you establish before you even leave on vacation.

And especially talking about the space one, there have been times where I've been on vacation with my family and my dad looks at something and goes, I want that. It's like, dad, that's, that's a giant log carving. Where are we gonna, how are we gonna get this thing home? And so that was something that had to like be discussed before any purchases or anything.

But one thing that I also will add is if you have a hobby or a collection . And the souvenir adds value to that hobby or collection. Right. That's a purpose then. You can get something

where is it gonna go once you get home? Where is it gonna go? Home? Home? Yes. Those are things that you definitely need to ask, especially on your larger, bigger purchases. So those are, when are they worth it? , Things to look at . Now let's look into when to leave a behind, when not to buy. We talked about when to buy, but when not to buy.

And I'm gonna say the number one thing of when not to buy, because this is again, a huge issue with me if you're buying out of guilt. You should never make that purchase. Never make that purchase. You should never make that purchase. If you know someone in your family, your children, your spouse, someone's making you feel guilty for not purchasing it.

If the people that is selling it is guilting you into buying it, you know , there are very pushy salesman and souvenir salesman and stuff out there, especially the more you travel, especially in high tourist traffic areas. There are very pushy salesmen that will make you feel guilty for not buying something.

I remember going through Canton and passing people on the stalls, and when you didn't buy something, they're like, oh, are you sure? Are you sure you don't wanna support us? You're not gonna support us. You know, and just, you don't love the children. One fifth of our profits go to, you know, you know what I mean?

Like, they make you feel bad. For not purchasing something. Yeah. They give you that sob story. I mean, there's several places, even in Iraq and other places like that. Like they'd give you a sob story, like, oh, you know, I have three kids and a wife to feed. Mm-hmm. And it's like, yeah. So guilt should never be a reason for purchasing.

If not buying it makes you feel guilty. Don't buy it. Don't buy it. Do not buy out of guilt. That's my number one thing. , The second thing you need to think about is if your souvenir budget is maxed. Set a souvenir budget and stick to it. And if you've maxed it out, it doesn't matter how bad you want it.

You can't get it. Just set that rule for yourself. This one is so super important because of the fact that souvenirs are not cheap in any way. There are a few that you can get away with and , we'll talk about those here in a minute. Mm-hmm. But majority of the time, if you're looking at anything that is wallet size or bigger.

You're already jumping into the 30, $40 range. Oh, yes. Especially these days, because we say it on almost every podcast. Life is expensive. It's expensive out there, and souvenirs are no exception to that. Yeah, because it's a specialty for that region. Most of the time you can't find it, you know, in your local Walmart or whatever.

It's gonna be special to you. That region. Oh my gosh. We have, we have purchased things at Disney World. There are items in Disney World that are only available in those stores. In Disney World, there are specialty unique items.

You know, you go to Magic Kingdom, you go to Hollywood Studios, and there are things in those special stores that there. Only ever sold in those stores. And of course, they jack those prices up because they are those specialty items. And then that's that impulse buy again. Like, oh my God, if I don't buy it here, I'll never find it again.

Well, if you've never found it, you would've been perfectly fine anyway. So yeah. , And if you don't set a budget, that's where you get in trouble. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Another time when to leave it behind is when the experience itself is the souvenir. We have had many experiences, amazing memorable experiences where we never once purchased a souvenir because none were needed.

, We may have been tempted. A couple of times , to purchase one. I can definitely speak on, the Oklahoma one that we just got away from. . Where , you get caught up in the, history and the culture of everything and right then that you walk through, through their stuff and, you know, wanting support, wanting to support the crafters, like the handmade crafting and things like that.

And we did purchase some stuff from the gift shop, but we did not purchase the big ticket items that we wanted. And we only purchased things that we were going to use immediately. Mm-hmm. Or had a purpose, um, some small items that had a purpose. Other than that we did not, even though it was beautiful and even though we wanted to support.

Uh, we didn't have it in our budget and you know, the experience itself was so much more than what we, so much more we could have purchased. What we learned and what we gathered during that experience through the Chickasaw and the Cultural Center, , it was such a good experience, which is why I always encourage people, take pictures, take videos, even if you never put 'em on YouTube, even if they're never going on Facebook for the world to see.

Take 'em for yourself, because that is one of my favorite things to do. I personally love putting our stuff on YouTube and letting the kids have access to go and watch them, or posting pictures so that it pops up in my memories every year on Facebook. I love, you know, living vicariously through our past travels, but when your experience is so great.

All you need is a picture. , There's no point in getting a souvenir. I feel like there are experiences we've had where getting a souvenir would diminish the experience that we had, and also would add to all those things that we've talked about before. Where are we gonna put it? How are we gonna transport it?

What. What do we do with the clutter? Because no one's gonna use it now. Yeah. So let's talk about alternatives to those pricey souvenirs, because there are alternatives if you're one of those people or you have children that absolutely feel like they have to have something from each and every trip.

Let's discuss some of the ways that you can do that. There are cheaper versions of souvenirs, um, to free, I guess, and I think of things like pressed pennies. A lot of places have the press pennies. It's like what? 51 cents? 51 cents your two quarters and your penny. Yep. Then they'll smash some kind of engraving into it.

Mm-hmm. And I've seen people that have, you know, put holes into the pennies and they've created necklaces out of them, or key chains, or even Christmas ornaments after they've collected them. Or they have somewhere like the family gets a pressed penny every time they go somewhere and they create some sort of collection in like a binder or something like that.

That's great. You can do the same thing with patches. You can do the same thing with pens. Like in Disney World, , we did the pen trading. Mm-hmm. And so that was a really inexpensive way for our kids to feel like they were purchasing stuff in Disney World without actually spending a lot of money.

Um, stickers are very cheap. There are people who I have seen, they have a. Family travel sticker board put up somewhere in their house and every time they go somewhere they purchase sticker or two or three and they put 'em on their sticker board and they just add to that. And I think that's really neat and that's pretty cool.

Very cheap to do free things. You can do rocks. Let your kid pick up a shiny rock they see along the way. Seashells, if you're not purchasing them. So you can collect them for free. I never ever understood this why people go to the beach and then go to the gift shop and purchase shells.

Whenever there's so many shells on the beach, like I don't understand that. I never understood that. And a lot of your beach resorts, . Vacation destination places, that is one of their biggest traps that they would get you off those shells, the shells. All you have to do is walk out on the beach and get shells.

Like I, well, most of 'em, I mean, they do have some that, number one, are not common in that area. . , But because it's beach theme, they'll get you on it. . Yeah. , I don't understand that. So some DIY souvenirs are drawings, paintings that you or you can encourage your children to do of a place that was special to them. , Pressed flowers and leaves, things like that.

And then again, journal injuries, photos, videos. I cannot stress those enough. Those are DIY memories and souvenirs for you to take with you to have for eternity, I think it's also great to start family traditions. You're, you know, regarding souvenirs whenever you're traveling, and it's a way to save money.

So if you say, okay, the only souvenir we're purchasing on this trip is as a family, we get to pick out an ornament to go on our tree for Christmas time. And then ornaments are, what, five to $15? And then you don't have to spend a lot of money, or you pick out a magnet for your fridge, we're gonna pick out one magnet for every trip and we're gonna put it on our fridge, or we're gonna have a magnet board in the hallway.

So what we've been doing is getting postcards everywhere we go, which if you don't know about that, I'll tell you about in a minute. But postcards are another great way, and postcards are absolutely everywhere. Everyone has a postcard that they're ready to sell, and they're anywhere from what we've purchased them from a quarter to a dollar.

They're very cheap. Yeah. It all depends on where we get them from. Mm-hmm. And how specific it is to the place that we're visiting. Yeah. If it's more of a general place that you know, you can go at any point in time because it's public, it's not that big of a deal. But postcards are definitely one of those cheap and easy things that you can possibly do. Um, I'm gonna go quickly back to the whole painting part where, you may not have to paint it right there, but even picking up rocks. You know, bring 'em home. You can paint 'em.

Then you can kind of start like a rock snake that you kind of see in different places. Or there's other places, especially parks, have them where you can. Paint a rock and then leave the rock there and just join their Yeah. Or add it to a rock garden or something. Yeah. At your house. Back to the postcards.

If you let your kids pick out a postcard and write a letter real quick while you're on vacation to the grandparents or something, and let 'em meld it off, that's a fun way They've purchased something, they've got that itch to purchase something out of the way, and then the grandparents receive something fun in return if that's who you send it to.

We purchase postcards on every single one of our trips because we have a postcard subscription on our Patreon. So it's an excuse for me to be able to purchase a souvenir on every trip. Even South Padre, Chickasaw, New Mexico, wherever we go, I have been able to. Have an excuse to go inside the gift shop so that I can purchase the postcards that we send to our subscribers on Patreon.

And what we do is every month we send them out and we write personal little letters on the back of them before we send them out to whoever they go to. And if that's something that you're interested in, make sure that you check out the Patreon link in our show notes. So there are a lot of ways that you can save money when it comes to still having a souvenir, whether it's a free type of memorable souvenir or something that is just really, really inexpensive.

A little trick that we have with our kids, which I said I was gonna bring up here in the end when it comes to purchasing souvenirs. So since our kids were. Like five, maybe. We no longer purchased souvenirs for them on our trips, unless it was , a specific thing, like a birthday trip or something like that.

And we're like, okay, for your birthday you can pick out this one item. But we stopped purchasing extra things for our kids on the trip. We would say, okay. You know we are taking you on this trip. We're buying you breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, and anything beyond that is all on you. If you want candy, when we go in a candy store, that's on you.

If you want toys when we go in the toy store, that's on you. And in doing so. Our kids have learned a lot about cost and consumerism. This is something that we've been doing for quite some time. And it's not like we're like the hardcore parents, like, you know, no means no, but it is where there are certain things that if we're gonna participate in mm-hmm.

And get souvenirs. Um, we went to a chocolate factory, right? So. Yeah, we bought the kids chocolate because we were buying chocolate. Right. It was just something that we did as a family. Mm-hmm. Individually if they wanted something where, where we, beyond what we purchased beyond. Mm-hmm. If, you know, they wanted a t-shirt from that spot or like Justin's had at south Padre, .

Or if we stop at bucky's or , another convenient store, if they want something that goes beyond what we would normally do mm-hmm. Then it's all on them. Yeah. I usually have a roll at Bucky's. I'll get you a drink and , a snack that's under $5.

Anything beyond that you have to purchase yourself, but we do that in our day-to-day lives. We go all out for Christmas and birthdays at our house, but in between Christmas and birthdays, if our kids want something that's not a necessity, they have to purchase it themselves.

And we just keep that role into our travels and I feel like. That has helped keep down our consumerism so much when we're traveling, but it has helped them make thoughtful purchases. So they're also now looking for things when they're gonna spend their own money as teenagers, they're looking into things, does it have a purpose?

, When we went to Chickasaw, they were also looking at the handcrafted things it was a connection with them. They were looking for things that supported the locals that served a purpose that would add to their life instead of just that cheap toy that was gonna break five minutes down the road.

Because growing up they had learned all of those lessons and it's. Such an easy and great tool that we as parents can use mm-hmm. For the next generation to teach them not only to be thoughtful and mindful of what they purchase. . But to also think economically, you know, is it worth it?

Are you gonna use it? Is this a wim by? Is this something that you'll use more than just once? And it also helps them, especially with the situation that we're in. Not everyone's the same way, but even in their old rooms that they had in a regular house, where's it gonna go? Right? Does it fit right?

Whether it's a poster board or whether it's a stuffed animal or a purse, where's it gonna go? So my question for you is, how often do you fall into the souvenir trap? Are you a buyer? Do you buy those souvenirs? Are you an impulse buyer or are you a leave it on the shelf kind of person? Let us know your thoughts.

When it comes to souvenirs,