Your FAV items to bring back
 

What are your favorite items that you can only get on your travels and bring back? <BR><BR>For me, Boots pharmacy has the best products to bring home. I love their soaps, shampoos, crisps, etc. OH and I love this drink called 'AME'. I've looked high and low and can only find it abroad. <BR><BR>What do you love and buy while off on adventures?

Apart from the usual (booze, batik clothing and jewellry)I LOVE the Tortuga rum cakes. Always a big hit at home. Also like hot sauces.

St. Barth's oils, almond croissants, and banana ti punch.<BR><BR>

Like to pick up a print from a local artist- usually one of a beach scene. My home office is decorated in Caribbean theme and it "takes me back" looking at art and listening to Marley!

I buy AME all the time at Trader Joe's and Fairway Markets in NY Long Island (both red and white). Also a lot of vegetarian restaurants serve it.<BR><BR>I love St. Barth's lotions and oils and unusual hot sauces and spices. And always a t-shirt.

One of the rooms in our house has a 200 gallon salt water fish tank in back of our bar, so I've decorated it in a beaches and marine life theme. So it has photos of our trips, including photos taking while scuba diving, and then I always try to find something unusual with a beach theme, a cool shell, candle, unusual piece of coral, or knick knack - and no, not any of those jewelry boxes made out of shells :) So after 8 years in this house, and many tropical vacations, sitting and having a drink in there is awesome!

Whenever I go to Curacao (only once every 3 or 4 years unfortunately) I bring back a case of Senor's Chocolate Curacao. Yummy! (and the best price is in the departure lounge at the airport!)

Hot Sauce!

Caribbean art.<BR>We have 38 Caribbean paintings from many many different islands. Wish I had the room and money -I would have hundreds.

I'm a beach lover, so I collect sand from different beaches, and display them in glass containers. As you know, there's quite a variety of colours and textures in the Carib, everything from pink to black. I also have sand from more exotic locations such as the Sahara desert and a beach in Liberia which has an amazing mix of brown sugar mixed with pure white quartz.<BR><BR>I used to bring back various food products until a few years ago when I realized many of the Carib products are now available via various web sites. Grenada has some of the best spices and products, such as the de la Grenade stuff and the Morne Delice Nutmeg Jam. And these days all of them are easy to order via the web.

Sam, what a great idea. I brought some sand from different islands in Madives and still keep it in a plastic bags. Can you tell me what glass container you are using and how you prevent different samples from mixing.<BR><BR>I bring shells that I collect on different beaches

A friend of mine collected sand from different beaches in Anguilla; it was amazing to see the different textures and colours from one island.<BR><BR>I've seen people put sand into interestingly-shaped clear glass bottles (1 beach per bottle!) and write the name of the place on the bottom.<BR><BR>For shells I have a big plain glass vase/candleholder I filled half way with shells then stuck a fat candle in the middle. I used those smaller shells that are cute but too small to diplay on their own. <BR><BR>A different twist on this post...What would you like someone to bring you as a gift from the Caribbean? Besides liquor?

Sandyfeet:<BR><BR>Neat idea with the sand!

We do the sand collecting too...put it into native beer bottles. You should see the pink one from Eleuthera! Can't wait to go to Hawaii - they have green, red, and black sand beaches. But do they have 3 native beers??? Guess we'll have to do some research!

Even BEFORE we had parrots many of the items we brought back from the tropics had a parrot theme..one item was a tire cut out and painted like a parrot..we brought home two (bought in Aruba at the docks in 1988)..can you believe..Seriously, we have bought parrot themed items and we try to find work by a local artist. It can be a mahogany sculpture from the D.R. or something special in Mexico from Bustamante. Our home looks like early and late "charter winter vacations"...Almost every item has a story or a memory..memories of more than 20 years of traveling.

Each trip I bring back batik, an island cookbook, a christmas ornament, a island children's book, an island print, some spices or seasoned salt, plus whatever else looks interesting. We do have a collection going of sand & shells...

What a great post. It has given me new ideas for more stuff. Last year I ruined 2 suitcases ( the handles would not retracr) by bringing home rocks for my water gardesn. It was a very bad idea. This year with new luggage, I want to try lighter fare,

I always buy a Christmas ornament from each vacation that I go on. When my husband and I decorate the tree each year, we reminice (sp?) about our travels.

I love to get soaps and bath products. It's my one indulgence. Although it's not from the tropics, Lush soap company makes some fantastic products. I love their red rooster soap. They are in the UK and Canada. It's better to order from Canada because of exchange rate and shipping is less. Try the silky underwear dusting powder. It's perfect for sprinkling in your sheets as well. Every time I go to Vancouver, I load up. <BR><BR>