Flea market shopping is not for everyone but it is something I love to do with friends. I know that people find it a waste of time spending the whole morning browsing through things and come home with just a nice cup and saucer or a mirror. But that’s exactly the fun in flea market shopping. You find things that you will not see in department stores. And you pay so much less for your purchases.

The trick in enjoying a flea market trip is to go with an open mind. I consider it an excursion rather than a shopping spree. I usually have something in mind that I want to focus on like a candle lamp or a nice birdhouse for the garden. But the real fun is in seeing all the unusual things that people produce or used at some points in their lives. It gives you a sense of the varied nuances of the world in which we live.