WANT ANOTHER REASON TO PLAN that trip to Hawaii? Not only is vacationing good for the soul and great for the tan, but it can also open your mind to new business ideas. Imagine leaving on a jet plane--only to come back home with the seeds of a moneymaking venture planted in your head.

"It's not so much the vacation as the downtime where [you] have fewer distractions" says Carole D. Stovall, a psychologist and business coach in Washington, DC. "People talk about getting some of their best ideas in the shower. A vacation is like that morning shower, where your mind can work through information." In that relaxed state, your mind is open to new concepts.

That certainly was the case for Tie Wou, founder of Tote Le Monde, a handbag manufacturer in New York City. She'd traveled to Bolivia for her friend Anna Aliaga's wedding in 1989 and loved all the rich fabrics she saw at the marketplace. "[Bolivians] have incredible textiles," says Won, 40.

Wou, who was working in fashion at the time, got a creative spark from that trip. A few years later, she traveled to Japan and was or the hunt for the perfect handbag. Not finding what she wanted, Wou recalled the beautiful fabrics in Bolivia That's when it hit her: She could design handbags like the ones she was looking for in Japan, using the materials she'd seer in Bolivia, and sell them in America

"I have done extensive traveling in Asia, South America and Europe," says Wou. "It was the outer areas vs. the cities--where people do thing in a different way--that inspired me." She called Aliaga, who was living in Bolivia, and the two teamed up to start Tote Le Monde. Today the company is a lifestyle brand that sells handbags, housewares and travel pieces. Sales for 2003 are expected to hit $1.5 million.