What I Want from the US
Now that international travel is more or less back to normal, we’ve got several US visitors heading our way. While I’m excited to see friends and family and make up for lost time, I’m also excited that they’re willing to bring some American items over. Now that we’ve lived here for a few years, I know how and when to get the things that we need, though I still very much miss Amazon Prime and free delivery and returns for most online shopping. With the return of overseas guests, however, I’m back to thinking about how nice it is to have people who are willing to share some suitcase space with me. Here’s what I’m looking forward to:
Summer Clothing - specifically for the kids. With American Labor Day next week, I’ve put together my shopping carts with all sorts of highly discounted warm weather clothing. I have yet to find any swimwear (aka “togs” if you’re in New Zealand) that are as good as Hanna Andersson’s, and while Hanna will ship here, their shipping isn’t cheap. (Side note: for a good list of online shopping resources and which stores offer free shipping, visit here.) The same is true for Tea Collection’s play clothes.
Texas Swag - If I was still living in Texas, I would never want Texas swag, but living away for four years has me craving for a few incredibly cheesy things. I’ve asked for a Texas-shaped sandwich size cookie cutter and a Texas themed dress for my daughter to wear to school for her cultural appreciation day. And have I thought about requesting an awful longhorn shaped chip and dip platter? Yes I have.
US History Books - When we initially moved to New Zealand, I packed a huge stack of I Can Read books that covered important people and events in US history. These books have been wildly popular with the kids, but now that they are older, we’re ready for longer, more in depth reading. I’m interested in the Who Was? books, The History Of: A Biography Series for New Readers books, and the Spies in History books (mainly because my son is really into secret codes these days!) I know the kids aren’t going to get a whole lot of American history in school, so this is one area we make an effort to focus on at home. If you’ve got any recommendations for kid friendly US history books, I’d love some recommendations!
American Toiletries - I’ve mentioned this numerous times before, but I still prefer Ivory bar soap and Arm & Hammer toothpaste. We’ll be requesting a top-up of our supply. Jon used to give me a hard time about how much we have on hand… until the pandemic closed the borders for two years and we never ran out of either. He’s now a convert.
Cutco Knives - This is truly a random one, but we’ve had a set of Cutco knives since the beginning of time and somehow two have disappeared. Yes, we could get Amazon to deliver a set, but these are small and easily packable and it seems like a better idea to skip the crazy shipping fees.
And perhaps that is a theme for all of these items. Could I get every single thing on this list delivered to New Zealand? Yes, but the shipping costs and extra sales tax add up after awhile. Some day I’m going to do an exercise where I compare the costs of purchasing everything I want from the US and having it shipped here versus the cost of simply flying over and hauling everything over myself. It would be fascinating to find that break even point.
