Best Shopping Travel Destinations

There are so many beautiful things to buy around the world.  Each country offers something different.  Many places are known for certain things whether it is coffee, wood, ceramics, pearls, sea shells, chocolate, pastries, candies, rum, tequila, tea, skin care, and much more.

Shopping in many countries, especially third-world and developing countries, shopping is such a popular tourist activity because of the unique souvenirs and how cheap it all is.  Be sure to bargain shop and negotiate prices with vendors.  You will notice that most vendors will initiate on a pretty high price, a price that you would pay in countries like the U.S, Europe, or Australia.  They do this on purpose in hopes that the tourist will trust them and not want to negotiate a price and just pay it.  That can happen and it makes their day I’m sure.  But, they do expect you to counter them with a lower price. Personally, I hate bargaining.  I never want to insult the vendor and say a really low number but, at the same time, it’s a poorer country and the items are meant to be very cheap.  The reason many vendors do have higher prices than what the item is truly worth is because they buy the items for a certain price from somewhere else and now have to try to sell it and make a profit.  This is why so many vendors have lots of the same things to sell. I have had several conversations with some vendors about this all.  It’ll never hurt to start at a really low price and negotiate from there.  It’s also really wise to go from vendor to vendor and negotiate prices because one may give you a much better price then another.  You can also tell them the price at their competing vendor’s items and they will match or go lower in price.  Never settle on the first price or the first vendor without shopping around and checking prices elsewhere.  You’ll kick yourself when you pay $10 for something in one place and later learn that you could’ve paid only $5 for it elsewhere.  As a backpacker, every dollar counts, especially when shopping.  Shopping is one of my most favorite things to do when I travel.  I love visiting marketplaces and cheap and authentic shopping areas.  I love making a local vendor smile by purchasing a bunch of my souvenirs from them at once.  Usually the more you buy from one person, the bigger the discount will be.  Side note, I have also traded a beach towel that I had over my shoulder for some souvenirs in Panama.  The boy asked me for it and told me that I could choose some things for free if he could have my towel. 

Some of my favorite countries to shop in were: Thailand, India, Morocco, Turkey, Guatemala, and Indonesia.  They have some of the cheapest and most beautiful things.  I try to buy something from almost each place that I visit for my mom.  I don’t buy much for myself, since I am the blessed one to be traveling so much but, I do love to buy unique cheap rings and cheap woven purses.