Always Buy Socks As a Souvenir for Your Trip
I was in Tokyo last week. I bought myself a windbreaker, and the baby got a pop-up book and a mobile phone. I have origami paper, tea, and an earwax collector with zoom lens and Wi-Fi. I bought some trinkets for my friends: stickers, pins, a pop-up book, a bracelet, a soft peach that looks like a cigarette butt. Of course I have a lot of snacks. But I took care of the socks. If you carry socks everywhere, you have a memento that will last for months or years.
Every time you walk through the gift shop, if you just want something to resemble a particular experience, take a look at the socks. Artistic reproductions may not return intact; stationery is not used. But you can always use new socks. And everyone is ready to sell you a sock that will remind you of this particular segment of the trip. Artistic socks at the art museum, socks with skyline silhouettes at the famous high-rise, mascot socks at Disneyland.
The socks tell a little about where they come from besides the print. You’ll get wool socks in Finland, high rain boot socks in London, no-show socks in Miami, hiking socks in Appalachians, Pendleton big spiky socks in Portland, indoor sandals (split toe!) In Japan, flag socks in every country.
If you pack a couple of nearly dead socks, you can throw them away on the road, and now your new socks literally don’t take up space in your luggage. You can even stop packing your socks and buy all the socks for your road trip. For each day of your visit, a pair of socks that will remind you of this day every time you put them on.
You can give them away as travel gifts. They are cheap but short-lived. Practical, but whimsical. You can pick up a half dozen and distribute to friends. I’m not saying you get socks for a loved one (although they were among the many things I bought for my wife in Japan), but it’s hard to offend someone with a very good sock, and it’s hard to overspend on a very stupid sock.
The socks are small, flat and lightweight, so you don’t need a lot of space in a suitcase even for a dozen pairs. One pair of socks isn’t as fun as one hat or one scarf, but ten of them fold better. Shirts need to be sized, the buckles on the belts are heavy, and you’re not handing out 12 packs of underwear.
Socks are not the most fun gift, but they can be quite quirky, so unusual that they are even liked by children, people who are known to hate socks as a gift. Kids don’t hate socks – they hate boring socks. But you found the weird, “crazy socks that Uncle Nick brought from Mexico.” In addition, you brought candy to the children, it is easy with the children, the children accept your little things in another currency, for them it is a treasure. So they’ll accept socks.
Socks aren’t necessarily your best souvenir. Maybe you are the kind of person who always gets art with taste. Maybe you will always be looking for cool international comics. Lifehacker Cooking Editor Claire Lower loves buying wooden spoons. I love finding a local gadget. But if you’re short on time or taste, or need ballast for more interesting, expensive, or time-consuming souvenirs and over an armful of snacks at the pharmacy, you can always rely on a pair of good socks.