Talking of taking stuff on holidays, what about bringing stuff home?

Witzend, Epoisses is my favourite cheese. A few months back I purchased some from a cheese shop in Bath. Don’t think my fellow passengers on GWR appreciated it!

I always bring home litre bottles of baby cologne for my personal use it is such a refreshing smell for everyday use.
Bottles of Sabreno Brandy which is quite reasonable but very nice in hot chocolate during the winter months.

Most unusual,thing we took on hols was about a kilo of frankincense- we were living in Oman where they produce it - to a sister living at the time in Cape Cod, where she and her dh had a small shop for the summer and wanted something unusual to sell.

Well, it was certainly 'unusual' to the US Customs official I declared it to! The stuff looks a bit like those old fashioned brown coffee sugar crystals, but bigger. The poor bloke's eyes glazed over when we tried to explain what it was - I swear he thought it was probably freeze-dried crack or something - so just as well he gave up and waved us on!

I buy saffron in Spain for making paella.

Tinned petit pois from France. Since taking the sugar out of tinned petit pois in the UK, they are like any other tinned pea!!!!

I bring back Maple syrup from Canada and US, in much bigger bottles than we can buy here, I always bought back Dates filled nuts/candied fruit from Dubai when daughter lived there, you can not buy here anything like the ones available there. DD always requests I take Staffordshire Oatcakes when I visit her. Generally though so much is available internationally now the things she used to miss like Marmalade and Cadbury's chocolate are available, there is even an 'English Supermarket' near where she lives now!

Tinned Bonito.
Medication -- much cheaper, I take my prescription to the pharmacy and pay considerably less than I would in our Chemists
(I still pay for my prescription)
This may have changed as I haven't been abroad since 2014.

Beware of buying anything which the company ships home for you, Two of my friends were conned and received inferior products to those they had paid dearly for. The lovely rug was replaced with a cheap nasty one. The Venetian glassware was in bits, when it arrived, but definitely not the quality items that they had paid for.

I always brought souvenirs back from holidays, but soon realised that I didn't want or need them. Bring back photos and memories only now.

Turkish soap that they use in the Turkish Baths, like silk on your skin.

I bring back a small memento, like the lovely ceramic swallows from Lisbon I now have on my wall. My partner, however, crams bottles of whatever is the local drink. On our last trip he bought port from Porto, and he always buys honey, posters, books, cheese ( vacuum packed,) and sometimes sausages. We usually travel by train, so his journey home is accompanied by groans as he lifts his ridiculously heavy suitcase.

There is a restaurant n the beach at Dunkerque that makes the best Moules Mariniere in Roquefort Sauce! I can make it at home, it's quite simple, but still not the same!

We also stock up with large packets of French Toasts! Taste totally different to the ones we get here!

I try to buy proper Mediterranean pine nuts when I’m in Spain or Italy. They’re unavailable in the UK now, you can only get Chinese ones and I’m allergic to them!

I’ve lived on Australia for 11 years now and the only thing I can’t do without is Bisto gravy powder (we can get granules but that’s not the same). We bring it back from the uk whenever we go, or get family to send it over.

I buy!
A beautiful rug from Tunisia we had shipped over no problems at all. The only trouble I have is with keeping it clean.
I also bring something from everywhere I go as a souvenir. Tea from Sri Lanka ??
Lacquer work from Vietnam ??
Basket weave plate from Panama ??
Small things (apart from the rug) but it’s what tourism is all about trying to boost the economy of the places we visit and I like to see what they excel at and it is harsh to visit without buying something.

We bought several pieces of pottery - salad bowls - in Tunisia and we had to wrap them in dirty washing and bring them home in our rucksacks. We use them quite a lot and they bring a bit of sunshine into our house. I also bought some Christmas bowls in Boston that were packaged in polystyrene in boxes. We had to carry them on to the plane and they were the size of a small suitcase.
Now I try to keep my shopping to textiles and smaller items that fit in my suitcase and don’t weigh too much. I steer clear of items of clothing as I have found that tops that look good On holiday don’t always look so good in London. However, the embroidered fabric I bought in India made a wonderful dress for our anniversary party.

I have a huge collection of teatowels. The only country that doesn't do souvenir teatowels is Germany. They are fascinating -

The Italian ones are like bedsheets,
The Spanish and Portuguese ones are square!
I bought one in Ireland with all the Counties and their coast-of-arms on, but it turned out to be synthetic and all the print disappeared in the 90° wash! (What happened to Irish Linen?)
Many have recipes on - making for a double souvenir - although I have never made any of them: Tarte flambée, Limoncello, Empanadas...

But Moules Mariniere in Roquefort Sauce - my husband would swoon at that. How can I get him to Dunkerque?

As for fabrics - my mother always tells of some beautiful shantung silk that my father brought back from India in the war. She went to make herself a blouse and cut out two left sleeves by mistake!

I never bring anything home to eat or drink it's just not the same. I still have a bottle of Amaretti from 20 years ago!!!

I bring back lovely sausages and dry cured bacon,Saffron cake, clotted cream and good pasties from my Cornish holidays, nothing that I can get locally is as good. Oh and I travel by train!

I used to bring so much stuff home from our holidays in Italy! At least a kilo of parmigiano from the market - half the price it is over here. Cheeses like asiago which you never find here. A kilo of the coffee beans I really like (Kimbo I think) Several kilos of vialone nano rice from the local producer which costs a fortune on the rare occasions that you find it in Italy. Fortunately Italian airport security don't see any thing odd in a suitcase full of food. Nowadays I'm limited to Lidl's Italian weeks, but they do have some very good stuff.

Lots of photos. A small shell or pebble from most places. Fabric from New York and Cape Cod which I made into a quilt, lying under it now! More fabric from New England, waiting to be made into a quilt. Small pottery bowls from Spain and Greece. Never anything "decorative"

I've noticed a lot of people here saying that the food and wine doesn't taste the same when they get it home. Having married into an Italian family we have always eaten Italian food over here so it always tastes fine to us. Although not quite as nice as it is when you are sitting by an Italian lake!

I used to bring Orzo back from Greece to make Giovetsi but you can buy it in Sainsbury's now! You can buy 'Fage' Greek Yoghurt easily too- we used to get it straight from factory in Crete. You can get Mythos beer in most supermarkets so there is much more room in cases coming back.
We only bring back a decent Metaxa & Greek honey now plus loads of lovely memories & plans for next visit.

MOnica Carrefour do thé citron granules. Not my cup of tea though. ?
From Spain we bring saffron, tinned peppers and lots of wine. From England I bring back creamed horseradish, mustard, brinjal pickle, any spices that I can't get in France and a couple of Spice Taylor curry packs.

There are a lot of rules in place now to stop people importing plant material as it can easily bring in pests and plant disease. Probably fruit as well. I imagine some food stuffs may be included as well. Bio security is becoming a serious issue now. We are getting some nasty plant bugs.