What items do you collect from cities/countries you've visited?

lc180

Hi,

I do quite a lot of travelling and I'm thinking I might start a little souvenir collection so that in years to come I have something physical to show for all my backpacking adventures.

The obvious choices would be to pick up a fridge magnet or shot glass from every destination but that seems a little tacky or too obvious and not very unique or personal. I want to collect something a little more.... worthwhile if you understand what I mean.

So just wondering what do other boardies collect from their journeys? Any interesting ideas or suggestions I can steal borrow? :pac:

jester77

lc180 wrote: »

Hi,

I do quite a lot of travelling and I'm thinking I might start a little souvenir collection so that in years to come I have something physical to show for all my backpacking adventures.

The obvious choices would be to pick up a fridge magnet or shot glass from every destination but that seems a little tacky or too obvious and not very unique or personal.

So just wondering what do other boardies out there collect from their journeys? Any interesting ideas or suggestions I can steal borrow? :pac:

I just collect the memories. IMO, souvenir's are just glorified junk that are usually a stereotype of the place you visited.

lc180

jester77 wrote: »

I just collect the memories. IMO, souvenir's are just glorified junk that are usually a stereotype of the place you visited.

I totally agree with you, nothing can replace the great memories and stories you gain from travelling!

I def dont want to collect junk or useless crap, maybe i didnt explain that well. Souvenir's is probably the wrong term for me to use. One other idea I have is to buy a small piece of street art from each city, its something kinda unique and not mass produced that is a physical memory of a time and place in my life. If you catch my drift.....

Just wondering do other folks like to collect anything from their travelling.

Lapin

I have a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall sitting on my windowsill.

I nearly got arrested taking it and had to do a bit of a runner through a building site to keep it.

Every now and again I look at it and think - what the hell the piece of concrete is all about.

In more ways than one, it poses more questions than answers we'll never have.

I'm glad to have it.

Its my little piece of history.


Having said that, I do buy a fridge magnet wherever I go.

There's nothing wrong with that.

lc180

Lapin wrote: »

Having said that, I do buy a fridge magnet wherever I go.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with that indeed! I sincerely hope my other posts don't make coming across like a stuck up git, not my intention.....

You've got yourself a really amazing piece of history, I'm very jealous!

adamski8

lc180 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with that indeed! I sincerely hope my other posts don't make coming across like a stuck up git, not my intention.....

You've got yourself a really amazing piece of history, I'm very jealous!

Nothing wrong with it except that they stole it!!! If everyone keep stealing pieces of national tresures then they wont be there anymore.

jester77

lc180 wrote: »

I totally agree with you, nothing can replace the great memories and stories you gain from travelling!

I def dont want to collect junk or useless crap, maybe i didnt explain that well. Souvenir's is probably the wrong term for me to use. One other idea I have is to buy a small piece of street art from each city, its something kinda unique and not mass produced that is a physical memory of a time and place in my life. If you catch my drift.....

Just wondering do other folks like to collect anything from their travelling.

I usually don't bring back anything physical and when I do it's a food or drink product that can'y be obtained here.

Street art is a cool idea, what I do is print out photographs. There are a few lovely photos in my kitchen from different places, one is just a glass of coffee but it looks great, I've another of a fresh vegetable market with very vibrant colors, another of a fish market with lots of different crustaceans. Just don't overdo it

annieoburns

A decoration for a christmas tree?

Kold

Been to about 10 countries in 12 months and have tried to keep the load light. Things I've kept have been gifts from people and just the odd trinket. If I was rich I'd have loaded up on sculptures and handicrafts but tis a bit hard to keep in the backpack.

Wouldnt bother with a collection of the same thing. There is genuinely some jaw dropping crafts for quite affordable prices. I need a job so that I can buy myself some Vietnamese lacquer work now...

Gatica

while I don't approve of nicking pieces of historical importance that belong to the state, I don't think collecting something that represents the area you visited is tacky.
Personally I have a little wooden elephant from India, a wooden Buddha head from Cambodia, hand-painted blue/white-ceramics (gzhel) from Russia, etc... I have magnets from Ski resorts mainly, but just cos I travel light and cannot bring back anything bigger.

Lima Golf

I don't collect anything myself but I have a friend who collects key rings from where ever she's been. She takes the ring bit out and threads a ribbon through and she decorates a little christmas tree in her hallway with them each christmas. It's a nice idea IMO.

old hippy

Music. CDs of local bands, aboriginal music. Or shirts. I like loud shirts. Occasionaly, beads and necklaces but the earlier post is correct - it's the memories that are most important. I guess take lots of pictures to remind you of the time you spent away - even the most mundane of things, so you have a record.

Lapin

adamski8 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with it except that they stole it!!! If everyone keep stealing pieces of national tresures then they wont be there anymore.

Yep, I stole a bit of the Berlin Wall.

Thats why it ain't there anymore.



Just to clarify - I detest those who take items from places where they cannot be replaced. Bits of Ayers Rock, The Burren, Great Wall etc.....

The bit of the Berlin Wall I made off with was running through a building site near the Oberbaumbrucke Bridge. It was being demolished and fecked into a skip.

Far from being regarded as a "national treasure" by the site workers, the wall was seen as a reminder of the divisions Berlin (and Europe) is trying to forget.

Most of the wall has long since been built over as those who lived with it in their midst wanted out of their sight. I don't blame them. Very little trace of it remains intact.

The vast majority of the fragements that once made the wall either ended up in skips to be used as foundations in the construction of a new Berlin or on the mantlepieces and windowsills of people all over the world like mine.

And I don't feel one bit guilty for that.

Agricola

Have a thing for little stone or metal ornaments usually based on a famous landmark of the city / country. So a little steel Eiffel Tower, a marble Colosseum, a small copper helmet from a stall in Pompeii, that kind of thing. Was very close to buying a full size machete from a village on the Nile last year, but thought it would just be hassle in the airport!

OldNotWIse

Snow globes

roundymac

We collect mugs for any cities that we visit. Also if there is a Hard Rock cafe there we will get one of their "shot glass's" which will have the name of the city on it.

ProudDUB

I used to collect crosses. I bought one once in South America, that was hand carved and decorated quite beautifully. So I got into a habit of picking one up whenever I went somewhere new. Then a few crosses with small holy water fonts attached, got added to the collection. It wasn't for any religious reasons. I just enjoyed the beauty of them. I was fascinated by how different cultures would embelish them in different ways. I had them on a hallway wall in my old apt. I really loved how they looked, but I took them all down eventually. Too many people though I was a religious nut. :rolleyes:

When I moved back to Ireland, I brought only the most beautiful and most valuable with me. I'd put them back up, but I haven't the nerve. Pity really, as they are really quite lovely. Oh well...

Eponymous

Started collecting Starbucks mugs from cities/countries we've visited back in 2007 when we did a trip around USA/Canada and have built up a huge collection, despite not being fans of their coffee.

We use them all the time and they're a great reminder of a lot the places we've been together, not all, at not everywhere has a Starbucks!

Balmed Out

Passport stamps

jay92

old hippy wrote: »

Music. CDs of local bands.

Thats a great idea actually, I might just start doing that !

Lapin wrote: »

I have a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall sitting on my windowsill.

Wow, now thats something

Hersheys

Postcards is my thing. Put them in a scrapbook along with bus tickets/train tickets/attraction tickets and the best of the photographs I've taken.

Another thing I've done is for each journey I've embarked on - i.e. each major trip rather than each country I visit per trip - I buy a small piece of jewelry (like one of those Sabo charms) and put them on a bracelet. I plan on giving it to my children for them to remember the places I've been and maybe go there themselves.

Fagashlil

i've a fridge magnet from everywhere i've visited, love seeing them all on display. we also get a piece of art of pottery from everywhere, have pictures we got in morocco. cuba and dominican rep, fruit bowl from mexico, need to go on more holidays with the husband to add to the collection!

old hippy

Pottery is good. We got a Sicilian piece to hang on the garden wall...

Similar to this



Also, I collect small icons of local deities/gods etc. Not religious but just like to have them around...

The Davestator

Souveniers are obviously tacky, but that needn't stop you!

My Mam has been decorating the downstairs bathroom with the tackiest magnets she can find! Whenever one of the family goes away, they bring back the worst thing possible for the magnet wall in the downstairs loo.

It's a bit of fun and a good laugh when you're away trying to find the worst thing possible

mel.b

I like to get a magnet from each place i go to and also loads and loads of postcards.

However i also like too spend some more money one something special - normally crafty in orgin. I have a gorgeous wooden giraffe from Kenya, two pieces of art from greece (one more abstract, the other street art), an expensive handmade mask from venice, a beautiful scarf from Norway, a necklace pendant with my name in heirogliphics from Egypt etc. some are expensive and others are not, but they are something that catches my eye and not mass produced and remind me of where i have been.

Lapin

lc180 wrote: »

Hi,

I do quite a lot of travelling and I'm thinking I might start a little souvenir collection so that in years to come I have something physical to show for all my backpacking adventures.

It doesn't have to be something you buy abroad to generatre memories.

A nice photograph will do the trick. And I don't mean a mug shot in front of the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben.

I was given this little fella as a nonsensical gift a while back.



Since then I have taken it everywhere I go.

I know I'll get slagged and slated for this, but this little fecker has been all over the gaff and my hallway is full of photos of the mutt taken from Belfast to Berlin and Westport to Warsaw.

Pure and utter nonsense, but the photos always bring a smile to my face when I walk in the door.


A bit of craic !

Lapin

Oh go on then !!!

Gatica

Lapin wrote: »

The bit of the Berlin Wall I made off with was running through a building site near the Oberbaumbrucke Bridge. It was being demolished and fecked into a skip.

Fair enough, didn't know that. Just puzzled as to why someone would be chasing you over a skip-worthy piece of wall.

Hersheys wrote: »

Postcards is my thing. Put them in a scrapbook along with bus tickets/train tickets/attraction tickets and the best of the photographs I've taken.

Another thing I've done is for each journey I've embarked on - i.e. each major trip rather than each country I visit per trip - I buy a small piece of jewelry (like one of those Sabo charms) and put them on a bracelet. I plan on giving it to my children for them to remember the places I've been and maybe go there themselves.

Scrapbooks are a great idea, did them a lot in my teens, then thought it was a bit juvenile and stopped. I still keep all the tickets from trips and now think there's probably not many other ways to preserve it other than a scrapbook!
My friend and I got stamps in passports when we travelled. We had to go up to immigration desk and ask for a stamp a couple of times because of the EU common travel area. Got odd looks but I guess us being young they obliged.

Lapin wrote: »

I was given this little fella as a nonsensical gift a while back.

Since then I have taken it everywhere I go.

I know I'll get slagged and slated for this, but this little fecker has been all over the gaff and my hallway is full of photos of the mutt taken from Belfast to Berlin and Westport to Warsaw.
!

That's a fun Amelie-like idea! Friends of our did that when one of the lads didn't get to go on holidays, they got a small toy and called him the missing fella's name and he's in all their photos of the group...

ScottSF

Until a few years ago, my wife and I bought a small painting, drawing, or art print from a street artist from every place we visited. In most popular destinations you can always find a local street artist set up near tourist attractions. We never spent more than 20 or 30 euros, typically much less.

Why is street art a great choice for collecting travel souvenirs?
1. Supports the arts community
2. Contributes to the local economy
3. Item is not "Made in China" or similar
4. You can frame and hang the art in your home
5. Souvenirs are one of a kind and not mass produced
6. You get to interact with a local person, possibly in their language
7. Packs light since unframed art is small and flat
8. May be worth money someday (OK not likely but one can hope)

lc180

Awesome suggestions and ideas folks, thank you for the in-sights!

Brinimartini

I brought home a piece of rock salt from the Wiecksla salt mine in Krakow
and I'm quite attached to it and don't know why.....HELP!

KevinK

Haircuts.

I like to collect hair cuts on my travels, I'm not into bringing stuff home so it seems like a good "souvenir"
I've gotten my hair cut in 13 different countries so far.

keith16

I usually try to take a local newspaper. Has a date as well as an obvious location so always think it's a nice memento as well as having the news from when I was there.

Miss Lockhart

I always buy a fridge magnet, a Christmas tree decoration and pens/pencilsparers and other stationary.

I usually try to get a reusable shopping bag from a local supermarket too.

madrabui

I try and buy something that I would use everyday i.e. something for the kitchen or hobby. A jacket from Italy, a spatula from France, a plant pot from Spain, a dog harness from the Netherlands etc. It's cool when someone admires them and I can say 'oh this old thing, just something I picked up in Paris!'.

grey_so_what

I'm very proud of my "cheap and tacky" plate collection!........I've been collecting for over forty years and I have plates galore. The cheaper and tackier the better. I love looking at them (though they are in storage at the mo), they remind me of the craic I used to have travelling. And I have the child addicted to, there is a bedroom wall covered in magnets.

We love them!

And I love bringing back some handmade pieces from local markets, the type you regret when you are in an airport que and trying to convince the staff they are fragile........:rolleyes:

But it's worth it!....:):):)

FouxDaFaFa

I tend to just keep some of the more interesting tickets (transport or otherwise) and print out and frame my favourite photos from a trip.

I work in a souvenir shop so it's like I'm physically incapable of buying them when I go abroad.

old hippy

Brinimartini wrote: »

I brought home a piece of rock salt from the Wiecksla salt mine in Krakow
and I'm quite attached to it and don't know why.....HELP!

We bought a little bag of the stuff when we were there and 4 years later we're still using it!

ShazGV

I always, always have to take home 2-3 postcards from wherever I've visited to stick up on my wall around an old style map of the world. Mostly from foreign countries, but some of my favourites are ones that I picked up in the Titanic museum in Belfast!
Also shot glasses for the tack factor!
Our family collects fridge magnets too, we have them from all over now. The fridge is covered, it looks great.

shar01

Fridge magnets - of the city coat of arms if I can find it. Have moved onto side of fridge at this stage

Football scarf or pennant of the local team(s) - these are light and don't take up much space in luggage.

Used to bring back prints/professional photos but I was running out of walls.

killbillvol2

I collect football jerseys. Usually the national team but sometimes you have to settle for a local team. They can be very difficult to get your hands on - a lot of countries don't have an obvious place to get them. The search is half the fun.

I also pick my best/favourite photograph from each place and get it done on canvas.

cherryghost

Country flags.

shar01

cherryghost wrote: »

Country flags.

Do this aswell. Just like Dr. Sheldon Cooper....

old hippy

shar01 wrote: »

Do this aswell. Just like Dr. Sheldon Cooper....

Oddly enough, I brought a Sheldon Cooper figure back from a comic store in Atlanta, Georgia last year. Ok, I know he's from Texas but it's still the South...

OakeyDokey

Magnets, the souvenir metal coins you get at some the attraction and beer mats

Never thought of postcards but that sounds like a deadly idea. I might start bringing a little mascot with me to photograph

kerry4sam

lc180 wrote: »

Hi,

I do quite a lot of travelling and I'm thinking I might start a little souvenir collection so that in years to come I have something physical to show for all my backpacking adventures.

The obvious choices would be to pick up a fridge magnet or shot glass from every destination but that seems a little tacky or too obvious and not very unique or personal. I want to collect something a little more.... worthwhile if you understand what I mean.

So just wondering what do other boardies collect from their journeys? Any interesting ideas or suggestions I can steal borrow? :pac:

This reminds me of this challenge I set myself to achieve before I turned 21years - visit every town and village in Kerry and pick up something specific related to each and every location. I still have all my mugs; cups; postcards and trinkets from YES each and every village and town in kerry

These days when I go travelling, the only souvenir or memory I carry home are photos and videos that capture moments never to be repeated, broken, lost or replaced.

/I am a sentimental auld soul! Lovely thread btw!

Thanks,
kerry4sam

brianwalshcork

Duty free, or something else consumable that is cheaper wherever I happen to be than in Ireland.

old hippy

Brought back a bottle of North Korean blueberry wine after visiting the DMZ. Not brilliant but good for cooking with...

fricatus

I find it difficult to throw away the little mementoes of a trip, like the boarding pass for the plane, the admission ticket to a castle/museum, or the metro 3-day pass for example. I often pick up a free city map, restaurant business cards, beer mats, etc. and can't bear to throw them away. This drives my wife cracked.

Eventually I just hit on the idea of a "nostalgia box", which is just a shoebox (or something similar) that I just throw all that stuff into. I mark it with the start date, leave it in the bedroom, fill it with that sort of stuff (and for example thank-you cards for baby gifts, wedding invites, etc.) and when it fills up, I just mark the end date on it and then start a new one.

I've about six or seven of them built up now and it's lovely just to pull one out every so often and just look through them. The other day I found an international phone card from Japan that I would have used to call my girlfriend (and now wife) when I was over there. It's nice when something so insignificant (that you ordinarily would have chucked in the bin) brings back a memory like that.

old hippy

fricatus wrote: »

I find it difficult to throw away the little mementoes of a trip, like the boarding pass for the plane, the admission ticket to a castle/museum, or the metro 3-day pass for example. I often pick up a free city map, restaurant business cards, beer mats, etc. and can't bear to throw them away. This drives my wife cracked.

Eventually I just hit on the idea of a "nostalgia box", which is just a shoebox (or something similar) that I just throw all that stuff into. I mark it with the start date, leave it in the bedroom, fill it with that sort of stuff (and for example thank-you cards for baby gifts, wedding invites, etc.) and when it fills up, I just mark the end date on it and then start a new one.

I've about six or seven of them built up now and it's lovely just to pull one out every so often and just look through them. The other day I found an international phone card from Japan that I would have used to call my girlfriend (and now wife) when I was over there. It's nice when something so insignificant (that you ordinarily would have chucked in the bin) brings back a memory like that.

Completely understand. My wife calls it "hoarding" and apart from other memoribilia mentioned in thread, I do have a habit of bringing back tickets, maps, local magazines, etc. I end up using some as bookmarks and chuck the rest out. Apart from the Suica card which I still use.

fricatus

old hippy wrote: »

Apart from the Suica card which I still use.

I handed back my Pasmo card (the competitor of the Suica I think) at Narita airport so as to get the deposit back. Really wish I'd kept it now, as it had "Fricatus-sama" (well, my real name in katakana writing, plus "sama") written on it. That was pretty cool. At least I've a photo of it anyway...