Send a Care Package Back Home!

When you’re travelling or studying abroad, it’s nice to give a call or email to those back home who are supporting your efforts, but I’ve found over the years that opting for a care package can be a good way for you to share your travels with friends and family.

Tea from London, coffee and peppercorns from Vietnam, chocolate bon bons from Paris, strange dried things and sea shells from Hong Kong… these are all things my mom will get in her care package. It started off that I was shopping around for snacks for things I’d like to bring back to London, but kind of thought that if I could really send a trinket back to the states, I’d like to send the experience of being here. 

Think about your senses and think about what you’ve experienced studying abroad. When you’re in your new location have you dug your toes into the sand? Have you had the best tea you’ve ever found? Smelled a great perfume? Put it in the care package!

You don’t need to go overboard with your care package; find samples, small bags of snacks, talk to cafes and see if you can buy the teas or coffees they sell, find some seashells and send it home instead of the typical tea towels and shot glasses and shows that you’re trying to share the experience with family, not just show them you’ve been somewhere!

Personally, I’d like to have a Brazilian mini feast at my desk than a keychain.. and yes, some people will still like the collectable-ness of the souvineer shop goodies, but it’s nice to send something to put in the mug instead of just the mug itself... Just make sure it’s non-perishable!