What souvenirs to carry from America

In many popular tourist cities and countries, it is very easy to buy a classic souvenir as a souvenir. From Berlin - a beer mug, from Paris - a box of macarons, from Venice - a Venetian mask. So, when thinking about America, only the figure of the Statue of Liberty from New York comes to mind, and there comes a suspicious lull in the fantasy.

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

And really, what souvenirs can you bring from America if you remove the iPhone from the list? Still, this thing is very expensive for a souvenir. Or swimsuits popular with girls from Victoria's Secrets? Giving them to your friends is certainly not a good idea, not to mention lace underwear. After all, a souvenir is, first of all, that pleasant little thing that will delight you with memories of the trip, or it is a set of some little things that are suitable for everyone, regardless of age, and which will be great to give to your loved ones and friends, as a sign that During your holiday shopping, you didn’t forget about them.

So what to bring from the USA?

Of course, the main goods distributed to different countries from the States are electronics, clothing and cosmetics. American shopping is one of the best in the world, from its variety to its competitive prices. With electronics, you don’t even need any hints; the word Apple is enough. For clothing, I recommend paying attention to brands such as Timberland, Converse, Nike, Forever21, Levi`s, Guess, Michael Kors, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Abercrombie&Fitch, GAP, Calvin Klein, DKNY, BCBG, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Rebecca Minkoff, Tory Burch, Wet Seal, Old Navy. In general, just go to any large shopping center and everything will be there!

Magnets, key chains and T-shirts with inscriptions

This is all you can easily find in abundance in any tourist place in the souvenir shops. But here I want to give you 2 useful advice.

First, the farther the store from the most popular tourist point, the prices are usually lower. That is, in the center of the Walk of Fame in Hollywood most likely the cost of the same goods will be too high, so do not be too lazy to go to the souvenir shops, deprived of the attention of tourists.

If you need to collect more small things on gifts, then the reason to ask the price and look for a place more profitable for shopping, is definitely worth what to buy in the first souvenir. And very often there are standard promotions, a certain number of souvenirs, for example, a 4 magnet, you can take it for $ 10.

Secondly, I strongly advise you to first of all look into the pharmacy. I'm serious, off to the pharmacy. Only the one that will be in a tourist place. For example, in Las Vegas, on the Strip, there are 2 large pharmacies from American chains - CVS and Wallgreens (in the USA, pharmacies sell not only medicines, they are a kind of supermarket). There you will find many of the same souvenirs and at very good prices: mugs, magnets, postcards, chocolates, T-shirts and much more. I also picked up various little things at the drugstore on Market Street in San Francisco. The main thing is not to forget that although this is all about America, it was made in China.

American sweets

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

Take a look at any American supermarket, and the bigger it is, the better! The department of sweets will surprise you a lot, and many candies and chewing gums will be completely new. Choose what your heart desires!

Try York's minty chocolates, peanut butter candies inside Rees`s, Hershey's chocolate, red Twizzlers toffee, Oreo cookies, Jelly Beans jelly beans and grab a Snickers bar with peanut butter at the store’s checkout. Anyway, once such a thing has gone, a jar of peanut butter will be a great tasty souvenir.

Take only the one that is with chocolate or jam, it is important, you will not mix it up with any oil and salty, especially if you try it for the first time or have thought up to give someone a present. And you can grab a pack of marshmallow or marshmallow cream, it's the same, but more sticky and in a jar.

For lovers of original sweets, I also advise you to go to the huge M & M's store, which is in New York and Las Vegas. Grab yourself a whole bag of colorful candies with different flavors and surprise your friends with, for example, cheesecake-flavored emandem.

Starbucks coffee and cups

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

A good gift for coffee lovers can be a pack of flavored Starbucks coffee, especially some kind of autumn or Christmas limit. Coffee is sold in bags, already ground. Average price per pack $ 10. Also in many Starbucks you can always buy a souvenir cup, for example, in Los Angeles you can buy with the inscription Los Angeles. Which is very logical.

And so each cup is original in every American tourist city. Many travelers collect them very actively. Yes, and in general, the choice of cups there is interesting, and their design is constantly changing. Prices range from $ 8 to $ 18. A good souvenir for yourself and as a gift from America to friends.

Scented Candles

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

Of the girly souvenirs, I would advise you to pay attention to the famous shops of scented candles Bath and Body Works and Yankee Candle. You can collect small candles in them, which will be great to give away to your friends. There is an immense variety of variations for every taste, including classic American flavors, like the smell of Red Velveteen cake, Thanksgiving apple pie or roasted marshmallows for Christmas. In Bath and Body Works, candles are a bit more expensive, but more beautiful (in jars and with lids), but in Yankee Candle you can collect a whole bunch of small candle probes, which cost $ 1.

Youth accessories and clothing

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

Another popular store for girls is Forever21. There you can buy some cool jewelry as a souvenir, prices for rings and pendants average $3, as well as California-style clothes - cropped crop top T-shirts with the inscription California or something with an American flag, a headband or socks.

There are many other stores besides Forever21, such as Brandy Melville and Urban Outfitters, but they are more expensive. Lots of girly trinkets can be found at Claire's. And the best time to buy clothes and souvenirs with a US flag print is before the 4th of July, Independence Day. Then all stores, not only clothes, but many others, are full of red-blue goods with white stars.

American drinks and cigarettes

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

Any American supermarket will always please cola lovers. Vanilla Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and many other things cost pennies at American prices - a whole package is probably $3, especially somewhere in Walmart. True, do not forget about the rules for transporting luggage on an airplane and the weight limit; no matter how much you want to, you can’t take a box of cola with you. If there is no room in your suitcase, and your love for cola is limitless, then in Las Vegas there is a huge Coca-Cola store, where, in addition to this drink, it is also full of all sorts of cool souvenirs on the Coca-Cola theme.

From the original you can grab a can of Root Beer - root beer. Just keep in mind that its taste is more than specific and not for everyone, and is somewhat reminiscent of cough syrup. You can try it first in any fast food cafe from a vending machine, but Root Beer there is non-alcoholic. Or a simplified option is to buy root beer-flavored candies as souvenirs. I won’t say that this is a popular sweet, beer is much ahead of it, but it is also on sale. Also look in the candy department.

And for a more sophisticated souvenir from California, buy a bottle of Napa Valley wine. Any American wine department will surprise you with a huge selection of wines, even in another state. The price per bottle ranges from $5 to $30, although, of course, there are wines that are much more expensive. Well, and whiskey, of course.

And here I’ll add American cigarettes to alcohol, such as Marlboro, American Spirit or Lucky Strike, and cigars. Ordinary cigarettes can be bought at any supermarket, there are separate shops with cigars.

Vintage, hand-made and antiques

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

America is a very suitable place for such purchases. In almost all cities you can find private stores selling old records, limited edition comics and vintage items. There are also a lot of antique shops and just some old but interesting junk. Americans love this very much.

Themed Souvenirs

Photo: “Russian notes about American life”, jaa.su

If you suddenly find yourself in Texas, then of course you can turn your attention to cowboy hats. If you have the opportunity to get to the area of ​​Indian reservations, then you can buy souvenirs in the Indian style, or some kind of dream catcher. In Hawaii, you can grab a ukulele and macadamia nuts. In Los Angeles, you can look for something unusual from the hippies in Venice Beach, for example, some handmade item. The main thing is to remember that marijuana cannot be taken out as a souvenir.

Stacy Kireev, author Blog "Russian notes about American life" and Instagram about life in America.

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