Why We Buy Things on Holiday That Make No Sense at Home

There is always one thing you buy on holiday that makes perfect sense at the time. Maybe it is a wildly colourful shirt, a ceramic bowl you have absolutely no idea how to carry home, or a bag of spices you cannot even pronounce. You are standing in a market, feeling unusually convinced that this is exactly what your life has been missing. Then you get home, unpack your suitcase and quietly wonder what happened.

Everything feels more special on holiday

Part of the problem is the setting. At home, you might walk past a handmade lamp, embroidered bag or brightly painted plate without giving it much thought. Put the same thing in a tiny shop in an unfamiliar city, surrounded by old buildings, street sounds and the smell of local food, and suddenly it feels completely different.

You are not just buying an object anymore. You are buying a little piece of the place you are visiting. That makes it much easier to justify.

Holiday brain is a real thing

When you are away from your normal routine, your usual rules become slightly blurry. You are already spending money on flights, hotels and meals, so one more purchase can feel insignificant. There is also that little voice saying, “When am I going to find this again?”

It works particularly well in markets and small shops. You see something unusual, imagine yourself using it, and before you have had enough time to think about whether you actually need it, it is already in a paper bag.

We want something to remember the trip by

Souvenirs are rarely just about usefulness. A little object can take you straight back to a particular morning, market or street. That old postcard might remind you of the café where you bought it. A scarf can bring back the memory of wandering around a cold evening market.

This is probably why completely ordinary objects can suddenly feel precious when they are connected to a place. You are not really buying the object. You are buying the memory attached to it.

Local markets make impulse buying dangerously easy

Markets are particularly good at creating this feeling. There is something about walking past rows of handmade jewellery, textiles, pottery, artwork, spices and snacks that makes you want to take something home. You start with the intention of ‘just looking’ and somehow leave carrying three bags.

The fact that many things are difficult to find elsewhere makes the decision even easier. And if the shopkeeper tells you it is handmade, locally made or one of the last pieces, your chances of walking away probably drop considerably.

You imagine a completely different version of yourself

This might be the funniest part. You buy a beautiful notebook because you imagine yourself journalling every morning. You buy loose linen trousers because you are suddenly convinced you are about to become someone who dresses effortlessly. You buy cooking ingredients because you are definitely going to recreate that dish at home.

Then normal life returns. The notebook sits untouched. The trousers remain folded in a drawer. The ingredients eventually become a mysterious object at the back of the kitchen cupboard. Holiday, you had plans. Home, you have deadlines.

Some purchases are actually worth it

Of course, not every strange holiday purchase is a mistake. Sometimes you really do discover something wonderful. A piece of pottery becomes part of your home. A local food item becomes a regular favourite. A piece of clothing gets worn for years.

And even the slightly ridiculous purchases can have their own charm. Years later, you may find that odd little object sitting on a shelf and remember exactly where you bought it, who you were travelling with and what the weather was like that afternoon.

Maybe that is why we keep buying things that make no sense on holiday. They do not always need to make sense. Sometimes they just need to make us remember where we were.