The Wanderland Holiday Shop

This year, my mom asked me for some ideas for Christmas gifts, and my resulting list was a red flag that I’m on a slippery slope to boringsville — a hair cut, sunscreen, and even more packing cubes were on the exciting end of the spectrum. (Okay — one watermelon bikini made its way in there — between that and my recent flamingo dress purchase I’m well on my way to achieving my dream of being a Katy Perry backup dancer, no? Those should keep me out of lameland for a while.)

Anyway, my point is that I sincerely hope you all have more exciting holiday wish lists than I do. And if not? Well, Tucker and I have some suggestions.

1. Wanderland Wearables

I’m really not much of a shopper when I’m home. Retail environments tend to zap me of the will to live, and if I make it all the way to the check out line I always end up angsting out over whether or not I want to carry my potential purchase with me around the world and back (#livingoutofabackpackproblems). But on my travels it’s another story entirely — I love wandering through exotic markets, checking out local artisans and bringing back treasures for my family and friends, and even myself on occasion.

I’ve long been toying with the idea of setting up a shop here on Alex in Wanderland to bring some of my favorite finds to you, but a lot of obstacles have stood in my metaphorical way. Those include but are not limited to: the fact that I’m better at having ideas than implementing them, the limitations of my online-shop creating technical skills, and not really knowing if anyone would even be into that kind of thing.

However, during my most recent time in Thailand, I found a jewelry vendor I’d bought from years earlier — and it inspired me to finally give this idea a trial run. So, without further ado, I present Wanderland Wearables!

These are earrings I’ve personally owned and worn my own pair of for years and received compliments on over and over again. The metal leaf design above goes with absolutely everything and are incredibly hardy and perfect for traveling. The laser-cut wooden design below are a bit more delicate, but also insanely lightweight — I often forget that I have them in at all.

Sourced with love from Thailand, packaged with soul in New York. A limited run of each are available for $15.99 with free shipping within the USA. I will ship all orders on December 15th. Click any image above to buy — or visit my Etsy shop here! I hope you all will love these little guys as much as I do.

Update: We are all sold out. Thank you so much and watch out for the next collection!

2. Welcome to Wanderland Swag

When I launched my new site design, I loved my new logo so much that I released a few products with slight variations of it. If you want to take a little piece of Wanderland with you on your next adventure, might I suggest a snazzy new tote bag? Or perhaps you’d like to sip your morning tea out of something swank while daydreaming of your next journey — I know just the mug for that.

Check out my Zazzle shop for Welcome to Wanderland mugs, totes and luggage tags, and Alex in Wanderland stickers. When you do, send me a photo and I’ll share it and tag you on my social media accounts! (A reader mug shot gallery, if you will. Zing!)

3. A Few of My Favorite Things

Looking for a few more gift ideas for yourself or your favorite travel buddy? Check out my Obsessions page, where I outline my absolute travel must haves. From camera gear to luggage necessities to green travel tools, there are potential presents in there at all price points.

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And now back to our regularly scheduled travel programming. But before we go, I’m dying to know…

What are you wishing for this holiday season?