Small Gifts
We had a stranger do something super kind for us, and they live in another country. I had the thought that we should bring them a gift, something they couldn’t get in their country. But as I thought about it, I realized that I couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t super niche and therefore probably not enjoyed by people outside the area. (Root beer is an example of this.) Or anything mainstream, they already had there.
I can’t pinpoint when it changed. I know I used to bring a handful of candy bars or things with English on them when I traveled to give away. Or American entertainment magazines. It took so long for shows to air overseas that if you had those, you could know plot points before anyone else.
But the last time I remember doing that was 1995ish. After that, I traveled without items, except in rare circumstances when the gift was for a specific person I knew (and knew their tastes), rather than a stranger I encountered along the way.
The world feels smaller, but it made me sad to think about that sort of exchange and how I haven’t participated in a long time.
1 comment
Yes, we used to do that a long time ago. The last time we took something special from NZ was some kiwi chocolate to Japan, for the parents-in-law of my exchange student sister. It was an easy choice, as chocolate is apparently a very common gift. But with travelling through the tropics, or being away for a month or more before seeing someone, it is really hard to take things and still travel light. (Actually, now I mention it, I took my friend in Dublin a small canvas stylised photo I had taken at her beach house. A little touch from home, easy to make, and although it was bulky, it was lightweight too.)