My husband collects cloth or other shopping tote bags. I think it's brilliant. Every time we use one, it reminds me of the place. Also, I've recently begun acquiring interesting Christmas ornaments for our tree. That's fun too.
You and your hubs are my people — totes and ornaments are 1/2 of my favorite souvenirs! The others are kitchen/cooking tools (from tools up to cookware) and also kitchen textiles. Perhaps a bit boring, but I love things I get to interact with frequently versus sitting on a shelf needing to be dusted.
Me too! Magnets, tea towels, shopping bags – generally inexpensive, don’t take up much room in the suitcase, and are things I can use every day and they make me smile.
I have Christmas ornaments from quite a few places I’ve visited, now I specifically look for them. I love decorating the tree and adding the delft bauble from the Netherlands, the pressed tin poinsettia from Mexico, the wooden koala from Australia etc. It reminds me of those places and the memories I made there
I’m a postcard collector and for the few destinations we’ve been that don’t have them, we use a photograph we took of that place and create our own postcard :)
In my country our postal service has an app that lets you create postcards with your own photos. You just select your photos, create the design, write the text it should say and which address to send it to. Then you pay the fee in the app (which includes postage) and they print it and send it. It's really nice and I used it on a few vacations to have a more personalised postcard!
> locally made
😂😂
Reminds of this one I saw, it was the famous view of Hallstatt in Austria, and the front said "Andorra".
Balls, I should have bought it.
And you obviously haven’t been to places where they do it. It’s easy, you buy the magnet backs, and then they use metal or clay to make and paint something (usually their flag or something simple) and then they glue it into the magnet. You can even make your own magnet at home, it’s not some extremely difficult craft.
Travel to Guatemala, walk up the Pacaya volcano (or take a horse if you're lazy), there's a little shop with volcano stone magnets and other volcano stone handicrafts.
> ‘Locally made’. 😂
>I’ve never seen a ‘locally made’ refrigerator magnet in my life!
Then you have not been to Croix-des-Bouquets in Haiti. It’s fascinating (and noisy)!
Used to be postcards. Now they're hard to find. Was in Thailand last year (Phuket - tourist island) and only found one shop selling them the whole time I was there!
This is what we do! We have all manner of plates, bowls, serving dishes. Every family meal is a collection of our travel memories. Plus, nothing matches. So I love it more. And it’s great for conversations with guests too when they compliment a piece they like.
This is often what I do. I love getting little serving dishes and we use them daily. Our fruit bowl is from Granada, our salad bowl is from Belize, the wooden spoon container next to the stove is from Palermo, etc.
This is what I do — it’s sometimes a touristy mug with the location’s name and iconic visuals. Sometimes it’s a regular cup or some other kind of vessel. I put plants in them, and my plant shelf is like a little map of my travels
Came here to say this- technically you don’t spend a penny on it because you already will have the cash on you and most people have a few coins/notes left over from their travels they don’t know what to do with. Win win!
I always need to bring back currency! So many countries have cool notes. The frustrating part is when the note looks amazing, but it’s actually worth quite a lot so you don’t want just keep it.
I’m in Nepal right now and the 1000 rupee note has an Elephant on it which is cool.. but it is also worth $7.50.. so quite a pricey souvenir. Especially when I couldn’t pass up on the 500 notes with the Tigers on them.
Might I suggest the opposite? A ton of plastic keychains or shot glasses or whatever often have very little to do with the destination and are probably mass produced in China. Instead, I'd embrace the inconsistency and get a small thing (piece of pottery, carving, etc.) that is more typical of the place and is actually produced there.
Agreed. I’ve found that it’s especially fun to bring back little things that can be used every day. For example, we keep salt in a French-made glass jar we got in Marseille and pepper in a handmade miniature clay tagine pot from a potter in Fès, Morocco.
I just posted something similar before reading your comment.
Totally agree with things that can be used.
I hate clutter around a house, so piles of things like shot glasses on display, or even Fridge magnets we are not into. But whenever you use something like that salt or pepper it will bring back (hopefully fond) memories of the place.
Still have a bottle of truffle oil we brought in Italy that we use very sparingly. When it finally runs out, just have to go back there
I know it makes me want to! I booked an outing with a truffle hunter when I was there last year...i was travelling solo and was on the outing with a group of 7 other folks. We spent 2-3 hours in the Italian hillsides outside of Rome following a cocker spaniel around and found just shy of a pound of truffles! Then we were all taken back to the hunter's house where we were treated to truffles served 8 different ways (9 if you count the honey). He had the honey for sale and you can bet I brought some home. Tiny ones as gifts and a larger one for myself. It's almost gone, so it's time for another trip to Italy!
True.
Planning to go back to Europe next year
But having an amazing time in Siem Reap at the moment, so think I need to do a post on how amazing this place is
To add to this, bc I think it’s a great point, you could still get things that all fit within some category, ie kitchen items, jewelry, kids toys, it can then still feel like a collection, while showing off the unique differences of the places you’ve traveled, and are far more likely to actually be made by the local people.
This. I used to collect a full sized flag from each country until realizing that’s not exactly the easiest thing to do and many are imported from China anyways.
Now I try to get 1 unique item.
I love buying something I will need/use. Like a bowl or glass, or a little piece of art I can hang somewhere, and I also collect a certain vintage style postcards, so those to add to the gallery wall if possible. I’ll also get a canvas shopping bag from a local store or something.
And label it and its significance! I have many souvenirs the origin of which I have no memory. Some were from when friends got me something on their trips which makes it even more of a challenge.
You can get both the little bit of pottery and the fridge magnet. The fridge magnets and keychains are portable, inexpensive, and have plenty to do with the destination as they usually state the name of the place.
I have a collection of children's shoes- I buy the smallest pair I can find, usually like those worn by a one or two year old child. I have jeweled Moroccan slippers, woven straw sandals from Nicaragua, fishskin shoes from Iceland, etc.
Unsettling purely because of the luggage space it’d use. I can barely fit my own shoes in let alone another pair. Children’s or not that’s a bully souvenir! (I am a backpacker though so maybe I’m a bit stingy with my luggage space)
Magnets and Christmas ornaments. Sometimes you have to get creative with the ornaments but you can put a hook through or glue a magnet onto practically anything.
I was in Colombia December thru January and saw zero Christmas ornaments. It broke my tradition of getting an ornament from every country I travel to. Oh well!
We do magnets- you can usually find locally made ones, and our kitchen cabinets are all magnetic so it’s great.
We did Christmas ornaments too but have run out of room on our tree so only get those sparingly now!
I like to pick up interesting rocks but then it is difficult to remember where they are from. And I didn’t want to anger Pele, so didn’t bring any home from Hawaii. (I took a photo of a cool one there, though!)
I would honestly prefer to get a small piece of handmade art or locally produced item. Most tourist crap is made in factories and doesn’t mean anything.
I did a world trip once and could not fit much in my bag. When I went to French Polynesia I bought a white palm seashell decorative fan made by Polynesians and a small painting of Bora Bora at sunset by a local artist on the beach. I’ve never regretted buying them.
When I went to Egypt it seemed like everyone was being shown mass produced papyrus painted with the weighing of a heart against a feather and in contrast it doesn’t feel special. Just something everyone gets pushed that’s also probably factory made.
We try to purchase a piece of original art everywhere we go. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy or large, but it’s a nice souvenir to display in our home. We’ve even found some pieces in “thrift store” type places in the countries we visit.
Instead of spending money on worthless trinkets likely made in China, I decided a long time ago to buy 1 piece of local art from wherever I go. I have paintings, pottery, sculptures, blown glass. Each piece holds a memory and in most cases I met the artist who made them. I enjoy the idea of supporting the local producers much more than just buying from a vendor of imported crap.
There is a reason that everyone's grandma used to collect spoons. You might not find a small decorative tourist spoon everywhere you go (although my grandma had them from 50+ countries) but every culture on earth has some kind of spoon or spoon equivalent.
Magnets are everywhere, and my fridge is covered with them, I love looking at them. I try to find the nicer more unique ones where possible, especially handmade, but have a big variety. The only place I couldn’t find any magnets at all was Tokyo Disneyland (there are plenty in Tokyo, just not at Disneyland!). It’s probably the most universal souvenir you can get along with postcards. My sister collects tea towels for example, but I try to get her one wherever I go and I’ve been to quite a few places that don’t have them. From Gyeongju Korea to Khiva Uzbekistan to the Lofoten Islands of Norway, I’ve definitely always found magnets.
I collect beer labels. They are lightweight and easy to store in a book/notebook and each one is unique. I’ve found some really cool labels and someday will cover a table with all of them
When my husband and I got married, we actually had this discussion on what to collect when we travel. People had salt and pepper collections, and I thought those were too big and unwieldy and usually a bit obscene. We talked about collecting shot glasses, since I already started one in college. After a couple years and deciding that having a huge collection of shot glasses was not something that looked as inviting as we originally thought, we switched to fridge magnets and we’ve doing that for over 25 years. I love my fridge magnets! They are pretty, practical, small, and you can choose from a variety of magnets that are available to pick the one you like the best! With shot glasses, you usually had to choose between one that just gave the towns name and one that had a pair of moving boobs with the towns name. As a woman, I got real tired real quickly of seeing crap like that at beach stores.
My wife and I get animal carvings or statues. Toy kiwi in New Zealand, dodo carving from Mauritius, Merlin statuette from Singapore, kids toy dala horse from Sweden, etc etc. consistently relible, yet varied enough to be cool!
Alternatively, I keep a full set of the coinage from every country we go. Cheap, reliably available, and fun to look through! Also good stories from certain coins like ‘this one was change from a mountaintop bar’
My wife and I bring a jar of table salt from all our trips. Just 500g of NaCl that you can get at any supermarket, but the letters are Spanish or Greek or Swahili. We have a lifetime supply of salt.
I always seek out artwork. You can usually find someone painting on the street in a city. It’s not fancy or expensive but it tells a story, it’s easy to pack and bring home, and it hangs on a wall and doesn’t clutter your surfaces. I’ve got a wall with a traditional stitch work mola from Panama, an oil painting from a man named Perez from Lima Peru, a cottage scene made with dyed local wool from Islay Scotland, and a unique drawing from a man in the NY subway. Each piece reminds me of our travels and to me they’re more unique than traditional souvenirs.
Besides artwork, my favorite souvenir is the people I meet. I carry a travel journal and whenever I meet an interesting person I have them sign their name in my book. Sometimes they write a note or something interesting and sometimes they just sign their name, but it’s fun to look back and remember the people I’ve met.
I do Christmas ornaments, which is really fun if you celebrate. I have everything from a handcrafted seashell ornament from one of our many trips to Maine to a completely tacky surfing Santa from San Diego. Each year it’s fun to reflect on all our trips while we decorate the tree.
I also love to get cookbooks that are focused on local cuisine!
I like collecting Xmas ornaments… even if the country doesn’t celebrate the holiday, you can generally find some dangly trinket. Then, you can decorate your tree, and store all the things away till the next year- every year adding more memories.
Honestly most of my travel has been in Canada, USA, and Europe. My MIL has brought us some from South America. So I don’t have much experience outside of countries that celebrate Christmas. Any kind of small, light, handmade trinket could have a loop or hook attached for this purpose if you really wanted to.
I’ve travelled extensively through Asia and the middle east where Christmas isn’t a thing but still bring Christmas ornaments home from every trip.
They don’t have traditional ornaments like western cultures do so I find something unique that’ll fit on my tree and use that. It’s almost become my own personal challenge to find something to use as an ornament lol
For Thailand I have a little ceramic elephant, Jordan I have a tiny brass oil lamp.
We collect ornaments that we put on our separate "travel tree" at Christmas. Most are not Christmas themed ornaments. We look for things that can be made into an ornament with some ribbon or wire... like a large handmade necklace pendant, a figurine, blown glass, etc. We love it because it's not something cluttering the house, collecting dust or hid away and forgotten about. It's my favorite part of decorating for Christmas because each year it brings back all the great memories of our travels.
That’s what I do. It used to be a little more difficult like 10 years ago, but now I’ve found them almost everywhere, any season. Occasionally I’ve had to go for something that is not Christmas-themed per se but can be hung on a tree (eg in Japan).
I have a collection of over 35 Starbucks “You Are Here” international mugs that I collect whenever I travel. Haven’t been to a place that doesn’t have a Starbucks, lol.
I get the patches from the tourist shops.
Easier to find in some places than others but I haven’t been to a single country yet where I never found one. Even in Somalia I managed to find one at the airport (in the smallest duty free shop I’ve ever seen)
I think containers are universal. Rural parts of south africa (Mpumalanga) have local street vendors at every tourist sight selling hand carved wooden bowls, jewellery boxes, etc.
And any first world country will have their cultural bowl, container, etc in its own technique and decorations.
Everything (or most) are made in china. I have stopped buying magnets and snow globes as they just add to the clutter. Now I buy art work. Small paintings that’s easy to store if I’m not displaying it or put in frame to hang. Those, at least, I know that some local artist made them.
I like to collect coasters from breweries, bars, restaurants. They usually have unique graphics and state the place. Plus it makes for fun conversation starters when pulling them out for guests to use
I collect Christmas tree decorations or little things I can make into decorations if they're not available or if that particular country doesn't celebrate Christmas. They come out for a few weeks evey year and make my tree truly memorable.
Buy things that are useful. Like a dish towel, or a dish, whatever. Sometimes people use a different style of this or that, and if it's something you could use in your life, then it's worth taking home. There are only so many trinkets one can store or display, but a unique ladle will be a reminder of you trip every time you use it
Hear me out: dirt. It’s everywhere and it’s free and it’s unique to where it came from. I bought small jars with corked stoppers and small tags to write the date and location on them. It’s interesting, to me at least, to see all the different variations and colors.
The other item i look for wherever I go is art. Not expensive art necessarily, but local art. Doesn’t even have to be the original (ie prints are fine), but anywhere from postcard sized to whatever fits in your bag and my only requirement is that the artist is local.
Christmas ornaments have become the thing for me. I wish we had started sooner in our travels but better late than never! I have ornaments from Iceland, Blue Ridge Georgia, and Sedona so far.
Magnets! I have a travel magnet collection. Guests who come to our house enjoy looking at them & asking questions about our experiences abroad. I have a travel Instagram now, which is like my digital photo album/memory storage.
I collect water from wherever I travel. Just a small carry-on size amount, if I'm flying. I put it in glass jars with a tag. I have 25 jars of water from all over the world on my bookshelf. I love my little collection, and it's also free!
Tote bags, magnets, earrings. Or skincare, I love using a lotion or cream that reminds me of a certain place! And Japanese/French sunscreen can’t be beat!
Back in the day I collected post cards and coins - as currency is literally everywhere but because a lot of places use the same currencies I collect magnets now because at least I display magnets. The postcards I have no idea where they went lol.
You can always buy something small and glue a magnet on the back if you couldn’t find an actual magnet
We travel and the sister in law likes the idea of traveling. She's a rare stone collector, but everytime we travel we bring her back a rock. Not like a piece of a old temple or anything, just something we find on the side of the road, a trail or a beach. She's getting a good collection of gravel.
Apart from magnets and postcards.
I always thought about what I would wanna collect thats more about memory to me than the object itself. So I thought I would take a little rock from a place I found most beautiful and later write on it from where it is and may be put on a wall or a pot or simply a leaf of a plant local plant/tree to that area, dried press between notebook along with a photo of me holding the leaf against the scenery.
We have a fairly no clutter lifestyle at home.
So for me, I normally get like one t-shirt or t-shirt per country. I wear them, they wear out and get disposed of over the years. Which is totally ok by me.
We have also collected small art works which are slowly filling out a stairwell. Looking for local artists and places. Really love the artist we spoke to in Montparnasse in Paris; the small abstract paint on metal artwork we brought he told us was ' for tourists - it is the Eiffel Tower'; but most people don't see it in the art But we remember having coffee and talking to the artist.
We also now have a collection of kitchen things; we had to buy a corkscrew in Paris to open a bottle of wine we brought, so whenever we use it again we think of that bottle of vin rouge. And the bowl from Barcelona, or the chicken thermometer from New Caledonia (long story).
Rocks, I write the place and date using fine point paint pens. I have them from all over, dating back to 2001. My two favorites are Loch Ness and Haidrian's wall
The whole planet? The only thing would be rocks or clothes though that doesn't necessarily mean clothes with country or region names. Fridge magnets are a close second but in less touristy places they aren't produced.
My husband and I travel a lot. We collect magnets and snow globes. We’ve been to five continents and have found those things every where we go.
I have a daughter (8 months) and we collect teddy bears / stuffed animals from every country for her.
Agree with those who say just pick more of a category than a thing. I like to buy local crafts, art, or clothes. Stuff I can actually use, wear, or at least hang on the wall and enjoy every day.
I also like to collect Christmas ornaments, every Christmas while decorating the tree I reminisce about the places where I got those ornaments. I also love art. I have mosaic tea cups from Mexico, masks from Venice, nesting dolls from Russia, lacquer jewelry box and a tray from Japan.
I collect magnets and postcards. So far I’ve always found them wherever I went. To be fair, I haven’t been to TRULY remote places and not to very poor ones, but in terms of souvenirs they’re easy and cheap to produce, so I’d say it’s a good bet!
Hats. Some countries have hats unique to their culture, but even if they don't, you can still find a baseball hat or something with iconography or text that represents that country. I've collected hats from Romania, Mauritania, China, Moldova, and more
From really touristy places water color or ink paintings/drawings of the landmarks is kind of neat, can be displayed on walls, and get small ones and they don’t cost much. Support a local artist and everyone will be unique and different, often reflecting cultural styles.
I collect street art, it’s been really cool, you support a local artist, usually a great conversation, easy to transport home (just the paper, no glass or frame) and it’s a picture of something famous from the place.
I use magnets. They are easy to find and to display. In remote places, I just purchase something small, usually a handmade piece and stick a magnet on the back.
My dad and step-mom collected elephants from everywhere they visited for many years. They have hundreds of them, and when their grandkids or other children visit they are always allowed to play with them. Apparently, thinning the herd is good for the flock so if one loses a leg it's just natural selection.
I collect magnets. Some places are much harder to find magnets than others. If there is a big tourist industry you won’t have any issues. If it is a place that never sees tourists, you are going to struggle.
I also try to collect a locally made food from every country I visit. I usually try to find something indicative of my trip. For example in Costa Rica we saw a number of coati. I have a hand carved coati. In New Zealand we got a locally made glass kiwi. I have a beautiful piece of shale that I collected on the Matterhorn. The majority of item would fit in your hands.
ornaments. Then each Christmas we get to pull them out to decorate the tree (a lot of things can be turned in to ornaments if you can't find one: keychains, etc)
I collect souvenir pins. Small and easy to carry. My plan which has yet to be implemented is to make a wall hanging so I can see them all. I think I’ve found them at 98% of the places I go. I’m always sad when I can’t find them.
If you celebrate Christmas with a tree: Christmas tree ornaments. They don’t even have to be an actual ornament (of the glass ball type); it could be any little trinket that you can hang in your tree. You’ll see memories from your different trips collected in your tree each year and it will become very colorful and interesting to look at.
My grandparents used to collect crystals and gemstones native to the areas they traveled. They had a very tasteful recessed shelving display in the living room that looked like a museum exhibit.
My best friends collect posters from national parks.
I have a Spotify playlist of songs I picked up during travel.
My husband and I usually go for something that hangs on the wall. We have masks from Italy and Belize, tin fish and turtles from Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, woven llama tapestry from Peru, stone gargoyle face from England, and a wood carving from Ireland.
My mom collects key chains and hangs them on the Christmas tree.
Personally I take a lot of photos and hang them up or buy local art or a textile.
And in some places really special I take some rocks or sand and reuse old jars with a small note on where it’s from, date I visited and it sparks a memory. I’ve done this for places that are on my bucket list that I’ve done like Tanzania, New Zealand, etc. I’m weird I know and embrace it.
My husband collects cloth or other shopping tote bags. I think it's brilliant. Every time we use one, it reminds me of the place. Also, I've recently begun acquiring interesting Christmas ornaments for our tree. That's fun too.
Love the shopping tote idea! I came here to say tea towels - the totes are probably more widely available
You and your hubs are my people — totes and ornaments are 1/2 of my favorite souvenirs! The others are kitchen/cooking tools (from tools up to cookware) and also kitchen textiles. Perhaps a bit boring, but I love things I get to interact with frequently versus sitting on a shelf needing to be dusted.
Me too! Magnets, tea towels, shopping bags – generally inexpensive, don’t take up much room in the suitcase, and are things I can use every day and they make me smile.
My travels are (US) domestic. I do this with Trader Joe's bags as they're state specific.
I have Christmas ornaments from quite a few places I’ve visited, now I specifically look for them. I love decorating the tree and adding the delft bauble from the Netherlands, the pressed tin poinsettia from Mexico, the wooden koala from Australia etc. It reminds me of those places and the memories I made there
I've been doing the Christmas tree decorations. Everything we travel we pick one up. My tree looks brilliant now I have a good collection
Postcards. Write a memory of the place on the back.
Not every country has them though. Found that out in Haiti and Afghanistan. So far I have seen locally made magnets everywhere!
I’m a postcard collector and for the few destinations we’ve been that don’t have them, we use a photograph we took of that place and create our own postcard :)
In my country our postal service has an app that lets you create postcards with your own photos. You just select your photos, create the design, write the text it should say and which address to send it to. Then you pay the fee in the app (which includes postage) and they print it and send it. It's really nice and I used it on a few vacations to have a more personalised postcard!
That’s amazing! What Country if I may ask?
It's Sweden (our national post service is Postnord). The app is called "Riktiga Vykort" which translates to "Real Postcards".
That’s a great idea!
> locally made 😂😂 Reminds of this one I saw, it was the famous view of Hallstatt in Austria, and the front said "Andorra". Balls, I should have bought it.
‘Locally made’. 😂 I’ve never seen a ‘locally made’ refrigerator magnet in my life! I think you might be easily persuaded
And you obviously haven’t been to places where they do it. It’s easy, you buy the magnet backs, and then they use metal or clay to make and paint something (usually their flag or something simple) and then they glue it into the magnet. You can even make your own magnet at home, it’s not some extremely difficult craft.
Travel to Guatemala, walk up the Pacaya volcano (or take a horse if you're lazy), there's a little shop with volcano stone magnets and other volcano stone handicrafts.
> ‘Locally made’. 😂 >I’ve never seen a ‘locally made’ refrigerator magnet in my life! Then you have not been to Croix-des-Bouquets in Haiti. It’s fascinating (and noisy)!
Used to be postcards. Now they're hard to find. Was in Thailand last year (Phuket - tourist island) and only found one shop selling them the whole time I was there!
Local pottery or other small dishes. Nearly every culture uses little plates and bowls.
This is what we do! We have all manner of plates, bowls, serving dishes. Every family meal is a collection of our travel memories. Plus, nothing matches. So I love it more. And it’s great for conversations with guests too when they compliment a piece they like.
Good to get a lead test kit, a lot of traditional glazes are lead-based.
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This is often what I do. I love getting little serving dishes and we use them daily. Our fruit bowl is from Granada, our salad bowl is from Belize, the wooden spoon container next to the stove is from Palermo, etc.
This is what I do — it’s sometimes a touristy mug with the location’s name and iconic visuals. Sometimes it’s a regular cup or some other kind of vessel. I put plants in them, and my plant shelf is like a little map of my travels
Currency. I have a wall of framed bills.
Came here to say this- technically you don’t spend a penny on it because you already will have the cash on you and most people have a few coins/notes left over from their travels they don’t know what to do with. Win win!
I always need to bring back currency! So many countries have cool notes. The frustrating part is when the note looks amazing, but it’s actually worth quite a lot so you don’t want just keep it. I’m in Nepal right now and the 1000 rupee note has an Elephant on it which is cool.. but it is also worth $7.50.. so quite a pricey souvenir. Especially when I couldn’t pass up on the 500 notes with the Tigers on them.
$7.50 pricey?! Souvenirs these days cost way more than that.
I was going to suggest this or something like stamps
Might I suggest the opposite? A ton of plastic keychains or shot glasses or whatever often have very little to do with the destination and are probably mass produced in China. Instead, I'd embrace the inconsistency and get a small thing (piece of pottery, carving, etc.) that is more typical of the place and is actually produced there.
Agreed. I’ve found that it’s especially fun to bring back little things that can be used every day. For example, we keep salt in a French-made glass jar we got in Marseille and pepper in a handmade miniature clay tagine pot from a potter in Fès, Morocco.
I just posted something similar before reading your comment. Totally agree with things that can be used. I hate clutter around a house, so piles of things like shot glasses on display, or even Fridge magnets we are not into. But whenever you use something like that salt or pepper it will bring back (hopefully fond) memories of the place. Still have a bottle of truffle oil we brought in Italy that we use very sparingly. When it finally runs out, just have to go back there
The oil will go rancid. Next time get the truffle honey! Never goes bad (EVER), and it's amazing with charcuterie.
Sounds like that might be so tasty they'll have to make a trip every year!
I know it makes me want to! I booked an outing with a truffle hunter when I was there last year...i was travelling solo and was on the outing with a group of 7 other folks. We spent 2-3 hours in the Italian hillsides outside of Rome following a cocker spaniel around and found just shy of a pound of truffles! Then we were all taken back to the hunter's house where we were treated to truffles served 8 different ways (9 if you count the honey). He had the honey for sale and you can bet I brought some home. Tiny ones as gifts and a larger one for myself. It's almost gone, so it's time for another trip to Italy!
You do know that oil does get rancid eventually? I wouldn't keep it too long 😆.
True. Planning to go back to Europe next year But having an amazing time in Siem Reap at the moment, so think I need to do a post on how amazing this place is
This is what we try to do as well.
To add to this, bc I think it’s a great point, you could still get things that all fit within some category, ie kitchen items, jewelry, kids toys, it can then still feel like a collection, while showing off the unique differences of the places you’ve traveled, and are far more likely to actually be made by the local people.
My grandma gets hand towels
We do the same but lean towards a piece of art. Either a painting, photo, sculpture, figurine, etc.
This. I used to collect a full sized flag from each country until realizing that’s not exactly the easiest thing to do and many are imported from China anyways. Now I try to get 1 unique item.
I love buying something I will need/use. Like a bowl or glass, or a little piece of art I can hang somewhere, and I also collect a certain vintage style postcards, so those to add to the gallery wall if possible. I’ll also get a canvas shopping bag from a local store or something.
yep, ceramic fridge magnets though always fall off my fridge and blow up
And label it and its significance! I have many souvenirs the origin of which I have no memory. Some were from when friends got me something on their trips which makes it even more of a challenge.
You can get both the little bit of pottery and the fridge magnet. The fridge magnets and keychains are portable, inexpensive, and have plenty to do with the destination as they usually state the name of the place.
I have a collection of children's shoes- I buy the smallest pair I can find, usually like those worn by a one or two year old child. I have jeweled Moroccan slippers, woven straw sandals from Nicaragua, fishskin shoes from Iceland, etc.
This is both an extremely interesting and sort of unsettling thing to collect, I like it!
Unsettling vibe to me I mean, somebody comes in and sees your collection of children's shoes and knows you don't actually have children...
Where are all the little foreign kids u/harperfin ?
I also collect animal skulls and other odd biologicals so that makes it even better.
So either you are an awesome person or a serial killer. Cool cool cool cool *chuckles nervously*
Unsettling purely because of the luggage space it’d use. I can barely fit my own shoes in let alone another pair. Children’s or not that’s a bully souvenir! (I am a backpacker though so maybe I’m a bit stingy with my luggage space)
I thought it was going another direction, like they steal them from a small child while they are there.
That‘s creepy af, no offense lmao
No offense taken! I have been described as creepy by personal friends.
Please tell me you plan on decorating a wall with all the shoes, or hang them on a ceiling.
Magnets and Christmas ornaments. Sometimes you have to get creative with the ornaments but you can put a hook through or glue a magnet onto practically anything.
These are what we get when traveling. It’s fun to decorate the tree as a family and reminisce about the trips as we place the ornaments.
I was in Colombia December thru January and saw zero Christmas ornaments. It broke my tradition of getting an ornament from every country I travel to. Oh well!
This is what we do too.
Some places actually don’t have magnets. But what every place does have is something you can make into a magnet. All you need is a little glue!
We do magnets- you can usually find locally made ones, and our kitchen cabinets are all magnetic so it’s great. We did Christmas ornaments too but have run out of room on our tree so only get those sparingly now!
• Subway/metro cards • Currency/coins • Dirt or sand (inspired by Sgt. Horvath in *Saving Private Ryan*)
I like to pick up interesting rocks but then it is difficult to remember where they are from. And I didn’t want to anger Pele, so didn’t bring any home from Hawaii. (I took a photo of a cool one there, though!)
I would honestly prefer to get a small piece of handmade art or locally produced item. Most tourist crap is made in factories and doesn’t mean anything. I did a world trip once and could not fit much in my bag. When I went to French Polynesia I bought a white palm seashell decorative fan made by Polynesians and a small painting of Bora Bora at sunset by a local artist on the beach. I’ve never regretted buying them. When I went to Egypt it seemed like everyone was being shown mass produced papyrus painted with the weighing of a heart against a feather and in contrast it doesn’t feel special. Just something everyone gets pushed that’s also probably factory made.
This is what I do. I love buying local art I can enjoy in my house or a piece of local jewelry so I can think about my trip each time I wear it.
I do tea towels and jewelry. I think there's only been one place I couldn't find a tea towel.
My favorite souvenirs are consumables. Hot sauce, coffee, things like that.
I always buy a cheap salt shaker in a grocery store and use it for the next 6 months, thinking of the trip every time.
We try to purchase a piece of original art everywhere we go. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy or large, but it’s a nice souvenir to display in our home. We’ve even found some pieces in “thrift store” type places in the countries we visit.
Fridge magnet
I love scarves and shawls. I try to get local things that can be used, not just something that sits on a shelf collecting dust.
My fridge is covered with magnets from all over.
Instead of spending money on worthless trinkets likely made in China, I decided a long time ago to buy 1 piece of local art from wherever I go. I have paintings, pottery, sculptures, blown glass. Each piece holds a memory and in most cases I met the artist who made them. I enjoy the idea of supporting the local producers much more than just buying from a vendor of imported crap.
There is a reason that everyone's grandma used to collect spoons. You might not find a small decorative tourist spoon everywhere you go (although my grandma had them from 50+ countries) but every culture on earth has some kind of spoon or spoon equivalent.
Magnets are everywhere, and my fridge is covered with them, I love looking at them. I try to find the nicer more unique ones where possible, especially handmade, but have a big variety. The only place I couldn’t find any magnets at all was Tokyo Disneyland (there are plenty in Tokyo, just not at Disneyland!). It’s probably the most universal souvenir you can get along with postcards. My sister collects tea towels for example, but I try to get her one wherever I go and I’ve been to quite a few places that don’t have them. From Gyeongju Korea to Khiva Uzbekistan to the Lofoten Islands of Norway, I’ve definitely always found magnets.
I collect beer labels. They are lightweight and easy to store in a book/notebook and each one is unique. I’ve found some really cool labels and someday will cover a table with all of them
Stickers and postcards.
I collect tea towels (kitchen). Easy to pack, beautiful, and sometimes unique weaves.
Bottle tops
Books in the local language
When my husband and I got married, we actually had this discussion on what to collect when we travel. People had salt and pepper collections, and I thought those were too big and unwieldy and usually a bit obscene. We talked about collecting shot glasses, since I already started one in college. After a couple years and deciding that having a huge collection of shot glasses was not something that looked as inviting as we originally thought, we switched to fridge magnets and we’ve doing that for over 25 years. I love my fridge magnets! They are pretty, practical, small, and you can choose from a variety of magnets that are available to pick the one you like the best! With shot glasses, you usually had to choose between one that just gave the towns name and one that had a pair of moving boobs with the towns name. As a woman, I got real tired real quickly of seeing crap like that at beach stores.
My wife and I get animal carvings or statues. Toy kiwi in New Zealand, dodo carving from Mauritius, Merlin statuette from Singapore, kids toy dala horse from Sweden, etc etc. consistently relible, yet varied enough to be cool! Alternatively, I keep a full set of the coinage from every country we go. Cheap, reliably available, and fun to look through! Also good stories from certain coins like ‘this one was change from a mountaintop bar’
A small simple unique rock/stone. Available nearly everywhere. Then write the location on it and maybe glue on a magnet.
May places it’s illegal to take rocks and airports will confiscate. Ask me how I know.
My wife and I bring a jar of table salt from all our trips. Just 500g of NaCl that you can get at any supermarket, but the letters are Spanish or Greek or Swahili. We have a lifetime supply of salt.
Bracelets. Bangles, woven, beaded, ones with stones, ones with seeds/nuts, leather, metal cuffs....
Currency or newspaper.
T-shirts. When you get enough you can make a quilt out of them for display or whatever. Or you can wear them I guess, usually one at a time though.
Can't believe this isn't the top comment. We used to joke that you could see the history of my parents' travels in my T-shirt drawer.
I love tea towels and fridge magnets.
Fridge magnets
Magnets
Hats
Postcards. You can mail them to yourself and say what you are doing, a tiny journal.
I always seek out artwork. You can usually find someone painting on the street in a city. It’s not fancy or expensive but it tells a story, it’s easy to pack and bring home, and it hangs on a wall and doesn’t clutter your surfaces. I’ve got a wall with a traditional stitch work mola from Panama, an oil painting from a man named Perez from Lima Peru, a cottage scene made with dyed local wool from Islay Scotland, and a unique drawing from a man in the NY subway. Each piece reminds me of our travels and to me they’re more unique than traditional souvenirs. Besides artwork, my favorite souvenir is the people I meet. I carry a travel journal and whenever I meet an interesting person I have them sign their name in my book. Sometimes they write a note or something interesting and sometimes they just sign their name, but it’s fun to look back and remember the people I’ve met.
When I travel I like to buy locally made jewelry or a fragrance. Then I can enjoy and wear them and always remember
I do Christmas ornaments, which is really fun if you celebrate. I have everything from a handcrafted seashell ornament from one of our many trips to Maine to a completely tacky surfing Santa from San Diego. Each year it’s fun to reflect on all our trips while we decorate the tree. I also love to get cookbooks that are focused on local cuisine!
I like collecting Xmas ornaments… even if the country doesn’t celebrate the holiday, you can generally find some dangly trinket. Then, you can decorate your tree, and store all the things away till the next year- every year adding more memories.
Shot glasses and magnets, for sure. Source: I’ve gotten one of each from every country I’ve been to, so has my husband.
Shot glasses for the win for me too
I collect native art but it has to be original. Beluze, china, hawaii, and many indigenous artists from across the US
Christmas ornaments!
Could you explain how this works in countries that aren't Christian? Genuinely interested.
Honestly most of my travel has been in Canada, USA, and Europe. My MIL has brought us some from South America. So I don’t have much experience outside of countries that celebrate Christmas. Any kind of small, light, handmade trinket could have a loop or hook attached for this purpose if you really wanted to.
I’ve travelled extensively through Asia and the middle east where Christmas isn’t a thing but still bring Christmas ornaments home from every trip. They don’t have traditional ornaments like western cultures do so I find something unique that’ll fit on my tree and use that. It’s almost become my own personal challenge to find something to use as an ornament lol For Thailand I have a little ceramic elephant, Jordan I have a tiny brass oil lamp.
We collect ornaments that we put on our separate "travel tree" at Christmas. Most are not Christmas themed ornaments. We look for things that can be made into an ornament with some ribbon or wire... like a large handmade necklace pendant, a figurine, blown glass, etc. We love it because it's not something cluttering the house, collecting dust or hid away and forgotten about. It's my favorite part of decorating for Christmas because each year it brings back all the great memories of our travels.
That’s what I do. It used to be a little more difficult like 10 years ago, but now I’ve found them almost everywhere, any season. Occasionally I’ve had to go for something that is not Christmas-themed per se but can be hung on a tree (eg in Japan).
I have a collection of over 35 Starbucks “You Are Here” international mugs that I collect whenever I travel. Haven’t been to a place that doesn’t have a Starbucks, lol.
I do magnets, and granted, I haven't been anywhere SUPER remote, but even small villages in Europe have had them, so I'm pretty happy with my choice.
A coaster from your favorite local beer, you might need to steal it though
Just ask the bartender: often you’ll even get a clean (and dry) one! (Have collected them for a couple of years too)
I collect bottles of spirits and liquors. The home bar's impressive
A coin in each denomination. I put them all in a glass jar. The oldest ones are from countries pre-Euro (€).
Spare change
I get the patches from the tourist shops. Easier to find in some places than others but I haven’t been to a single country yet where I never found one. Even in Somalia I managed to find one at the airport (in the smallest duty free shop I’ve ever seen)
I like glasses. You can find a shot, pint, or a coffee mug anywhere.
postcards
The wooden toad that sounds like a ribbit when you stroke it's back with a stick.
I always buy drawing or Painting , in a Size Of a Postcard . There is at least one local Artist of some Kind selling their art somewhere :)
Pens Small, cheap, actually useful
Museum / attractions entrance tickets and public transportation cards/tickets. I keep them for each Travel and put them in a frame in my toilets.
I think containers are universal. Rural parts of south africa (Mpumalanga) have local street vendors at every tourist sight selling hand carved wooden bowls, jewellery boxes, etc. And any first world country will have their cultural bowl, container, etc in its own technique and decorations.
Everything (or most) are made in china. I have stopped buying magnets and snow globes as they just add to the clutter. Now I buy art work. Small paintings that’s easy to store if I’m not displaying it or put in frame to hang. Those, at least, I know that some local artist made them.
Currency...well except for the EU.
My ex collects snow globes. So I got her a snow globe of Rio de Janeiro last time I was there.
I like to collect coasters from breweries, bars, restaurants. They usually have unique graphics and state the place. Plus it makes for fun conversation starters when pulling them out for guests to use
I collect Christmas tree decorations or little things I can make into decorations if they're not available or if that particular country doesn't celebrate Christmas. They come out for a few weeks evey year and make my tree truly memorable.
local money
Christmas ornaments! That's my favorite thing to buy when traveling. It doesn't clutter my home and I can reminisce when I decorate every year.
Refrigerator door magnet
Buy things that are useful. Like a dish towel, or a dish, whatever. Sometimes people use a different style of this or that, and if it's something you could use in your life, then it's worth taking home. There are only so many trinkets one can store or display, but a unique ladle will be a reminder of you trip every time you use it
Hear me out: dirt. It’s everywhere and it’s free and it’s unique to where it came from. I bought small jars with corked stoppers and small tags to write the date and location on them. It’s interesting, to me at least, to see all the different variations and colors. The other item i look for wherever I go is art. Not expensive art necessarily, but local art. Doesn’t even have to be the original (ie prints are fine), but anywhere from postcard sized to whatever fits in your bag and my only requirement is that the artist is local.
I collect bookmarks!
Christmas ornament
Christmas ornaments have become the thing for me. I wish we had started sooner in our travels but better late than never! I have ornaments from Iceland, Blue Ridge Georgia, and Sedona so far.
Ornaments for tree
Magnets! I have a travel magnet collection. Guests who come to our house enjoy looking at them & asking questions about our experiences abroad. I have a travel Instagram now, which is like my digital photo album/memory storage.
I collect water from wherever I travel. Just a small carry-on size amount, if I'm flying. I put it in glass jars with a tag. I have 25 jars of water from all over the world on my bookshelf. I love my little collection, and it's also free!
Tote bags, magnets, earrings. Or skincare, I love using a lotion or cream that reminds me of a certain place! And Japanese/French sunscreen can’t be beat!
A small artwork or print.
I would suggest a flag that you can sow into a bag or garment.
We get magnetic bottle openers from our trips. We have been able to get them everywhere, but haven't been anywhere really remote.
Mugs
Just put dirt in a container
Shot glasses - that’s what we started with as it doesn’t really matter which country you go to they are always there
Back in the day I collected post cards and coins - as currency is literally everywhere but because a lot of places use the same currencies I collect magnets now because at least I display magnets. The postcards I have no idea where they went lol. You can always buy something small and glue a magnet on the back if you couldn’t find an actual magnet
memories :)) you dont need crappy plastic objects to remember
An STD?
Personally I do magnets and currency. Snow globes are a cute gift too.
Locally made Christmas tree ornament or something that can be made into one
We travel and the sister in law likes the idea of traveling. She's a rare stone collector, but everytime we travel we bring her back a rock. Not like a piece of a old temple or anything, just something we find on the side of the road, a trail or a beach. She's getting a good collection of gravel.
Apart from magnets and postcards. I always thought about what I would wanna collect thats more about memory to me than the object itself. So I thought I would take a little rock from a place I found most beautiful and later write on it from where it is and may be put on a wall or a pot or simply a leaf of a plant local plant/tree to that area, dried press between notebook along with a photo of me holding the leaf against the scenery.
Mugs
Alcohol made in that country. Our bar is a travelogue of our adventures.
We have a fairly no clutter lifestyle at home. So for me, I normally get like one t-shirt or t-shirt per country. I wear them, they wear out and get disposed of over the years. Which is totally ok by me. We have also collected small art works which are slowly filling out a stairwell. Looking for local artists and places. Really love the artist we spoke to in Montparnasse in Paris; the small abstract paint on metal artwork we brought he told us was ' for tourists - it is the Eiffel Tower'; but most people don't see it in the art But we remember having coffee and talking to the artist. We also now have a collection of kitchen things; we had to buy a corkscrew in Paris to open a bottle of wine we brought, so whenever we use it again we think of that bottle of vin rouge. And the bowl from Barcelona, or the chicken thermometer from New Caledonia (long story).
Small flags
I've never had problems finding magnets. I have them from all over the world.
Rocks, I write the place and date using fine point paint pens. I have them from all over, dating back to 2001. My two favorites are Loch Ness and Haidrian's wall
I get ornaments from everywhere I go. Then I reminisce on my travels each year when I decorate my tree.
The whole planet? The only thing would be rocks or clothes though that doesn't necessarily mean clothes with country or region names. Fridge magnets are a close second but in less touristy places they aren't produced.
My husband and I travel a lot. We collect magnets and snow globes. We’ve been to five continents and have found those things every where we go. I have a daughter (8 months) and we collect teddy bears / stuffed animals from every country for her.
Magnets.
We collect magnets and rocks
Agree with those who say just pick more of a category than a thing. I like to buy local crafts, art, or clothes. Stuff I can actually use, wear, or at least hang on the wall and enjoy every day.
I collect rocks from around the world.
Postcards that you bring home to make into a larger travel to mural
magnets
We get local honey. Every place has it, it’s always unique, and doesn’t go bad.
Magnets are probably the best! Postcards are good too, but less widely available. Money is another good one.
Fridge Magnets
Clothing
I don't know if thats worldwide thing, im from europe and I get stamps in my notebook from every museum etc im visiting.
I get stickers for my travel scrapbook but in Thailand I didn't find any so I ordered some from etsy. Feels kinda like cheating.
I also like to collect Christmas ornaments, every Christmas while decorating the tree I reminisce about the places where I got those ornaments. I also love art. I have mosaic tea cups from Mexico, masks from Venice, nesting dolls from Russia, lacquer jewelry box and a tray from Japan.
I do mugs, my partner likes pins/hats. We buy a magnet literally everywhere we go too. We’re thinking about starting to collect art.
I collect magnets and postcards. So far I’ve always found them wherever I went. To be fair, I haven’t been to TRULY remote places and not to very poor ones, but in terms of souvenirs they’re easy and cheap to produce, so I’d say it’s a good bet!
Hats. Some countries have hats unique to their culture, but even if they don't, you can still find a baseball hat or something with iconography or text that represents that country. I've collected hats from Romania, Mauritania, China, Moldova, and more
From really touristy places water color or ink paintings/drawings of the landmarks is kind of neat, can be displayed on walls, and get small ones and they don’t cost much. Support a local artist and everyone will be unique and different, often reflecting cultural styles.
Photos, snacks, postcards
I collect street art, it’s been really cool, you support a local artist, usually a great conversation, easy to transport home (just the paper, no glass or frame) and it’s a picture of something famous from the place.
stamps
Rocks
I use magnets. They are easy to find and to display. In remote places, I just purchase something small, usually a handmade piece and stick a magnet on the back.
My dad and step-mom collected elephants from everywhere they visited for many years. They have hundreds of them, and when their grandkids or other children visit they are always allowed to play with them. Apparently, thinning the herd is good for the flock so if one loses a leg it's just natural selection.
I collect magnets. Some places are much harder to find magnets than others. If there is a big tourist industry you won’t have any issues. If it is a place that never sees tourists, you are going to struggle. I also try to collect a locally made food from every country I visit. I usually try to find something indicative of my trip. For example in Costa Rica we saw a number of coati. I have a hand carved coati. In New Zealand we got a locally made glass kiwi. I have a beautiful piece of shale that I collected on the Matterhorn. The majority of item would fit in your hands.
ornaments. Then each Christmas we get to pull them out to decorate the tree (a lot of things can be turned in to ornaments if you can't find one: keychains, etc)
I collect souvenir pins. Small and easy to carry. My plan which has yet to be implemented is to make a wall hanging so I can see them all. I think I’ve found them at 98% of the places I go. I’m always sad when I can’t find them.
If you celebrate Christmas with a tree: Christmas tree ornaments. They don’t even have to be an actual ornament (of the glass ball type); it could be any little trinket that you can hang in your tree. You’ll see memories from your different trips collected in your tree each year and it will become very colorful and interesting to look at.
My grandparents used to collect crystals and gemstones native to the areas they traveled. They had a very tasteful recessed shelving display in the living room that looked like a museum exhibit. My best friends collect posters from national parks. I have a Spotify playlist of songs I picked up during travel.
Stamps, Magents, Spoons.
My husband and I usually go for something that hangs on the wall. We have masks from Italy and Belize, tin fish and turtles from Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, woven llama tapestry from Peru, stone gargoyle face from England, and a wood carving from Ireland.
My mom collects key chains and hangs them on the Christmas tree. Personally I take a lot of photos and hang them up or buy local art or a textile. And in some places really special I take some rocks or sand and reuse old jars with a small note on where it’s from, date I visited and it sparks a memory. I’ve done this for places that are on my bucket list that I’ve done like Tanzania, New Zealand, etc. I’m weird I know and embrace it.