Okay so usually when we travel I bring:
- Hubski stickers (duh)
- Postcards from LA / my hometown (they are perfect thank you notes, leaving your information with people you meet, etc.)
- A little soap / candle baggie thingy from my hometown (usually it has like a glass of "LA sand" or some shit)
These are perfect when you stay with people, meet people, etc., especially when they've never been to LA.
We're going to Geneva next week to do some work. The guy and his wife who we are meeting up with / working with/ etc. are living in both Paris and Geneva right now and I know his wife lived in LA for a long time. They just had a baby girl.
I am so stuck on something nice to get them. They're hosting us for 10 days so I'd like it to be something really nice (like $100+), not a stupid soap set. Plus, no one who lived in LA is going to appreciate a fake vial of "LA sand" 😂 😂 and, I don't think bring American chocolate is going to fly for people living in Switzerland. :P
Any ideas?
Experiences are more valuable than things. Especially for people who are as cosmopolitan as these people seem to be. We all have things we have wanted to do in our home town, that we just haven't gotten to. Doing them with an out-of-town guest is the perfect excuse to create a memory with someone, and to experience something you have been wanting to do. So pose them the question when you arrive: "What would you like to do here in Geneva that you have not done yet?" Then go do it with them, and make it your treat. The experience doesn't need to be stored. It doesn't burden them with an object that they now need to take responsibility for. And it is something you can remember and share with a few words, when writing to them years from now. "Remember the coffee shop on Lake Como? That's a happy memory for me, too..."
Bourbon. Get them a bottle of Pappy. Or, just a nice Bourbon or Rye. kidding on the Pappy.
I was recently at an orthopedic surgeon's house. I casually mentioned that I liked bourbon. He came out with a case of various pappy's. 10,12,20. He had 2 bottles of 20, different years. We tasted the two for differences. One was from prior to the sale to Buffalo Trace. He had a bunch of other bourbons as well. My favorite was the pappy 12 and the regular old Michters was right up there. It's become my new house bourbon. It was an awesome evening, it was not what I expected. But to the point of your link, he gets them by essentially bribing. Edit: I should mention that we didn't just "sip" or take small "tastes," we had full pours of anything we wanted. He was very generous. It was F-U-N!
Buy them a baby sling like this https://www.amazon.com/Carrier-newborns-perfect-carriers-parent/dp/B012ITT0RO/ref=lp_166833011_1_5_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1468464473&sr=1-5 People buy all these fancy baby carrying things like Ergo's that absolutely suck. People insist on using them because they paid a lot but an over one shoulder sling that the whole kid sits in with no leg holes is easier for everyone. Buy em a nice on made of suede or some shit if you want to spend some dough. We had three of them left over after our daughter got too big, gave them all away. Two of the people were brave enought to try and use it (feels like your baby can fall out, it can't) and they gave up on their "ergonomic" carriers because the kid hated it and they are way uncomfortable to wear. Buy them some pacifier clips https://www.amazon.com/Pacifier-Bodacious-Bambino-2-Sided-Universal/dp/B0187ZYURI/ref=sr_1_cc_2_a_it?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1468464955&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=pacifier+strap You don't know you need them until you've picked a pacifier up (and rinsed it off, or given up rinsin it off cause you are exhausted) for the hundredth time in a day. Would be dope if you bought the kid a treasury bond with a long maturity, that shit's classic. Put it in the sling. You can toss all those ideas if these people trust you enough and have achieved the amount of sanity that is needed to let you watch their baby for two hours. Maybe they have people and don't have all the two hours they need but if they don't there is not better gift in the world.