My colleague Paul always travels with a bunch of arrowheads. I had heard about this idiosyncrasy for years but never saw it for myself—until our last trip. We were getting ready to go through airport security together when he emptied his pockets of a bunch of keys and about a dozen authentic arrowheads.

Always curious about this routine but never having the opportunity to ask this intrepid traveler why he does this, I figured now was the time.

"They make great gifts," was his simple answer.

I wasn't so sure so I smiled. Still, the truth soon came out.

When we boarded, we were sitting opposite each other in aisle seats and before I knew it Paul was handing over one of his special arrowheads to the gentleman to his left.

He looked over at me and winked.

Later on I learned that Paul's seat mate was from Ireland and they had been discussing the power of stones (as in Blarney). Then, my friend apparently introduced other potent relics into the conversation, specifically those old Native American items he happened to have on hand.

After explaining their significance, he awarded his new buddy an arrowhead of his very own. Apparently, according to Paul, this bonded them for life—or at least for the length of the long trip we were taking. I do know they exchanged e-mail addresses.

The point is that I learned a lesson from their interchange. 

Actually, I learned two. For starters, if at all possible it is good to get to know the person with whom you are planning to treat with a gift, especially if that person is from a culture other than your own.

Second, even if you are not able to get to know much about the person you are about to meet and treat in another country, try to be creative with your gift-giving. Of course, do that without being offensive by making sure what you decide to present is, indeed, culturally correct.

Consider the following:

My co-worker Connie always takes along a roll of dimes with her whenever she travels.  Since she likes to collect small coins from different countries, she is happy to share our smallest coin with people she meets along the way.

My hotelier colleague Simon takes along small utilitarian items that carry the property’s logo. Sometimes he packs a bunch of leather business card carriers (popular for trips to Asia) and sometimes he carries small travel clocks branded with the hotel insignia.

A photographer friend of mine from Ohio thinks photographs are a good idea. For gift-giving, Rachael packs a grouping of 5x7-inch matted prints of her favorite scenic shots she has taken in and around her home town of Cincinnati.

Food is always a fine idea.

A friend from Vermont goes on the road with miniature bottles of Maple syrup to give away while another colleague from Atlantic City packs small boxes of salt water taffy, and an editor from Minnesota takes boxes of wild rice from the region.

To me, chocolate is the answer. Just before my trip I make a pilgrimage to my local grocery store called Trader Joe's where they sell small tins of what are officially dubbed "traveler's chocolate." The container is round and contains two layers of dark or milk chocolate cut into pie-like slices.

While the candy is good, the tin is even better because embossed on the top is an inveterate sojourner obviously on his way to somewhere special. Appropriately, this is a person just like me.

On A Side Note...To Give or Not to Give
I discovered one food product that makes a big hit with many overseas colleagues is ginseng. The North American version of this root, which is used as the basis for traditional Chinese herbal medicine and is believed to be highly therapeutic, is considered to be of very high quality and therefore a prized gift, particularly in many of the Asian countries.

What wouldn't be considered much of a prize in the same part of the world are items like clocks (associated with death in China), knives (which symbolize the severing of a relationship and therefore the wrong gift to give in Asia and much of South America) or 13 of any one item (a particularly big taboo in most Asian countries).

To be culturally correct with your gift giving, it's best to read up on what is appropriate and what is not. Then, ask friends and colleagues who have already been to the place you will be visiting what has worked for them in the past. Finally, talk to locals of that country living in the United States about the subject before you make your final selection.

A final note: Mail all holiday gifts to faraway countries as early as possible and use priority mail to be sure to get your presents there on time. Ho ho ho!