Souvenirs - do you buy a certain item each place you go?

[GORDONCHICK]

We do the ornaments - one for me & one for DS. Sometimes silver jewelry when in Mexico. Last week we picked up some great wood pieces from Belize (nation tree is Mahogany) and Roatan.

[lissa42886]

Yep, hanging monkeys. :) Carved wood ones found at Chichen Itza.

 

 

OMG thier awesome. something i would buy.

[rarespirit]

If any destination has a Hard Rock Cafe I will buy a T shirt. Tradition started around 15 years ago and the first ones are still in one piece. This is now is just a natural part of our travelling. Gets us in to the heart of the City Centres.

[Livestotravel]

Fridge magnets that don't fall off and break when the door gets slammed! An ornament. Earrings. A small piece of pottery that country is famous for. Dolls for the granddaughters and until they got so expensive, soccer shirts for the boys! T-shirt only when I can't resist - like Aruba "One Happy Island" worn for fun!!

[cruzer26]

We find that the best souvenirs are tree ornaments that help us to recall our vacations each time they are hung during the holidays. In addition, we try to find an artwork from local artists that depict the scenes which surrounded us onshore or capture animals native to that locale.

[2CruiseLovers4Life]

Not only are magnets small and inexpensive, they can be displayed just about anywhere. I have a metal wall in my office and it always sparks up conversation from a co-worker visiting when they see my wall with all the wonderful places that I have visited!

[Sandy Sails]

I collect turtles with the name of the islands on them. They're made of all sorts of material: wood, marble, ceramic. I usually try to get the small ones as I'm running out of room on my display shelf that DH built for me. It started my obsession with everything turtle...:eek:.

[waterboy27]

Always got a cap. Have 3 large trash bags full now that I don't wear, besides the ones on six racks that I do wear. Always (and still do) got a fridge magnet. Can't tell the color of the fridge now. Have gotten Christmas ornaments, but the most useless I have is the cases of cofee mugs. No way to display them all. Have several boxes full in the basement. Rotate them on occaision.

[maryred]

I collect miniature tea sets that represent each region we visit. Many are handmade but a few like the one from Nova Scotia are specially made for & sold on in that area by Royal Dalton or some other fine china company.

 

DH collects proof sheets of stamps. Once home he mattes and frames them .

 

DS collects coins that come in the folio. At 19 he doesn't care if they are proofs sets or just used then cleaned & polished, as long as they placed in a informative booklet.

 

 

I like this idea below, maybe I'll start doing this.

Our DD collects flags from the different countries we visit.

[euro cruiser]

If any destination has a Hard Rock Cafe I will buy a T shirt. Tradition started around 15 years ago and the first ones are still in one piece. This is now is just a natural part of our travelling. Gets us in to the heart of the City Centres.

I'd hate to add up all the time we've spent finding Harley Davidson dealerships all over the world. Unfortunately, they are usually in the suburbs.

[biker@sea]

D.W wants to use My collection of ship key cards on a picture frame border !!! :eek:

[blonde1981]

I usually just try to find something that represents the area and when that fails I either buy something that I can wear or I just skip buying a souvineer.

 

Spices & cookbook while in Grenada

Mask & Leather purse in Venice

rug in Turkey

white dress & skirt & sandals in Greece

art in Greece

Sundress in Mexico

 

I am keeping a list of the places I go/planning to go to and what they are "known" for so that I have an idea on what to look for.

[Olive1950]

A gold anchor bearing the name of the ship (no longer available)

Refrigerator magnets

Keychains

Passport stamps

Local artwork

Stamps

Coins

Postcards

[EdmPair]

Magnets. Mostly started with a land trip to San Diego Zoo. I returned to my hotel to unpack my day bag and more and more AND MORE magnets were in various little side pockets. I also have magnets of many other places too.

 

I don't have a problem. Pay no attention to that repairman who replaced the door hinge on the fridge. ;-)

 

The magnets have travelled to other steel surfaces too. Some are on the freezer. Some on a metal window frame at work. And many are on the inside surface of the front door.

[Pimienta]

Refrigerator magnets. But, they have to be really, really cute, handcrafted or works of art.

 

Any other items that catch my eye, that can be used in everyday life. Pot holders, scarves, earrings, spices, edibles.

 

Karen

[2cruisemoor]

We started our collection years ago when the kids were small and we traveled. We collected way to many to all fit on the fridge. As the kids grew and bedrooms got emptied, we made one room into our "office". I stenciled one wall with a title "Places We've Been" and purchased several magnetic boards from IKEA. All of our magnets are proudly displayed and our grandson loves asking about all of our places!

[NMLady]

We buy postcards and tape representative ones into the cruise journal that I keep day by day. The others we keep in a 'been there' collection. If we find a local post office we mail a postcard to ourselves.

 

Also, since hubby and I play cards every day we always look for decks of cards to use as souvenirs. Those bring back many happy memories.

 

If we see a souvenir ornament, we buy it but we don't actively look for one.

 

Our stove and refrigerator were already covered with magnets from our US travels and Europe land travels when we started cruising so we've never purchased magnets from our cruises.

[hp_slash]

Ever since 7th grade I've collected snowglobes of every place I've visited. My collection is probably over 60 snowglobes large now with all the ones I've gotten and ones my family members have given me from their own travels. It's become increasingly difficult to indulge in my souvenir shopping with the carry-on liquids restrictions! Last January I had to leave Disneyworld without a snowglobe because it wouldn't fit in my 3-1-1 bag (and no way I was spending the $$$ to check my luggage just for a snowglobe!) I ended up buying a replacement online, but it just wasn't the same.

 

One more advantage to cruising: since I have a homeport I can just drive to, I buy as many snowglobes on my travels as I can carry! :D

[Sue Do-Over]

On our first honeymoon (now on our third) we got a deck of playing cards and asked the dealers and crew to sign them. Many wrote nice notes and drew silly pictures. It's our favorite souvineer, and we play with the cards regularly.

 

I skip the knick-knacks, but look for a trinket to hang on our Christmas tree. It's rarely an official holiday ornament, but usually something else silly. A sea shell, a straw weaving, a goofy change purse, a rubber snake, and a variety of other mementos adorn the tree. Decorating each year is story time, as we share the memories over again.

[rqagent]

Bookmarks....easy to bring home, not too heavy and useful!!

[scapel]

Hi Everyone,

 

We have started to travel more now that our children are a little bigger. I was curious what if any souvenir you buy whenver you vacation as a tradition. Since our first "big" trip with the kids was a cruise - we decided to buy the cruise ship ornament and on the bottom I used a sharpie to write the dates, ports, etc. We are going on another ship in Feb and then a different ship in November and my daughter said today we have to remember to get our ornaments.:)

 

I am trying to plan my first trip to Europe and if I do the cruise I am planning I will be in Italy, France and Spain. I want to buy something that I will enjoy and want to buy something similar in each country. So - do you have any ideas to share?

 

TIA

 

I will buy something in a port for a souvenir. Russia would be the

Matryoshka dolls, Spain a plaque of bull fighting, Germany a stein and/or castle statue, Florence a statue of David, In England a metal knight on horseback , In Argentina a wood carved gaucho, New Zealand wool rug, Thailand the statute of the fighting stance, Naples might get a caduceus held by Hermes with winged feet. Istanbul I got a nice rug.

Bali, Indonesia a statue of Budda, Japan a Sake set, In Vietnam one of my favorites is a bottle of wine with a full size Cobra inside and fanned out. I don’t know how they got the snake in there.

[amelia0412]

I buy a Christmas bauble from everywhere we go and at Christmas when I put them all on my tree I call it my memory tree

[Blondilu]

Many years ago I was going to start collecting pins. Then I moved back home after my dad died so Mom wouldn't be alone. She collected magnets and it didn't make sense to have two collections in the house, so magnets it was. Magnets from places we went together, magnets I brought home to her when I went alone and vice versa. She died in 2008 and I just had to carry on the tradition. Can't go anywhere without getting a magnet "for Mom."

 

I also usually get a sweatshirt (though that's getting kind of old, along with the sweatshirts) and charms for my bracelets.

[ladytravlr2]

I buy a Christmas ornament ship model..the small ones. Also a fridge magnet usually, one per trip.

 

I like handmade items, so when possible I like to get something people are making at the time. There is a little cubicle area back off the main shopping corridor at the port of Belize, and I have bought wooden objects from a guy there who is making them as he sits. He always signs them. They are beautiful, and of all sizes. He has birds, shells, animals, etc....all of local woods.

 

I used to get t-shirts, and all the usual stuff, but when I get home I don't end up using them. I like things that are memorable and actual local made. I like picking up a small shell or piece of coral while walking on the beach, I know you aren't supposed to, but when packed away in a small bag inside your suitcase, it seems to work out fine. It would be no different than buying a shell... as long as you don't bring back live things.

[cj_one2000]

We started our collection years ago when the kids were small and we traveled. We collected way to many to all fit on the fridge. As the kids grew and bedrooms got emptied, we made one room into our "office". I stenciled one wall with a title "Places We've Been" and purchased several magnetic boards from IKEA. All of our magnets are proudly displayed and our grandson loves asking about all of our places!

 

We've started doing this too! After we got married and moved to Germany, we began to collect magnets whenever we travel around in Europe. We have about 10 unique magnets so far... Plan on picking up more at every port this upcoming cruise :) 15 days to go!!!