Bringsome

It's always those little things spotted in a foreign country that I wish I'd grabbed more of to bring back home, like $2 cartoon-print chopsticks from Tokyo, a $3 sack of paprika from Budapest, or $1 bottles of local lavender oil from Zagreb. I may not revisit those places, but I could ask for someone going there to snag some stuff for me. If you're my friend, however, that could interfere with your carefree vacation. Why not ask a stranger instead?

Bringsome is built just for that. Travelers on the site offer to bring back goodies from abroad, while homebound folks describe the goods they'd like. Although global commerce and the Internet seemingly enable you to get anything from anywhere, many local items still can't easily be ordered.

The next time you're in Europe, for instance, please bring me a pile of Niederegger marzipan in kooky fruit and farm animal shapes. The next time I travel, I guess I could pack something only found in San Francisco, like some original 1960s rock posters, or some quirky paintings by local artists. I could deliver an iPhone to the Bringsome user who wants one in Copenhagen, but could he use it there?