What kind of things do you bring for gifts?

We leave for France October 2, and are bringing some Obama campaign buttons.(small, light and free) The Europeans all love him, and will think it's a great little gift. They love to talk about American politics anyway.

I have never brought a gift for strangers, but I have brought family and friends the smoked salmon that is sealed and comes in a Haida First Nations carved box, I have also purchased those hideous cookies from Laduree in Paris and given away. I abhor them , but they are always well receieved by others.

Food is always a bit difficult as a gift..i know from experience..but i agree that most everyone appreciates smoked salmon and vacuum packed..is small and easy to pack...Plus i love the travel candles from Market Spice..Essence of Washington State..Sea Mist..Rain..Candles are one size fits all and you don't have to think about food preferences. Don't let anyone convince you that maple syrup is a treat...But anyhow..when you make friends, or if someone helps you with a problem..smiles and thank you's will probably be sufficient

Question: do you give presents to new friends in Seattle or to people who are helpful? I know I don't. I don't understand why you want to do this or are even planning for it. If you meet someone and strike up an acquaintance, buy a round of drinks or a coffee or an ice cream if you like. But please, don't whip a gift out of your bag for them. I would be speechless if someone did this to me after I helped them out. People just like to be helpful and don't expect a gift for goodness sakes. It sounds like you are a generous person, but just being friendly back is enough.

I agree that I wouldn't take gifts for "new friends" I might happen to meet. However, my wife and I did take local cook books with us when we went to England this summer because we were staying in the homes of two different families who have ties to others we know at home. We had not previously met either couple, but we thought a hostess gift appropriate given the situation. The cookbook offered a relatively inexpensive and easily packable item to take with us.

Absolutely agree that hostess gifts are a must when staying with a family or friends,, I wouldn't think to supply one though for paid accomadation( like a B and B though) .

We visited some distant relatives of my wife in Sweden this past summer and stayed with them for 5 days. We struggled with what to bring as we wanted something that was a reflection of the Pacific Northwest. A friend eventually gave us a great idea! We had wonderful pictures we had taken of all the beautiful sites around here (Mt. Baker, WA coast, etc) so we made blank greeting cards with the photos on the front. We made bundles of 10 to give to the families we were visiting. It was great fun showing them all the beauty around here and helped us to encourage them to visit us! It was very inexpensive, but more importantly, light and easy to carry!

Oh yes, a hostess gift is something completely different. That is always a must.

Cotlets from costco enough said

We just returned from 2 weeks in Ireland and quite a bit of our time was spent visiting pubs--the best part of our trip was talking to locals and other travelers. Many times the conversation turned to the upcoming election in the U.S. We took campaign buttons with us and people seemed really pleased to get one as a souvenir--they were light, easy to carry, and inexpensive.

I don't bring gifts for "strangers" but I always have a lot of friends and family to visit, sometimes not very close ones. One year I had some success bringing small dinosaur fossils along. They add up in weight but tiny pieces are just fine. My husband's cousin and many others in that family love fossil hunting in the Alberta Badlands. I just go over there and he gives me a bucket full of rocks ...

Actually, my wife and I are each planning to take an Obama t-shirt to wear, but we won't be giving those away. I'll swing by the local campaign office and see if we can get some buttons or stickers. Thanks for the suggestion.

John, what is a cotlet? I can't find a definition on any dictionary site.

Hee hee, Nancy,, they are candies of a sort, made with apricots and apples and nuts I think, in a jelly type base,, they are hard to describe.. Popular where there are lots of orchards,, LOL

applets & cotlets.

Fruit-based snacks made from apples and apricots (respectively), they're a local favorite (or at least they're locally infamous) in Washington state's fruit belt. Made in the Cashmere area (on the west slopes of the Washington Cascades).

Well! I learn something new every day! Honestly, I looked at a variety of online dictionaries and never came up with a definition. And being from Illinois, obviously it's not something I've been exposed to.

Nancy: They're very similar to Turkish Delight. Actually, just about the same thing, just named differently.

and they're not very tastey..Almond Roca is much nicer.

One year when we were traveling to the UK I took some pencils that looked like an American dollar on them plus ten new one dollar bills. If we talked to a family and there was a young child (five or older) I would give them a pencil and a dollar. The children was thrilled with them and said they would take them to school to share.

With the best will in the world on the part of the tourist, I would be distinctly uncomfortable about my child being given a pencil and a dollar. The UK is not the third world.

We had rented the same house in Provence twice. So the second time, I took Washington Nationals Baseball hats as gifts. They loved them!