Gifts and merchandise - what to know?

[Wheelie]

What are your thoughts and considerations on bearing gifts? Why or why not? Who gets what types of gifts, and why? What do you carry?

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A few thoughts to get the discussion started:

• Don't plan for gifting people, but have enough on hand to be able to share with friendlies, and to be able to leave tokens of appreciation (carry an extra or other form of alcohol, an extra bottle of water, a pack of cigarettes, some extra pens and lighters (that you can let the user keep after using it), some snacks and candies
• Source en route - not at home. You will support local businesses and encounter new people.
• Don't give into to solicited gifts - we don't want to encourage touting - quid pro quo (something for something... it could be something simple as someone having put a smile on your face)
• Not all gifts to the police are conscidered bribes - not even when solicited (more on that later)
• Gifts received should be "earned" - through unselfish acts of kindness, and at a personal cost (nothing is free in this world, not even kindness)
• You can't fix much with gifts, but they can make things better
• A big gift dosn't allways do much more good than a small one. Sometimes a tiny gesture, with little cost to one self - can go a long way. Even the smallest token can make someone's hard day/week/year/decade, in an unfair world, just a little bit more bearable.
• Substantial gifts, that go beyond tokens of gratitide - robs the one that receives it of their pride and dignity. Be careful about giving such large gifts that the other can't reciprocate the feeling it brings... unless the other is in dire need and the purpose of your gift is humanitarian
• Something of little consequence to to you to part with, may be extreme for another to receive. If you go that route, make sure they truely understand your position to be able to bear such gift with no conesquence to you, or expectations of reciprocation. "...my mother owns the factory that makes them..."
• Gifts shared are better than gifts given
• You must not allways "win". Sometimes it is nice to allow the other to give more than they receive
• The world is an unfair place. More people than not are in greater need and deserve the things you have more than you - but it is your stuff, that you had the opportunity to earn, and which you took. Letting other people "earn" it from you happens at your discretion
• Giving a helping hand with something practical, inviting people to share food or drink, or in any other way giving people one´s own time and interest - those usually end up becoming the long lasting "gifts" that gets appreciated the most.
• As a traveller, getting to share something, is far more rewarding than simply giving someone something of monetary value and be on one's way.
• True generosity is giving something which holds great value by the person giving it. It might be a personal artifact or an important tool that holds low monitary value, but high personal value
• Symbolic gifts hold great value
• Pay fair price for goods and services, however much bargaining power you may have - don't exploit people in a difficult position
• Different going "rates" for locals and outsiders can sometimes be both fair and socially just

Are all solicited gifts by public officals bribes and corruption, and are there cases where you really should give in?

Many westereners see every act of "gifts" to public officials as corruption and greasing of palms. Sometimes it really is a matter of corruption and obuse of power - but often it is far less sinister than what we westerners think. In many places, a token of appeciation, and I really mean a token - is expected by both parties, and given with mutual delight.

Watching the locals, it can often be something simple like a cigarette, a single orange, a bottle of water, letting the person keep your pen or lighter after using it, a packet of gum... given to someone who provides security, leniency against a tyrranical and unjustly "big brother" the official represents, to someone who gives directions, provides you with the latest news on the conditions ahead... service given to you by someone who has stood roadside in the scorching sun all day - with months of owed backpay from their employer.

Watch the locals and do what they do. They sure as hell don't put a $100 bill in the documents they hand over at check points.


Your gifts
What are your ideas for gifts? What do you carry? Anything you wished you had carried? Do you carry merch as giveaways with your own brand on them? What types of products?

Any good gift stories to share?

[mark manley]

I rarely give gifts, yes I am a miserable tight fisted sod but there was a Chinese woman in the guesthouse I was staying in Lhasa who I established through our guide who translated had cycled there from central China on an old mountain bike with all of her stuff in a holdall and carrier bags tied on with string, after telling her how very impressed I was with her journey I gave her a pair of rainbow coloured tied down straps I was not using which were most appreciated and made her load look somewhat more secure.

[backofbeyond]

Is the list one you came across elsewhere or something you've put together yourself? Its just that it all seems very 'principled' and worthy but, as we know, military plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy. Travel 'advice' from way back has had similar suggestions about how to travel in poorer countries and it boils down to a kind of grass roots imperialism. I have money, goods, lifestyle - everything you want, and in return for your help I'll, in my kind hearted benevolently paternalistic way, give you something I think will help you improve yourself. Here's a pen. Ok, that's a cynical summary of what's often meant well and done with the best of intentions but over the years and thinking back on my own experiences I'm less 'certain' about the approach than I used to be. It's not that I don't think gifts - small tokens that go beyond the monetary price of something - have a place, but that pragmatism has a much larger place.

For example, take a look at the picture below. It's from about 20yrs ago and the three men were fastening my bike onto the Mauritanian ore train with strips of 1/4" steel rod. We'd agreed a price for the job (they had a 'monopoly' on the task) but the Polaroid pictures (before camera phones people rarely had photographs of themselves) were not 'payment' they were a 'request' to do the job carefully, something to lift me out of the 'just another vehicle to hammer in place' category. I'm not certain more money would have had the same effect.





I've plenty more examples - ones that have worked and ones that have backfired - but they're all points on my personal database that bring me to the conclusion above. Do as you would be done by is probably a reasonable summary.

[Wheelie]

backofbeyond - I totally agree with everything you are saying. The list is mine, and I don't feel it contradicts anything you are saying - in fact I feel that it underscores much of it. Your reply does hoever indicate that you assume that the list only applies to third world countries or to people with few means - it does not (even though it probably becomes more relevant in such instances).

I approach "gifts" in the same manner I do at home - common courtecy and local customs. Gifts are hardly seldom given by me on travels, but it happens. It might just as well be to someone without needs than to someone without. At home it is common courtecy to bring a small gift to a hostess when invited to dinner. Likewise, if someone lacks a pen and I have two - it is a nice gesture to let them keep it. Giving someone a memorabiia to remember you by is not cynical in any way - your polaroid is a great example. There is a whoe industry catering to travellers who want merch - I feel that merch is a great way to leave something behind to remember you by or to be able to get in contact (I carry stickers). I have no conceptions that they will even keep it - but it is the gesture that counts.

I've had several travellers stay at my home for free (strangers to me) - they have all given me something to show their appreciation. One family gave us a twister board game after playing a game with our kids, others have cooked us a meal, some have brought wine and , some have just had a buisness card with an open invitation... I have allways refused money, or for my guests to chip in on food and drink in my home - but I have allways appreciated the gesture of the offer. And every time I have been offerred something I have been greatful. I would have been offended if there was nothing. Why should it be any different when standing on the opposite side of someone in someone elses country - developing country or not? Offering gifts can end up being condescending if you don't have your wits about you. This is in part what this discussion is about - what is good and bad custom of gifting when travelling?

I once brought a football (soccer) complete with a pump, that I planned to gift the child of someone's family I planned to stay with. The itinerary changed along the way, so the visit never happened. In stead I had the chance to put it use at a small village I passed through. After playing some ball with the locals, the inflated ball had no more use for me - in fact I was glad to unload it. That ball opened many doors for me. As a gift it aso brought joy to everyone that got to play with it for a long time thereafter. This is an item I infact could plan to bring again - it would be the only item Item in my luggage dedicated as a gift.

By saying quid pro quo - I do not mean that every gift should require someone to have done you a measurable service or given you a gift, nor that you yourself should feel obligated to pay for services or items that have been offerred to you for free - very often a simple thank you is the correct gesture.

There are many things we do for eachother just because we feel like it - without any expectations for something in return. The same goes anywhere in the world, and between all walks of life. The point is not to give stuff away simply because someone asks for a handout and want to exploit you in some way. Likewise, giving someone something which they have not asked for, without there even being any kind of personal connection or exchange that warrants gratitude. People don't usually take well to strangers feeling pity for them. The person has to have "earned" it in some way or another - and that is most often in mutual interest. I therefore don't think "quid pro quo" is cynical - it is being mutually respectful.

There is nothing condescending per se to give gifts to someone of lesser means either. Stopping by a local rider that is struggling with a flat, and offer to lend them your pump, giving them a bit of water and a snack. There is nothing but grace in that - nothing condenscending about it, even if it is a gift to someone with far less means than your own. And because you carryied enough to share - it offerred you a unique exchange as a traveller that you otherwize might not have had - while helping someone else who just happened to be in a kind of problem that you as a passer-by could luckily leviate.

By saying not to plan for gifting people, I mean that you shouldn't fill up your luggage with gifts to toss arround everywhere, or have a roll of bills in small denominations to tip everyone that does something for you (unless that is what the locals do). As a Norwegian, a tip is hardly ever involved, except to a waitress - and then only a small ammount. In the US, that is very different. In norway, with our social welfare system, it is not customary to give money to beggars - in India it is.

[backofbeyond]

Yes, I was going to go on and extent the post to cover what you'd loosely call 1st world travel but time constraints go the better of me so it had to end where it did. Good list btw if it's your own work. So often these things are cribbed from '20 things you must do before you ride' clickbait sites.

In the UK I've given out plenty of pens as a small thank you for people putting themselves out and helping when they got nothing else for their altruism. But it wasn't in the context of travel, it was when I used to work for Ipsos Mori the polling company. It was standard company practice to offer a pen as a gesture when someone had just spent half an hour answering questions about which brand of coffee they prefered or how often they changed the battery in their smoke alarm (which reminds me ... ). It wasn't much but generally it was appreciated. So I'm well aware of the benefits of a small token of thanks; I just don't plan for it these days. I have done in the past - the Polaroid pictures for example - and I have taken pens, spare pairs of jeans, trainers and a whole load of other stuff with me when the 'grapevine' (pre internet) told me that such items were the things to say thanks with. And I've seen the results of handing them out - fights, robbery (although I wasn't involved with that one), the recipient feeling patronised, belittled and aggressive in that order and other people zeroing in on me because they saw me as a easy touch. So now I take nothing and improvise.

Originally Posted by Wheelie

Isn't it a bit creepy to hand out sweets to children you don't know, pat their heads, play games... You do that where I live and you risk getting a beating or have the police called on you.

It's not the same in other countries / cultures and the more I experience the differences the more I'm convinced that we're the ones with the strange reaction. Re your use of the word 'creepy' in that context, it's the first time I think I've ever come across it being used in that way by a man. It's almost always the other way round - we're the 'creepy' ones. Gender politics I suppose.

[Wheelie]

You want to put a big smile on a kids face, let them sit on your bike. Even better, take them for a spin - if their parents allow it.

Isn't it a bit creepy to hand out sweets to children you don't know, pat their heads, play games... You do that where I live and you risk getting a beating or have the police called on you.

[krtw]

I've been thinking a lot about this element of travel. I agree with everything said in the first post but will add the following: You don't give because you have to. Give because you want to, and the other person will know. Just been watching OnHerBike working her way thru Africa. She gives sweets to lots of children, and there is NOTHING creepy about it. Heartfelt and lots of smiles.

Maybe it does not come down to a set of rules, but about basic human kindness and compassion and a willingness to travel with an open mind, open heart, and intelligence.

While in India, on the great Thar Desert, on a camel ride - I wanted to give my unused harmonica to a young boy.....my brother (way more world traveled than I) stopped me. He believed the harmonica would be taken by the elders and sold, that the boy may get into trouble accepting the gift. And I began to think differently about what help means and how to help.

Peace.

[Snakeboy]

Originally Posted by Wheelie

You want to put a big smile on a kids face, let them sit on your bike. Even better, take them for a spin - if their parents allow it.

Hm - I let this adorable little girl sit on my bike. It was in the city of Surabaya on the indonesian island of Java, in the ferryline to the 36 hour ferry over to Makassar on the island of Sulawesi. She looks rather terrified though....

[chris]

In decades of travel by motorcycle I've never given a gift to any random person/ child just because I'm there. Things are, of course, different if services/ hospitality are involved.

I'm not responsible for kids in north west Africa demanding "Donne moi un stylo/bonbon/quelque chose".

I renamed the Zanskar valley in north India "Give me one pen valley" where every child raises their index finger as you ride by, even if they're half way up the hillside as well as shouting at you. There was also the local guy there who insisted I give him the headlight glass off my Enfield as his was smashed. I could apparently buy another further on my trip. He seemed surprised to be told to jog on. (An aside: nobody in neighbouring Ladakh asked for gifts).

[badou24]

The trouble with giving gifts to children , is you can make them into beggers when they get a bit older.
I have seen people throwing clothes to children out of cars , so they expect the same from all travellers