Vacation by Proxy

Vacation by Proxy?  Let me explain.

A couple of places we
didn't get to see in L. A.

Years ago when Erik, Jim and I visited Mike in Los Angeles there were a few places we wanted to see but he apparently did not share our enthusiasm.  I suppose after having countless visitors who all want to see the same tourist attractions he was bored with most of them.  So he said,
 "You don't have to go there.  I've been there a bunch of times and you can see my pictures."
                                                         

Fast forward several years.  Erich and I are in Austria, homeland for him but first visit for me.  I expressed an interest in taking home some souvenirs representative of our trip to Austria.  His reply,
"You know you can get all that stuff on Amazon a lot cheaper."

Mary, walking away from a Salzburg market
 full  of souvenirs with just a bag of grapes.

What is it they don't understand about "the personal experience"??
To be clear, my ribbing is all in fun - both trips were fun, exciting and adventurous thanks to two special hosts - in spite of my moments of "vacation by proxy"!