Travel Mementos - Tokens of our Travels

Addicted Traveler - Must Cram Suitcase with Souvenirs
---------------------------------

Try these ideas instead!

As Baby Boomers, we already have enough stuff cluttering up our house--we don't really need more. But travel souvenirs are different.

My husband and I lovingly refer to the trinkets, the statues, the jewelery, the wall hangings, the ballcaps, the junk, we happen across in our travels...as garage sale fodder. The souvenir that attracts our eye, while visiting an exotic locale, soon loses its charm back home. And ultimately ends up being discarded for a pittance at a garage sale.

Here are a couple of ideas for souvenirs that don't take up too much space in the suitcase, and become beloved charming reminders of our travels back at home.


Try these suggestions:

Baby T-shirts: T-shirts are a staple on every continent. And T-shirts made for babies are cute, take very little room in a suitcase, and are imprinted with the city, town, or country in which they were purchased. Back home, treat them like wall art. Use thumbtacks, and tack them up in the family room, bedroom or den. Great for sparking memories of a beloved trip.

Postcards: Of course, you will mail a postcard or two to friends or relatives back home. But you've missed an excellent way to give yourself a great souvenir. Next time, buy some really interesting postcards (like a vintage atomic bomb postcard from the Las Vegas Atomic Testing Museum), jot notes about the day's events on the back, and mail it to yourself. Scrapbookers and journalers will love these mementos. And usually the postcards arrive after you've returned from your trip; these whimsical surprises provide instant travel flashbacks.

Rocks: The most easily accessed of all souvenirs. This is my cheapo husband's favorite type of memento. He has picked up rocks from wherever we have traveled. Now, in some cases, like Greece and Hawaii, you are NOT to take away rocks as souvenirs. But it's hard to take the advisory seriously when you are standing at the ocean's edge looking at millions of pebbles; who really is going to miss just one?

Liqueurs: If you like the taste of thick sweet liqueurs, these make really great souvenirs. My husband and I are fans of the tiny odd bottles like the imprinted ones sold at the gates to Pompeii, Italy. Choose from flavours like lemon, melon, tangerine--the price is right. Pop the bottles in a ziplock bag for tranisit, and they become perfect gifts back home. If you don't plan to drink them, sit them on a windowsill where they can catch the sunlight. Very pretty.

Hint: I had a bad cough while traveling; I bought a small Cherry liqueur and sipped on that. Perfect throat soother. And cheaper than actual cough medicine (which according to recent studies, don't work anyway).

Kid's Toys: All travel locations offer some sort of children's toys, like the pull-toy Pinocchios sold at Venice kiosks. These tiny mementos don't cost much, they take very little room in your suitcase, and they are easily displayed at home.

Photographs: A snapshot is still, handsdown, the very best souvenir. And with today's digital technology, there is no excuse for anyone not to take away a wealth of travel memories inside their clever little compact camera.

Remember to acquaint yourself with your camera BEFORE you travel, take extra memory cards, extra rechargeable batteries, your battery charger, and use your "scene modes" to get those difficult images like sunsets, snowscapes, and museum shots.

For more tips on using your digital camera, try this link. http://blog.picajet.com

Cheers,
Sheree