You know that funny, nervous feeling you get when you step out of your comfort zone?

That's a feeling several of us here at Home Accents Today have had this year as we have had the opportunity to travel extensively to foreign trade shows.

Sure, in a lot of ways, a market is a market, and we all have certainly worked our share of those. But when you arrive at market in a foreign country, so many adventures seem to go along with it — from the travel itself to seeing the sights to navigating in foreign languages to adapting to various cultural norms.

Between our other editors and me, we have attended shows in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Philippines and Thailand — just in the past four months. The change in the High Point dates this year freed up some time in October for us to attend some of these that we normally can't fit in. And what rewarding experiences those provided.

I had the opportunity to go to Manila, Philippines, last month to attend the F.A.M.E. exhibition. You can read my report on page 42, and check out Susan Dickenson's story about her trip to Spain on page 38. But that's really just a part of the story. Yes, we can report on the trends and most interesting products we see, but sometimes the local color is hard to adapt into words and pictures.

That's one of the reasons I really encourage you — whether you are a buyer or a wholesaler yourself — to attend at least one foreign show. Not only do they offer some very distinctive and unique products, these overseas markets offer a bite-size look at another country. They are a great way to learn innovative merchandising, too.

The shows love to have foreign buyers attend and are generally very gracious in helping out with travel bookings and working the events.

Maybe it's time for you to step out of your comfort zone, too.

In the meantime, we at HAT will continue to do our best to bring you market coverage — from both here and abroad.