Donna E Mobile

Has anyone been abroad and seen something they wanted to buy, but did not, and when they got home could have kicked themselves for not buying it?

Joanne

Donna: <BR> <BR>A definite yes! Still kicking myself. We were in Greece and I admired several Byzantine rings but thought it would be extravagant to buy one. I've been sorry ever since that I didn't go ahead and splurg! Live and learn! <BR> <BR>j

zz-top

Oh yes !!! I still regret not following thru with an impulse to buy a sword when I was in Spain 11 years ago. I was at a market in Madrid and they had an fascinating assortment of swords & sabers made in Toledo. They were exquisitely crafted. Should I ever get back to Spain, there's no way that I could get this item on an airplane nowadays.

Stingy

Donna e Mobile, <BR> <BR>It happened that, visiting a place and seeing something that I really had liked (what seldom occurs), and after checking the price, I went looking for a better price elsewhere, but in the same country or city , I ended up with empty hands, for not having been able to find the very same thing again. <BR> <BR>So, lately, if I see something that really pleases me and I can afford , I buy it, period.

mgiggle

Oh, yes, this happens to me every time I go to Europe. There's always some little thing I LONG for after I got back. But I can't buy everything that takes my fancy, or I'd go broke. <BR> <BR>Since it happens every time I travel, I wonder if this is some sort of displacement -- what I really want is to be back there, for just one more day!

Nyet

Tell me about it. Recently on a trip to Paris, I was admiring those lovely T-shirts printed with the impressionist art work along the Blvd St Michel. Since they looked like touristy Tshirts, we thought that we'll get them later an dI have lived to regret it each time I think of Paris. We never found anything similiar anywhere else that we went in Paris. Moral of the story is buy anything you fancy when you are abroad if you can afford it because you'll never know when you'll see the same thing again or worst still not sure when you will be back there again.

Shadow

Yes, in Cozumel I saw a lovely braclet with little baskets-like charms. I thought I'd see one somewhere else on our trip but never did. <BR> <BR>And, last year in Pisa I did not buy one of those little Leaning Tower statuettes so I asked on this travel board if someone was going to Pisa would they pick one up for me! And, Nancy replied and when she went to Italy she did indeed pick one up for me-and it is perfect! (I have a little collection of statuettes from places we've been-Eiffel Tower, Celtic Cross (Ireland), Big Ben.....and now a Leaning Tower of Pisa!) I thought that was so great of her to read my post and get that for me since we had never met! <BR>Shadow

Laura

Oh, yes, I've done that! In a small storefront in Venice were the cutest little knickknacks of people in their business settings, for instance, a dentist with a patient in a chair...a butcher behind his counter waiting on a couple of customers...so adorable. And, I, like the poster above, went looking for a better price, and then I couldn't find the store again. This was five years ago, and I still think of those things, wishing I had bought them!

Lori

All the time, although I am learning the Moscow Rule of Shopping the hard way (if you see it, like it, buy it - you will not find it again). September 2000, saw a painting in Place De Tetre near Montmartre - couldn't haggle the guy down so I didn't buy it. Regreted it ever since. Went back in May and he wasn't there!!!!! Trying again in 2 weeks when I return to Paris (keeps me going back at least). May 2001 - saw a Longchamps bag in BHV for 990 Francs. End of a long hot day and I was tired. Didn't buy it, saw the same one in Saks for $280. Oh well.

AGM/Cape Cod

I am still kicking myself 20 years later for not buying dishes in Germany which matched ones my girlfriend bought me. I thought I could get them cheaper in the States. When I got home I looked on the bottom and discovered they were imported from Germany. I still use them and regret not having more. The moral is buy!

Judy

All the Time! My worse experience of all was in Ireland!!!! I found tons of stuFf I loved at various craft shops. Yet, I kept on repeating "they have a great duty free in Dublin's airport, so why noy buy it there?" <BR> Little did I know, that when I went through US Customs at the airport, I could NOT leave to buy my much desired keepsakes(claddaugh rings, prints etc). NEVER AGAIN, will I do that! I will buy my treasures, when I find them! Judy

s.fowler

Oh yes. *sigh* Many times, although I'm learning... <BR> <BR>The two that stick in my mind are a silver bracelet in the meseum shop in Roskilde, Denmark -- bought a faint imitation of it later in Mexico -- but it's not the same. <BR> <BR>The second is a case of wishing I had bought MORE -- in this case the beautful painted tiles in Seville -- I gave them all away save one... <BR> <BR>On the other hand as I get older I find less need for "things" and more desire for experiences -- and the older I get the more those experiences include sitting and watching the local population go by -- especially from a cafe

Lynn

Saw some beautiful knobs for cupboards in the Notting Hill area of London a year ago and didn't buy them. They are glass - blue and yellow - and would just match my Provence kitchen. I may fly to London for a long weekend just to go back to that store. I don't know what I'll do if they don't have them!!!

Paige

I wish that I'd started collecting little copies of buildings when I first started traveling. <BR>In Arcos de la Frontera, Spain, we bought a really pretty, big, hand painted ceramic wall hanging, but just one. When we got home I really wished we had bought more (although we couldn't have carried them) so I got a Spanish friend to help me order 4 more over the phone. <BR>But it's all just stuff in the end, so I try not to get too concerned about it.

Diane

Now that it is autumn and cooler, I which I'd bought a leather jacket in Florence, as my husband did. But it was hot and the end of May, and I was very smug that I had everything packed into my carryon luggage. Guess I'll just have to go back one day. <BR>

Susan

Yes, fairly often. A few years ago in Mexico, an Indian woman was selling a beaded mask on the side of the road. I loved the mask, but it was at the end of the trip and we didn't have cash on this. I decided I didn't want to go to the trouble of getting money from the ATM (or cashing a travellers cheque - not sure which it was at the time). I kept thinking about that mask over the years, and a few years later I bought a very small mask - miniature - for much more than the original mask would have cost me.

scigirl

Yep - a leather jewlery box in Spain. I thought that I'd find something similar in the US - which I did, for about 4 times the cost. Still thinking about that jewlery box 2 years later! Apparently I will have to make a trip back to Spain to get the jewlery-box monkey off my back! <BR> <BR>Also, recently bought loads of pearls in China. Still wishing I'd bought more because the prices were so low and they make great gifts.

John G

Dear Donna: I could absolutely slash my wrists with a butter knife when I think about not buying this jade and teak screen in China. It was hand-painted with beautiful scenes of cranes and women reading. I was concerned that it was 5000 US dollars and that I would have to have it shipped and I didn't trust the people in the shop to send it. But, now I am so mad when I think how great it would look in my living room..oooooooohhhhhhh. Plus, Im sure that because it was $5000 in China it would probably be worth twice that here if I tried to sell it. Live and learn.

x

Only one has haunted me. About 15 years ago, my wife and I were in Oaxaca, Mexico. <BR> <BR>At Oaxaca's Saturday arts market, an older woman was selling paintings. I knew little about art but loved the paintings. I hesitated, even got her name and address, but ultimately didn't buy. The next market was the following Saturday and we were gone by then. <BR> <BR>Since then, maybe even because of that memory, I have become a collector of paintings when I travel.

aj

Yes, on my first trip to Paris I found this wonderful little shop where the owner was painting tole ware (Paris scenes). On my next trip my husband was sure that he could find the store and we walked for several hours in the rain to find the store but never did!! It was a fun walk in the rain! I wish that I had spent the big bucks and purchased what I wanted on the first trip.