Kringle Lodge Designs: Holiday Traveling

One of the amazing Perks of being a product development/designer is the travel. I remember as a child always wanted to travel to be somewhere else in the world, seeing new things and meeting new people. Well over the last 20 + years that is just want I have been doing. And the result of all this travel has given me so much insight and respect for cultures and traditions and overall admiration for the people I have met and enjoyed working with and getting to know such a wide range of likes and dislikes when it comes to Holiday celebrations.

For years I traveled to Germany on buying trips, but always managed to be in town for the "Christkindlmarkets". German Christmas markets are an old tradition that have been going on for centuries.

Traveling in German has always been a special pleasure. My family on my Fathers side is from Germany, Also on my Mothers side. So I guess I have that in my genes.

All I know is the strong traditional bonds that I have for the Christmas Holidays are truly engrained in me because of this heritage.

My most cherished possession is this German Pyramid. It was given to me as a special gift from a wonderful business associate.

This person was involved in the industry for years, Importing goods and selling to the USA market. He is truly missed by me and many others that knew him. Every year I bring out this piece and my home is filled with so many memories of traveling in Germany and enjoying the holiday spirit that seems to always be there no matter what time of year it is.

Another collection that I add to each year is my blown glass ornament collection. Yes most of them are from Germany, but other countries are represented also. Over the coarse of these blogs you will hear a lot about this collection. The pieces total over 3000 now. NOT the easiest to set up a tree using all of them. BUT as you see here it was a good effort! took 2 days and three people to set it up and I truly believe 2 weeks to take it down and pack them all away, THE LOVE OF THE HOLIDAYS NEVER ENDS!

Ok Enough of all that, let's get back to the travel part I started with. Germany the Christmas markets, I approach my decorating and showroom set ups as if I was selling in a market place. Strange some may say but it works. I just love how items are displayed, chalk full, overflowing into the arms of holiday shoppers!