For many, going on a holiday equals to a shopping spree or mall hopping (a friend of mine termed it as mall camping). I do admit retail therapy works and has its own joys. But with experience, one learns that it makes no sense to buy stuff on a holiday that is also available back home (risking the embarrassment of someone asking you if you really picked it up abroad).

I have picked up items abroad only to read the fine writing below later, that it was made in India. Or returned home with sweets and snacks that are available on the supermarket counters in Goa. The most bitter lesson was learned when in Bruges I purchased in euros impulsively, for machine and mass produced Chinese crochet items (that were way cheaper in the exhibitions back home in rupees).

I have managed to convince my girls that one should not waste time shopping when out for holidays (this I believe is the success story behind joyful travelling experiences). Instead, it is better to put the money towards seeing extra places or buying entrance tickets to someplace additional to see, that we will not get to experience back home.

We do not buy anything near the typical tourist spots, including souvenirs. They are way cheaper at the market or bus and railway stations. It is prudent to also make a note of expenses at the end of the day, so one can balance it out later (so my impulse Chinese purchase was balanced out by avoiding any taxi rides for the rest of the holiday).

Before leaving for the holiday, I do make a list of things that I can to buy, more out of a need rather than want. For instance, school bags or stationery for the new academic year. Then we tend to pick the same up on a holiday for the joy of getting some shopping home. Having said that, on the last day of the holiday, we usually keep ourselves free from any schedule and the hard cash saved of the holiday budget is used to do shopping with no strings attached. Makes no sense to carry home foreign currency (other than big notes of dollars or pounds) and again pay conversion rate to break them into rupees (remember you have already paid this conversion rate to take the foreign currency in the first place).