Rarely in which countries are souvenir shops distinguished by a variety of assortment. If you want to bring something from your trip, you usually buy another magnet, lighter, statuette, can opener, notebook, bell or snow globe. All this is most likely made of cheap plastic in China, bought in bulk and sold at a markup of 500%. Or you can buy something that's made from local raw materials.
Money
The easiest and most often the cheapest option is coins or bills. I don't change cash from different countries back, but I bring it home - for souvenirs and just for storage. You can take some cash with you if you go back to the country from which they were brought. This way you don't have to worry about the exchange at the airport and the course from the card, but you can safely pay for your transportation to the city, buy something to eat and drink.
Famous people are often printed on the national currency, the main sights of the country are not a postcard? You can give one coin as a souvenir, or the amount that will be enough to pay for travel from the airport of the capital and buy a bottle of water. I don't know what kind of gift would be more useful for a traveler...
Food
For me, local supermarkets have long been the best souvenir shop. Local sweets, canned goods, drinks, cheese and other "sanctions" are a great way to give friends and relatives a living example of local culture. A girlfriend who loves to cook can bring local spices, and relatives can bring a bottle of something unusual hot.
Coffee
This point is more about gifts to close friends and relatives. For example, you know that the girlfriend was looking for something to make coffee in - being in Italy, buy her "mocha", a local brewing thing. And it's good for her. Mom's got sherry glasses, sister's got a coffee grinder.
But the best gift for coffee lovers would be a coffee set. If you have vacationed in Guatemala, be sure to bring from there Maragodjip is a very rare variety, so not every even the most sophisticated coffee man knows him. The drink has a rich taste of chocolate, and its aroma is a little smoky. It is the best option for coffee lovers with specific flavour tones.
Luvak Copies will be an exclusive gift for a coffee man. Unique processing of beans gives the drink the flavor of honey, nougat, chocolate and butter. The aftertaste is preserved for several hours.
Souvenirs
It's funny, but this item is my favorite. The photo below shows a piece of coral found on the beach of Gaia Island near Borneo, a pebble that was decorated with ladybug and given to me by a homeowner from Orvieto, Italy, a duck and a "yolk" that I found after a storm on Bang Tao Beach in Phuket, Thailand.
It's a little weird to give such things, of course. Most often such souvenirs get into my home collection, I like to look at them, they are associated with pleasant emotions. And also it could be just garbage, but became my memorable souvenirs. For free and for good.
Nothing
I have many friends and family. If I bring something for everyone from all my travels, I'll turn into an anecdotal shuttle from the 90s. But the worst thing is that this unnecessary junk, which risks becoming just garbage and stimulates further development of the souvenir industry - a meaningless waste of resources. "Nothing" is an opportunity to put aside money not spent on souvenirs and next time buy something worthwhile, high-quality and actually good.