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What’s a must-buy item you get when traveling internationally?
I have to travel internationally soon, and I’ve been making a list of things I simply cannot get here (by which I mean Brazil): right now it’s benadryl and maple syrup. Last time peanut butter was on the list, but it’s since become a gym-bro food and is much more accessible. But the thought occurred to me others must have their own lists.
So what’s something you can only buy when in another country that you make sure to pick up?
Travelling internationally from where? Or does it not matter?
For me (living in Canada), when I travel to the UK I pick up Marmite and Mr Kipling. If you know you know!
Last time I went to the UK I left with a backpack full of boost bars. Very underrated candy country.
I'm surprised you can't get Marmite in Canada. I've bought it in the US for decades. (Haven't shopped for it recently though, but I do see Vegemite more often than Marmite these days.)
I've got a wee container of marmite sitting in the fridge, at least, bought from a typical Canadian grocery store. Maybe they're trying to buy 1l jars or something? 😅
At that size they'll have something to pass onto the grandkids.
I’ve never heard of Mr Kipling… Kipling here is a bag and suitcase company!
Funny thing I've never heard the brand name used with the honourific, only Kiplings..so when I heard "Mr. Kipling" I thought for one confused second that The Jungle Book and associated works by the same author were only available in the UK.
Yes I was also thinking of Rudyard Kipling. His Just So stories are also fun
I forgot about those! I remember The Cat that Walked, my mother had a book from her childhood (along with My Friend Mr. Leakey and The Wonderful O, and a range of other more-challenging-than-my-age-range-but-still-children's-books)
Living in Germany, those are the two things I pick up in the UK too!
I’m in the UK and I’m surprised Mr Kipling is so popular! Which variety do you bring back? I quite like the mini battenburg and bakewell tarts but not enough to bring them with me to another country! Maybe I would Marmite.
The Mr. Kipling Cherry Bakewells have been my absolute favourite since early childhood, I really miss them – even if I take some to Germany, they're all gone within a few days!
Yes, Cherry Bakewell, good choice!
For me it’s angel slices, battenburg, French fancies… god tier supermarket bakery! And I grew up in the land of Betty’s so I feel like that’s high praise. You don’t know what you’ll miss until you can’t get it anymore…
You mean (A) things one brings from home or (B) souvenirs to buy from the destination?
I'm going to guess you mean (A) because peanut butter, maple syrup and Benadryl are home items.....
Personally, a comfy set of pajamas and sleep hat. Sometimes hotel sheets just feel weird, or there might be moving air in the room or on the plane. I've also started to bring snacks for flight attendants, and cup noodles for if I'm starving at 3am in a foreign place.
I interpreted it as "things to buy while abroad" because while those are things available in the US (and Canada, Benadryl?) the OP hasn't traveled yet and said they cannot get those things here implying "home."
I do not have an answer as I don't/can't travel abroad
Benadryl has a different active ingredient in Europe compared to the US, so it sometimes shows up on lists of "stuff to bring back to Europe after a trip home to the States", which is the context I'm familiar with for similar posts (peanut butter indeed did also used to feature on such lists but has gotten easier to find if you aren't too picky about your peanut butter). OP definitely should have specified what countries they meant, but the structure of the post reminds me a lot of this type of post from immigrants/expats.
When I lived in Germany and brought stuff back from the States or received a care package, I'd get brown sugar (for baking -- German "brown sugar" is just normal cane sugar that hasn't been turned white, similar to "raw sugar" in the States, and despite American-style brown sugar existing elsewhere in Europe, it was weirdly hard to find there). The other stuff I'd ask for was mostly just favorite snacks that weren't sold in Europe: Wintergreen Lifesavers and Cheez-Its were a mainstay. Once my mom mailed me some craft rootbeer and it somehow survived shipping unharmed.
Yes it was more that I wasn't sure if Canada was a viable location to acquire Benadryl or just the US where you can buy 600 tablets for 10 bucks at Costco!
Ah that makes sense, I might have missed where OP is travelling to for ideas of what to bring back
Did you used to and if you did what aspects do you miss?
I've traveled on trips in college because my Nonna could afford it (also post 9/11 we didn't get to travel that year). I have been to Italy, Ireland, London and on a cruise through the Panama canal...
I did love it, and I do miss it, but i can't travel with my partner now and I can't afford to travel even for my own vacation right now, so I don't. For most Americans I've already been pretty lucky to have the opportunity. But right now I don't even have a passport.
I do think they were just asking what others bring back not just looking for ideas for themselves. It sounds like they're going to the US or Canada.
I discovered stroopwafels in Amsterdam and next time I have a chance I'll fill my suitcase with it. And Miffy products.
Due to family health issues, I haven't been internationally travelling either for years now.... I super miss it but it is what it is. When I visit Vancouver I fill my suitcase with Taiwanese/Japanese food/snack items, Japanese/Korean skincare, stationary, cute Asian things, more Muji pens, and specialty chocolates made at a local lab I like.
You give snacks to flight attendants?
Every flight. It can be a boring/demanding job, tourists are some of the most irritable and entitled people. Also, makes no sense to me why someone whose jobs is many hours of service gets 0 tips when the fast food clerk expects 15% minimum. Part of their job is to hand out snacks for hundreds of people while they may not get any themselves, or get complaints / looks bad if they eat the company snacks in their down time.
Sometimes they ask if I'm crew, but every time they seem genuinely happy someone thought of them. (Edit: the secret reason is that I had wanted to be FA.... In a parallel world where I stayed single / am DINK my whole life and have been an FA all this time, I would want to randomly receive unique or local snacks)
The craziest I've heard of are people who investigate how many FAs on their flight, then make little care packages for each them. Or gift card at common airport cafes. I'm only bringing maybe ~$5 worth of interesting snacks + pretz sticks for the entire flight.
You’re right, it is absurd that some jobs arbitrarily expect extra wages from customers, that creates some horrible incentives ;)
But also I love your approach and taking a little time to do something nice for the FAs is a great idea! Any public facing job is tough and often kinda thankless, let alone one where you’re also responsible for critical safety measures alongside the service, all while being locked in a metal tube with said public for hours on end. Fun snacks for the crew has got to make their day!
I think Paris is Brazilian?
I am!
Hey Paris! That's exciting to have a trip soon! Where are you going and how long? I ask because if it's a very short trip sometimes it's not worth spending precious time on shopping :) but I can make more suggestions if the trip is longer
Going to the states for a few weeks, which is making me more than a little anxious for obvious reasons, so I’m trying to stay happy-excited about the whole thing by thinking of presents I’ll bring home to friends and family. The biggest one is a waffle maker which a friend in the states is sending to me, but practically speaking the world is a lot smaller than it used to be and whatever I’ve wanted recently I’ve found here or imported
from chinamore or less easily.My lists while travelling to and from used to be a lot less sparse! Nowadays most of the things I “miss” from one country can be found in the other, but some stuff just doesn’t. I’ll be bringing my own dipyrone and Hyabak, since neither can be found there apparently, and bringing back benadryl (which only recently came onto the market here, as a sleep aid!) and maple syrup (literally does not exist). I’ll go to Uniqlo and Muji for clothes and that sort of thing, but beyond that, my list is “used book stores” and “driving?” 😅
There’s a lot of food i miss—south indian food, those “magic shell” ice creams, bagels-my-beloved—but as always, I never write down anything and thus when travel is upon me, I have nothing to remind me of previous longings! I thought maybe the longings of others might inspire me.
Not sure about magic shell ice cream but you've tried dipping dots?
Recently, in Canada we had a fake maple syrup scandal (!!!) but if it exists at American Costco the price and quality are good. I know you said America but my patriotism compells me to also tell you about Maple Butter and Maple Caramel -- please do give them a try if you see them.
You are right about the world becoming smaller so it's hard to think what would be worthwhile to bring back.
For trip to US, I would personally be bringing back all kinds of weird snacks, especially test market "failed" ones with unique flavours obtained from liquidation centres. Another American thing is to look up your favourite fandom and see if there's a convention, fan meet up, famous person meet and greet or other such experiences, and buy merchandise from small fandom vendors there.
Used book stores are a good attraction! Thrift stores, especially independent ones, could be decent as well. I hope you have a great time with driving adventures :) one of my friends had a lot of fun doing a stunt driving day course. I'm sure there are go karts, race car tracks, luxury or off road options as well. Gun ranges can be fun as well, to round out the 'Merica experience.
Magic shell topping
Oh! Like a dairy queen dipped cone! :) that's a new one for me thanks !
Thrift stores! Yes, that’s a lovely idea as well. Clothes here are obscenely cheap, if somewhat better than the usual Temu/Shein quality, but maybe in a “nicer” town I can find something good… Thank you for the recs!!
Dipyrone appears to be banned in the US but it looks like I can order Hyabak from Amazon no problem. I'm not sure what makes it different from other eye drops and eye drops in general are sold everywhere.
This is my first time hearing of either substances though, so thanks for the knowledge.
My eye doctor here 🇧🇷 was the one to tell me the Hyabak wasn’t available, so that could be wrong; I’m not sure what makes it different, but the doctor recommended Systane as a local-to-there alternative.
As for the other, I am well-known in my friend groups for spouting the Good Word of Dipyrone to one and all. It is, bar none, the best OTC pain reliever I’ve ever tried, with less side effects than the rest. It’s wondrous, even if the liquid form is the worst thing you could ever taste it your life. I’ve heard argument the banning in the US was politically-motivated and not based on the science, but I really can’t say anything about that!
It's hard to say, it's not just the US with a ban or restrictions (also UK, Canada, Japan and some parts of Europe), but I don't know the history or if the concerns of side effects are overblown or what. Definitely not enough of a pharmacological researcher (aka not at all) to read enough studies to understand it.
We however let you buy 500,000 mg of acetaminophen/paracetamol for ten bucks. That's not a purchase cap, just Costco.
What state are you going to, in the US?
If able, find a quality BBQ place, and order the ribs.
Preferably from some place that isn't a chain restaurant.
Duty free gin.
OTC painkillers with codeine in them if I happen to be in a chemist.
There are things I love and kind of miss from places I've been and lived but I'm coming around to the idea that I mostly want them to stay there, not here. If those things are available everywhere there's a strange dilution and flattening of memory and experience that happens.
This doesn't quite answer your question because you aren't talking about permanently making them available at home but I think it's adjacent.
Assuming you mean things to bring back home based on your list - there are definitely many other things I make a point to eat when I travel particular places.
Ovomaltine spread,Villars chocolate bars, and cailler hot chocolate mix in Switzerland. Gruyère and vacherin cheese if possible. I swear the stuff they export is worse.
Bread flour in France.
Treacle syrup in the UK.
Butter in Ireland.
Bon Ami / Bar Keepers Friend, canned pumpkin, canned green chiles in the US. Used to be more junk food, but the quality seems to have gone down enough I don’t even want it anymore.
Can’t remember the name but these melt in your mouth crispy cookies in Italy (though the same ones show up elsewhere now)
Any unfamiliar flavored candy wherever I go.
!!!
Please don't eat Bar Keeper's Friend.
Hi! I live in the region. Manufacturing is the same (it is a PDO after all) but you probably get younger cheese (5 months?) for export.
Matured cheese have a stronger taste, which may or may not be the taste of everyone abroad. A friend from Norway had a revelation when tasting some properly matured cheese (all he had all of his life was bland Gouda and Jarlsberg at best).
But I spied you post history and saw that your British, and I know you guys can have perfectly good strong cheese so... Look for aged gruyere? Or a better cheese shop?
(For reference my fav is at 10 month ("mi-salé") but I don't mind eating older ones.)
... Or maybe you got French gruyere (oh the infamy).
You know, it could be the aging - that’s a good thought. I do live in the UK now but I lived in Vaud for a few years. Where I am now, there is no choice. It is just “Gruyère” and there is no indication of how long it was aged. So maybe it’s the less aged cheese that gets exported most.
Gouda and Jarlsberg are not supposed to be bland? :P uh-oh
I didn't grow up eating cheese, especially anything strong, so this whole time I assumed I like (Costco) Gouda / Jarlsberg because they're so mild.....maybe it's more accurate for me to say I like younger cheeses rather than specific varieties. I don't even like aged cheddar ....
In any country that is not the USA: Sensodyne Repair and Protect with Novamin (aka calcium sodium phosphosilicate).
You can't buy this toothpaste in the USA - if you purchase Sensodye Repair and Protect in the USA it only comes with stannous fluoride.
It's much more expensive to purchase Novamin toothpastes in the USA because of import rules. It's 1/2 to 1/3 the price depending on country.
IMO it's a far superior toothpaste for sensitive teeth.
Can confirm it's fantastic. I'm sure I would have had more than the one cavities repair over the years without this product. The brand also sneakily make many varieties without novamin so read the labels. Carefully.
This is really good advice. Is this comparable to the viral Japanese cavity-preventing toothpaste that was popular some years ago?
I'm not sure what this other toothpaste is you're referring to.
Many years ago, back around 2009 I believe, NovaMin toothpastes were quite easily available in the US. Burts Bees Natural Toothpaste was the first toothpaste I used with NovaMin. Prior to that I was using regular Sensodyne and it only helped my teeth sensitivity marginally; my dentist had to apply prescription stannous fluouride to my teeth directly after each cleaning and that only helped a tiny bit. I was told that my teeth were just naturally sensitive and to get used to it.
After using the Burts Bees Novamin toothpaste for about 2 weeks, the sensitivity not only went away completely, but I was able to enjoy ice cream again. I was shocked how well it worked, and my dentist was surprised it worked that well; he even started buying it himself.
At some point, GSK, the makers of Novamin ran into some regulatory issues and decided not to sell Novamin toothpastes in the US. They still sell them in every other country, so I just buy it when I'm traveling - it's about $4 a tube most places I go, even cheaper if you buy multi-packs. I usually pick up a 6 pack when I pass through Taipei on my way home.
Have you tried the other nano-hydroxyapatite toothpastes that are regularly available in the US now? I'm curious if there's something specific to the "NovaMin" formulation that you find different/better.
Boka (weird flavor, tube doesn't survive some falls), Davids (feels very basic-white-toothpaste), Apagard Premio, etc?
I have not, mostly because they are far more expensive and NovaMin still works for me. If they were to drop significantly in price (I see Boka is at least $11 each tube before tax and shipping) and my current access to NovaMin toothpastes were to go away, I'd consider it.
Salon-Pas patches with lidocaine! Afaik they're only in the US. When we go back to the States in 2.5years, we'll replenish our stock. We also usually visit LA and bring back lots of Asian goods that we can't get in the Prairies like tsukemono, senbei, etc. Also really really good Vietnamese beef jerky.
That's interesting, because Salonpas are Japanese. (The patches being made in Saga by Hisamitsu is a joke in the anime Zombieland Saga.) So I Googled that, and I guess it's for regulatory reasons? The US is an outlier in allowing OTC lidocaine in lower concentrations.
I've never used the lidocaine ones, but the classic ones are way better than Icy Hot's competing product.
In which country is peanut butter not available? Have you tried making it at home? It's easier than you might think and it tastes better than most jars too!
When I visit Indonesia I always make sure to get a daily dose of Rotiboy. It's a Malaysian coffee-infused sweet bread. But somehow I never see it in Malaysia and see it everywhere in Indonesia. I guess they could afford better locations in a foreign country.
But you're talking import/export. Stuff that you bring back home when traveling international. No Rotiboy could last that long in my carry on.
Serious answer: my must-buy item would be knowledge. Specifically, corporate recipes of Tita Nits Malunggay Pandesal. Honestly, never had sweet bread quite like it. Malunggay has its own flavor profile.
What are you, a city guard from Skyrim?
Did you see those chefs from Hammerfell they have circular bread. Circular. Bread.
Honestly, the internet and ebay and easy global shipping has made it so that there's not many things that you can "only" get in one country or another these days. Apart from legal issues (and it's no surprise most of the thread is about pharmaceutical drugs that are not OTC in a home country), it needs to be significantly more expensive in your home country, and it needs to be relatively space efficient.
Clothes in Japan. Ebay prices for Japanese brands have quite a high markup. A pair of Kapital jeans can be $300 in Japan and like $800 on eBay.
Tea in China and Taiwan. Compact, since it's dried, and the premium when shipping it is quite high, especially if you're not getting large amounts.
iPhones. Mainly because I want a sim card slot and only the global versions have sim card slots.
In general, I would say clothing, liquor, candies, maybe stationery items. I'm traveling from the USA to Germany soon and want to look into what sorts of clothing stores, brands, items would be good to look for (besides Birkenstock, which is already on my list). Past examples:
Are you talking about ticholos? I love them!