Young travelers have always found ways to subsidize their trips by selling some of their personal possessions while there. I heard Levi’s were so popular during the Cold War that customs started counting your clothes going in and out of Russia, which still wouldn’t stop someone swapping a worn out pair for new ones.

And American cigarettes were popular in Canada in the 90’s and 00’s. IIRC the Turkish tobacco blended in was banned by the Canadian state dept so theirs were garbage. Meanwhile Americans were flying into Canada in order to fly to Cuba.