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When I got off the plane in Milwaukee last weekend, one of the first things I saw was the warm glow of a souvenir shop. Stuffed with brightly colored T-shirts, sassy shot glasses, and magnets of all shapes and sizes, the shop looked exactly like its counterpart in the Minneapolis airport where I had changed planes.  This was my first trip to Milwaukee and I hoped to bring back a memento, but a ‘Bronze the Fonz‘ floaty pen just wasn’t going to cut it.

The trouble with looking for souvenirs is the best ones are always unique to a time and place, so a good souvenir from Milwaukee wouldn’t be the same as one from Moscow. As Billy the Fish points out, “Tourist souvenirs can be impersonal,” so how can you find something more meaningful?

Jessica C writes, “I always try to get something that you can’t get anywhere else.” So a good starting point would be figuring out what makes the place you’re visiting unique. Another approach is bringing gifts with you in hopes of receiving something in return. After all, according to shoshanamom, “the best souvenirs/gifts are those that were given to me by a local or someone I met while traveling.”

Although it can be dicey, I prefer to let the right souvenir find me, trusting that I’ll know it when I see it. As it turned out, I was at a show with raffle prizes, and one of the prizes was five pounds of sausage. Half-jokingly, I kept talking about how badly I wanted it, but the woman next to me had the winning ticket. I was pretty bummed. But a few minutes later, the woman came up to me and offered me one of the sausages. This souvenir is not going to last forever, but every bite of that sausage brings back good memories of Milwaukee.

Whether you’ve got useful ideas or fond memories, please share them. How do you find the best souvenir when you’re traveling?

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Celebrating family, community, and culture. Happy Kwanzaa!

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Wishing you a very merry Christmas from the Yahoo! Answers team.

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‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar plums danc’d in their heads,

And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap-

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below;

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:

“Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,

“On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;

“To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

“Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys – and St. Nicholas too:

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound:

He was dress’d all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnish’d with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys was flung on his back,

And he look’d like a peddler just opening his pack:

His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples how merry,

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face, and a little round belly

That shook when he laugh’d, like a bowl full of jelly:

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laugh’d when I saw him in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And fill’d all the stockings; then turn’d with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight-

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

- Clement Moore

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Celebrating the return of the light on this Winter Solstice…and the Festival of Lights as Hanukkah begins.

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