How to Find Souvenirs That Don’t Suck

As a person I love collecting writing pens.

21:11 15 February 2020

It feels good to have a souvenir from someone or from places I visited, but that’s just more like… a problem I have. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

Most souvenirs are too big, too fragile to carry around and not functional or pretty to look at. How can we find souvenirs from trips or give one out without being too inappropriate and taking too much space in our home? Or actually look at one and remember our travels, events, places and people. I want to remember my travels and the people I meet, but I don’t want a bunch of junk, hence if I must buy online, I ensure I buy my souvenirs from a trusted website I can find. As not many online stores offer the best souvenirs. 

There are a lot of options to choose from, depending on what you really love and how you like to travel. Personally, I will go for something unique and interesting that helps me remember where I have been, the event I attended and the people I interacted with.

There are some impressive memories and souvenir choices you can definitely get creative with.

Music

Music, for instance, is an easy thing to find. Think of the sound of a place, the local beats from a particular country, you can purchase and play while relieving your memories with friends.

Books

Books are also great ways to remember the places you visited or give out as a gift. It is easy to get a guidebook when you are in a new place, but purchasing something more interesting can turn out a great souvenir like cookbooks, local history, stories of legends and myths, or even a coffee table book.

Postcards

Postcards are still very popular as souvenirs even more interesting these days of social media. You can easily take an epic photo with interesting captions and have them sent to some friends online, or get the added fun of posting it with a local stamp. You can also make a photo album to look back at the good times.

Natural Elements

Natural elements like taking tiny rocks from hikes, soil, collecting flowers for journals and sand from different beaches and bringing them home can be an awesome reminder of places you visited.

Ornaments

Ornaments are fabulous gifts and decorative items. You can place them on any plant in your home, including Christmas trees seasonally as a lovely reminder of the vacation you just had.

Traditional foods

Traditional food and spices are great souvenirs to relive the trips you have had. Getting a collection of different spices that are abundant from other places, but scarce in yours is a lovely way to experiment with their local foods and share your trips among your friends and family.

Get something unique to you 

Some will collect stamps, coins, magazines, tea and the like, but getting something you really love is essential. It could be fabrics or textiles to make an outfit with, but think about your favourite hobby, or something that you love and bring a piece of it home. Souvenirs are about what makes you happy or what brings back an instant reminder of a happy memory from a particular time or event. Make it personal.

Get something unique from a place 

Getting an item specific to the place you visited is an irreplaceable souvenir. Buy an amazing thing that’s only unique to the Country, City or Town you are visiting.

Gift items unique to a person you love 

Everyone has something they hold dear as favourites. You don’t have to bring home anything but memories. Getting a present that is personalized and filled with memories for both the giver and receiver is the best souvenir.

Work of Arts

Examples include paintings, small sculptures and framed works. They are the perfect collectible. Not only are they memorable, but functional. A great souvenir to acquire from your travel is a piece of artwork, there is something really unique about hanging an art piece on your wall and explaining to whoever asked, ‘’where did you get that from?’’ and having that nostalgic feeling flooding in, that takes you right back to memory lane where you were when you bought it or which place you have bought it from.

In summary, the trick to getting a souvenir is buying the ones that are meaningful, functional keepsake that keeps all their magic. Items that you can bring home for yourself, family, friends and co-workers. Items you incorporate into your home and life. Items that will make you want to visit that magical place and time. Items that will make you feel content with your purchase for years to come.

Buying fewer unique personalized items that are more meaningful make the best gifts especially if buying something for a family member or a friend, taking into account ‘who’ you are buying it for. You want it to be cherished and keep a memory alive.