Holiday-makers' Hoarding - Is it like imposter syndrome, because we're never good enough?

Fridge magnets. Two from Konyaalti beaches in Turkey. A pair from Korea. Albania. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

What is haording? Collecting random things you don't need? Cluttering the house with items not used and not classified. Having so much you cannot find anything and keep buying more? Collecting anything and everything? Being afraid to throw things away? Keeping tow of everything?

Seeking Souvenirs and Savings - the cause?

Hoarding clothes and souvenirs - selling souvenirs and clothes is big business. Garages no longer hold cars. They keep clutter which has overflowed from the house. 

If we keep buying clothes and souvenirs, what makes us do it? Maybe bargain hunting is an obsession which comes from a father or mother or spouse who said 'you are spending too much,' or, 'you are eating too much'. 

On holiday we indulge ourselves. We are away from prying eyes. We deserve the small souvenir, or big saving. It is harmless because it is a temporary thing. It is a now or never opportunity.

Bargain Hunting

You go on holiday and choose the cheapest item on the menu. You buy the cheapest goods and souvenirs. The cheapest tours. The walking tours. You picnic instead of trying local food.

What about, self-bullying syndrome, the bargain hunter, the mean buyer, depriving themselves on holiday? Which type are you? 

Racial & Cultural Stereotypes

The Chinese are sometimes like this. The Scots have a reputation for being mean. Mean all the time, to themselves more than to others.

It is nothing new. Dickens wrote about Scrooge not celebrating Christmas. The puritans tried to ban Christmas to stop over-indulgence, and divergence from religious messages to consumerism. The very word materialism is pejorative.

Hoarding

Hoarding New Clothes Stories

A good friend of mine told me that when his father died, my friend found boxes of brand new shirts - still in their boxes - which his father had never worn.

I found that my late uncle had a boxed computerized, musical instrument. I felt guilty because he had asked me how to use it and I said I didn't know. I was too busy (looking after my widowed father) to cross London to look at it. When I buy anything electronic or mechanical, I tend to delay opening the box and reading the instructions. I am afraid to break it, lose bits, feel silly at not understanding it.

Hoarding Unworn Clothes

I am guilty of the same thing as the shirt hoarder. I have smart clothes I won't wear in case they get stained. 

I have mother of the bride dresses, never worn. My only son married back in 2020. 

Contrast - One Smart Seasonal Outfit Warn Daily

I am the opposite of my friend across the road. She would throw out all her old clothes at the end of the season. She bought one very expensive outfit.

Buying The Best

She wore every day. So she always looked and felt her best.

Are you saving an outfit for an interview? For an event? For being in the media?

Waiting For the VIP Millionaire

Or for meeting a millionaire? Or your company's boss?

You might never meet the millionaire. Or you might meet him any day. Your company's boss is probably a millionaire. You might meet him, or her, at a large company meeting,, the annual dinner, or just in the lift.

Buying Bargains

I am the opposite. I have hundreds of cheap items. On holiday I am always looking for a bargain. something, some souvenir, cheaper than I can buy it at home. 

Some people ravel to buy wines, duty free. 

Save up for a rainy day. It has rained almost every day this year. But I am still saving up for a rainy day.

Surveys often tell us we hoard clothes we never wear, bags we never use, shoes we never wear. 

One widowed man told us he had saved all his late wife's herbs and not used them up. Unfortunately they had lost their flavour after a year or two. A waste. 

 I am not using my best umbrellas. I might spoil the spokes.

Everybody seems to look for the best value flight, however much money they have.

A very few people take the opposite attitude. They want only the best. The top brand. The Ferrari. The branded goods. Custom design. Whether or not they can afford it. Life is short. They want the best.

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