I envy those folks who travel but don’t have a burning desire to bring back tokens of their visits. My own home bulges with tangible reminders of the places I’ve been lucky enough to see.
The ideal travel souvenir is relatively inexpensive, evocative of its origin and (hopefully) useful in one’s daily life. It’s easy to find costly items to bring back that serve no function other than as dust collectors or to impress others, but the true traveler’s challenge is to find unique, fun mementos that bring good memories without flattening the wallet.
In the video below (Part One of a three-part video series – here’s Part Two and Part Three) I discuss a variety of ideas for inexpensive travel souvenirs that can be found just about anywhere in the world. There’s no shopping snobbery here; ideas include plastic floatie pens and medical supplies. (!)
For RSS/feed/email readers and anyone who can’t see the video box, click here for the video’s URL on YouTube.
Corrections: the Hong Kong map I show is in Chinese, not Japanese (duh) and this is the first video in a three-part series, not two.
Why travel unless you can bring back a suitcase full of souvenirs?
I brought back a ton from Japan
With kids, the first thing they want to see is the giftshop!
The last trip I took was to Newfoundland and I was determined to do the entire trip out of one carry on bag. So, not a lot of room for souvenirs. I think the only things I brought back were a toque that was given to me by a friend, a piece of wood that was once part of a lobster trap, and a map of Saint John’s.
Anyway, I totally agree with you that simple and inexpensive is definitely the way to go.
** mmorrison It’s actually easy to find inexpensive items in Japan, especially at the 100 yen stores (equivalent to our dollar stores.)
** Hi there, Lionel, so please you could drop by. Yes, the carry-on limitations do force us to be creative, unless there’s a post office/Pack ‘n Wrap nearby.
I have to admit I’m a housewares fiend when it comes to traveling. Seems silly, but I don’t like to have decor in my house that comes from Pier One or Marshall’s and doesn’t mean anything to me. So … an inexpensive tablecloth or small bowl from Provence, wooden lacquered boxes from Russia, delicate woven bookmarks from China — I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.
And tea towels. You can never have enough tea towels.
Thanks for submitting a great article to the March 2008 Mom’s Blogging Carnival. You can see your story and all the others at:
http://www.gogirlfriend.com/reviews/moms-blogging-carnival-2-7760
great suggestions Sheila! When I travel, I love to bring back fabric that I will use to eventually make a quilt someday. The hardest part with that, is that it often takes me out of the main tourist areas to find the fabric shops, which actually can be a good thing. The other thing I love to collect are pressed pennies – I have a great story about getting a pressed penny in Australia, and providing the penny to the guy with the machine, since Australia does not have pennies in their currency anymore!
Cheers,
Very nice ideas Sheila, thanks