Off to the States... what shall i buy

These are great and this is the target brand.
@Hopelesscynic , my SIL gets the cheese sauce in the macaroni and cheese aisle. It's the shelf stable cheese pouches 😬without the pasta. She's brought that because everyone needs a plastic cheesy fix.

Hopefully they've not all closed down in the past decade but Alaskan jade is gorgeous so I hope you can find some!

The Alaska shirt company does some fab t-shirts and other stuff and they're better prices there than a lot of the small touristy shops that you get closer to where the cruise ships dock. Same goes for jade and other jewellery tbh, the further you go from the ships the better prices you'll find.

Although the Del Sol shop beside the ships I thought was fab, loads of things that change colour in the sun, I still use a tote bag I bought from there and I love watching it change on a nice day.

Non-buying stuff but I also recommend taking the cable car/tram thing up Mount Roberts, unless it's changed there's loads of info about the local Tlingit tribe there and I loved learned about them.

My other recommendations are having an Alaskan ale in the Alaskan Inn (bonus points if you have it with a local Alaskan like I did) and go to El Sombrero, a Mexican restaurant. I still dream about the cheese enchiladas they serve there. You can also buy some Alaskan ale to bring home if you have any beer lovers back here, I made sure mine was well packaged in my case on my way home.

I have no ideas but want to wish you a great time !

Autumn/Fall scented stuff!

Mahogany Apple is my favourite handwash from Bath and Bodyworks, and I cannot find it here boo hoo

This stuff is a lifesaver..... why can't we get it over here? I buy off Amazon.

Neutrogena shampoo (get as large a bottle as possible, a pump head too if you can)

Levi jeans

Børn shoes

Big Red gum (cinnamon flavour)

You can get big boxes of Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) but you will need your passport as they monitor everyone who buys it due to a massive crystal meth problem there. Was well annoyed when I had a bad cold and they tried to fob me off with inferior phenylephrine because I had no id

An AK47?

@anniegun

She may as well, she can't buy a Kinder Egg. 😀

For those bringing back medicine, do you have to declare it when you come back or can you just walk through customs when you get back to England. Do you have a limit you can bring back or do you stuff your suitcase full of them? The fact that you can't get them in the UK does it pose any problems if your bags get searched by the authorities. Just asking out of curiosity.

There is a LOT of good chocolate in the States. Much of it is by smaller companies but I have had chocolate that beats anything Belgian that I've tried. My favorites used to be Faroh's and Gorant but both are now either OOB or have "remade themselves" into something not as good. We still have a few sweet shops that give me my chocolate fix, though none of it is cheap. There are also some Godiva chocolates that I crave and their cookies with the chocolate on top are so good, as are their white chocolate raspberry stars (not even a white chocolate fan except for these).

A few decades ago, we had UK students here on an exchange program (they spent 3 weeks here and then US kids went there for 3 weeks), I can remember it was Kool-Aid and some types of gum that were wanted when the US students went over. One mother sent back a Yorkshire pudding pan for me because I had tried to make it when the students were here and it was an epic fail (turned out more like a dinner roll/biscuit).

I hope everyone that is coming for a visit/holiday finds lots of goodies to bring back with them. 😎😍

That's a good question. How much do they allow you to bring back without fees?

Do they sell a lot of the US items on Amazon UK?

@cherrypied I was just in USA last month-haven't been since pre-covid and I was absolutely shocked at how expensive everything was!!

I did manage to bring home some bits but def felt like it's not how it used to be!! Although I still like a mooch round Target...

DD got some lovely bits in sephora and I always get neosporin. Not very exciting!!

Nothing (that I’ve noticed) that’s been recommended is a controlled substance in the UK. Generally that means there may be restrictions on selling/prescribing it, but not on owning it. So customs won’t care, as long as you don’t bring so much that it looks like you’re opening a shop!

I brought 6 tubs of Naproxen back and had no problems getting them through.

@Approaching Thanks. I've always wondered about it.

I donI don't think so and they may be suspicious if you ask in the pharmacy (voice of experience)

Thank you. That's wonderful!

To the ones travelling here soon: Yes, things have gotten to be more expensive. The COL crisis has hit here as hard as it has hit the UK and the rest of the world. Things that were $5 are now $9 or more and the deals are fewer and farther between, and I live in a less expensive part of the country. I cannot imagine how it is on the West Coast or big cities.

That said, I hope every single person who comes has a wonderful time, makes some great memories and find a few things that you don't have in the UK (or in the quantities).

BORAX

Genuine question : Why is everyone saying melatonin? Is it not available in the UK?

Things I stock up on. Ice breaker winter green mints, taste like tcp but I bloody love them!! Peanut butter with grape jelly and I used to stock up on lucky charms and the almond and vanilla special K and various flavours of pop tarts but I'm gluten free now so they're definitely off the equation now. I did also get a coldsore cream from Walmart with L lysine inside it. Can't remember the brand, just that it was brown in colour and smelt very herb-ally but it was brilliant. It cleared mine up within a few days. I wish I'd stocked up on that because nothing over here has come close to it

Cover girl eye shadow. The pigmentation is fantastic. Or it was the last time I went there.

Chick Fil A sauce
Bath & Bodyworks - download the app to get the deals!
Levis
Ugg slippers

that’s my list sorted 🤩

My priority would be autumn/fall themed sweets and homeware.