It is important to love where you live, but it is just as crucial to experience new places. Travel is both overwhelming and exhilarating, teaching us as much about ourselves as it does the world around us. When you’re next looking to pick up and go, consider bringing along these local products.
Brand & Iron Natural Leather Passport Wallet
Brand & Iron pieces are entirely handmade and handstitched in Vancouver, and this Natural Leather Passport Wallet is no exception. Made of vegetable-tanned leather sourced from Italy and finished with antiqued button studs, the wallet has three compartments: one for a passport, and two smaller ones for receipts and cards. An easy, sleek way to have everything all in one place.
Strathcona Stockings Eye Mask
As its name suggests, Strathcona Stockings began by designing bright and high-quality socks. Now carried at stores including Nordstrom, the Vancouver brand has branched out into other items, including this 100 per cent silk Eye Mask. Handmade locally with an organic cotton batting, the mask is perfect for the plane. Available in various pretty paint and floral patterns of original artwork and prints, the mask becomes a fashion accessory as much as a necessary light blocker.
Love Jules Leather Shoe Company 1907 Derby
There is perhaps no better way to take in a new city than to walk around it, and therefore a high-quality shoe is necessary. East Vancouver bespoke footwear company Love Jules Leather’s limited-release 1907 Derby is in incredible demand, and it is not hard to see why: made-to-measure and entirely handcrafted in East Vancouver, the boot—available in six colours—is an ideal walking shoe. Beautiful and built to last, it can withstand the longest of exploring days, and because all materials were sourced in North America, it is a product to be proud of.
Scout & Catalogue Wander Travel Kit
Local accessories purveyor Scout & Catalogue has solved a great exploration annoyance with the Wander Travel Kit: because it is made of mesh, small items will never get lost at the bottom of toiletry bags again. The industrial rubber mesh is thick and sturdy (it is actually used to make patio furniture), and the soft vegetable-tanned leather carrying handle and zipper pull add a pretty touch. Made in limited runs in Portland, the Wander is both functional and beautiful.
Lissu Linen Facial Sponge
Vancouver-based Lissu Linen creates soft, have-forever linen pieces using ethically and sustainably sourced material. While everything they create is beautiful, the Facial Sponge of 60 per cent linen and 40 per cent cotton is small and easy to use—perfect for exfoliating and cleansing while away from home. Use with a cleanser both day and night to maintain skin’s freshness and softness.
So go ahead, take that trip. Get lost. Get scared. Learn something. And then come back home and get ready to do it all again.
