How can you buy/take home souvenirs with a mere carry-on?

Depends on what you’re shipping and how you’re shipping it. I’ve mailed smaller items back in bubble envelopes via regular postal service at low rates. I’m back home before the goods get there a week or two later, but I don’t have to lug anything around. You also have UPS, DHL, etc. These can get expensive, again depending on size/weight and how it’s shipped. Do a little research and try a quote on their websites to get an idea. The only “souvenirs” I’ll actually pack home with me are small, light things (e.g. a bracelet, thin book, etc.) Otherwise, they go in the mail. Happy travels.

There are quite a few options, depending on what you plan to get as the guys said. My standard method is to carry-on to Europe and pack a 'hidden bag' that takes up almost no room but expands out to a full-size duffle bag. Then I pack my dirty laundry, liquids, and anything I don't care about in that bag, check it, and hope for the best. It got left in Amsterdam without me one time, but so far the only permanent casualty of this method has been one bottle of red wine. Of course, the downside is that you are checking a bag and all the hassles associated with it.

Another option is to pack stuff in your carry-ons that you can discard as you go, replacing them with the new souvenirs you buy.

We pack a smaller bag (flat, folding type). Then, if we have souvenirs that are breakable, we put clothes in the folding bag to make room for souvenirs in our carry-on suitcase. We check the extra bag and if it's get delayed it's not a problem because it's usually filled with clothes that need to be washed.

I think it's more about how you're traveling. Can you handle two bags? I pack a very lightweight duffle bag in the bottom of my suitcase. First I unzip the extension on my carry on. Next I put things in my backpack.If I buy something that's too expensive to ship and I no longer have room in my carry on after I've unzipped the extension, I put it in the duffle. When I come home, I fill the duffle with my clothes and any unbreakables and check it. Any breakables or things I really don't want to lose are packed in my carry on which I then take on the plane. The trick is being able to carry what you've purchased. Once I brought lemoncello home from Italy so I wrapped it well and put it in my carry on. I checked the carry on and took the duffle with me. The thing to remember is that the 2 item carry on rule is FROM the US. On the way home, your departure airport may limit you to one carry on.

Colette, it really depends on what you want to bring back. Our family of four traveled to Europe for 21 days in 2006 with only backpacks. Here are the souvenirs we brought back: a mug, blown glass Christmas ornament (rode inside the mug), lace bookmark, flat crocheted Christmas ornaments, more small unbreakable ornaments, Christmas bow and doily, a candle holder made of salt, 2 ball caps, a fleece, a t-shirt, assorted chocolates, 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of beer (obviously this was before the ban), a 6" diameter World Cup soccer ball, and an empty glass bottle that my son wanted to keep. We did not leave anything behind. Obviously these are mostly small things and some of them went into the day packs that attached to my and my husband's backpacks, but it can be done. :)

You pack a stuff bag, put most of your dirty clothes in it, and use your carry-on bag for your souvenirs--that's what we do.

I've heard of people bringing smaller fold down bags to stuff things in. We didn't do this because we wanted to buy some steins in Germany and that was our first stop so we ended up shipping them home. It cost 50 euro to ship them and they arrived in 2 weeks and were in perfect shape. It was expensive but worth the money to not have to carry them everywhere for a month.

My husband also ended up buying a 1 liter and 1/2 liter beer mug from the Hofbrauhaus with 2 weeks left and lugged them around with him in his backpack! They actually arrived home unbroked haha

I would recommend only filling your luggage like 80% full to leave room for stuff you buy. At our last stop, I threw away a few shirts and replaced them with souvenirs.

step 1: Buy a nice quality point&shoot digital camera. It fits in your pocket.

step 2: Buy a 4GB SD memory card - the size of your thumbnail

step 3: Take lots of photos & a few video clips

step 4: Reflect upon the value of life experiences vs. material things

Amen to Randy. We have over 10,000 travel photos that run, in screensaver mode, on our TV (via an AppleTV box). Since they are in random order, we use this as our 'mental agility' game ... trying to recall the what/where/when before a photo floats off the screen!!

That said, I've also carried a German coffee grinder and a metal pinwheel that I just couldn't pass up ... but I'm fairly sure this was from days before things were so clamped down. (Esp. that pinwheel which I'm sure would now be something critically dangerous )

I think a lot of us that travel that light just aren't "stuff" people who buy many souvenirs. But if you are, besides the suggestions you've already received, you can: take a full sized suitcase instead of a carry on, that has room to bring stuff home; or, do what my niece, who knew she wanted to bring home stuff for her friends, did--bring and wear clothes you were about to throw in the Goodwill pile, and discard them along the way. Checking your carry on for the way home, then carrying on your newe souvenirs in some kind of bag or duffel, sounds easiest to me.

Many of the souvenirs we've bought over the years are very small. Jewelery is my favorite (LOL). Scarves, and small handcraft items, christmas ornaments,etc. I usually carry a bit of bubble wrap and some tape so that any breakables can be protected if needed. If you don't want to take an extra collaspable bag, you can always buy one there if needed and check one bag on the way home.

Most of the time, I buy very few souvenirs.

Other times I'll buy souvenirs late in the trip and check them. My kids bought quite a bit on one trip so we bought a duffel bag at a street vendor, filled it with their stuff, and checked it on the flight home. On another trip, I bought some breakable stuff for my wife so I carried them and checked my normal bag.

Checking on the way home isn't as big of deal. If your bag gets lost, you have more clothes at home. It's more about not dragging a lot around with you on your trip.

Thanks everyone for the help. I think I might take a suitcase larger than a carry on, but not too cumbersome, as I will be staying 4 days at a time in different cities.

If you take a large manila envelope, like 11x13, and put a piece of cardboard in it, that will take care of small prints, etc, that you don't want to bend.

Another way to pack art/prints/posters is in mailing tubes. I buy a tube and cut it down to fit in my carry on. I roll the piece(s) up, put them in the tube and they make it home safely. The empty space can be used for other small souvenirs as long as they won't damage the art.

Colette,In my convertible backpack I make room for the "Hide-Away Tote from Rick's travel store. For me it doesn't take up too much room but is available for either packing with clothes or non-breakable souvenirs. It has gone through cargo without any problems. I use the Civita bag for breakable items and items I want near me on the plane.

A standard 22" carryon suitcase filled with what you need for a trip to Europe should still have a decent amount of room for souvenirs. If it doesn't then you've packed too much. On a recent business trip to Cologne, I was still able to bring back a 12-pack of 200 mL beer glasses from the Fruh brewery as well as a smoking man (kind of like a nutcracker figurine, but burns incense instead of cracking nuts).

The nice thing about travelling with just a carry-on is it compels you to be more judicious in your souvenir-buying, to buy only things that are truly meaningful. When I used to travel with checked luggage, I would end up with too many tchotchkies that weren't that special. Now I come home with 2 or three really special things. Yes, occasionally I have passed up on buying something because of the size of my bag, but have almost never really regretted it later. It's just stuff. The only souvenir I regret not buying was a beautifully carved 100 year old chair in an antiques store in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Of course, that wouldn't have fit in checked luggage, either. The store owner offered to ship it for me, but I was concerned he would take my money for the chair, take my money for the shipping, and I would never see the chair.

My favourite souvenirs are small paintings or prints which you can usually find anywhere where there are tourists. They don't have to be expensive, they're easy to carry (I don't buy them framed) and I love looking at them at home. Plus, (a big plus!)they don't collect dust!

I do the same thing Maggie does.