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

[moresun]

Like so many others,we collect Christmas ornaments and refrigerator magnets.Also pictures by local artists that we then frame and display. But these have to call my name:) love all the memories they invoke.

[RoofingPrincess]

I look for handmade coffee mugs everywhere I travel.

I had them on the shelf in my cubicle at work and used one every day for my coffee.

Then I got laid off and had to bring them home, and had nowhere to put them. So a friend and I are making a special shelf, kind of like a plate rail, to put along one wall of my living room.

At 13 feet long, there's plenty of space for the existing mugs and lots of room for future acquisitions.

[mfinster007]

I haven't read all the comments but I buy refridgerator magnets. I now have a stainless and the don't stick si I put them on my stackable washer dryer.

[RunnerGirl26.2]

Our family tradition is to get a "tacky" magnet from wherever we travel--they are on the file cabinet in our office.

 

Cruises: I purchase a magnet with the ship name and statistics. In port we look for local art piece/small print/notecards to frame (poster too big). I also tend to pick up a piece of not too expensive jewelry.

 

DD's get key chains.

[skoeper]

We collect souvenir wine glasses. Then, in the evenings at home when we have wine, we look at our collection and say "Where are we going tonight?". We usually rehash the visit and keep those memories alive.

 

We have wine glasses from around the world :) We might start buying three from each trip, because once in a while one breaks and then we have a solo glass.

 

PLUS, we almost always use those wine glasses on our balcony while on the ship. Works really well for us.

[Scootercruise]

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

 

 

Hey, we have a set of monkeys almost the same as yours, we bought them from a vendor at the Calica port in 2005. He started out at $15 a piece and we got them all for $8. What a deal :D

[donaldsc]

Good quality art or good quality carved birds. Not junk but really good stuff. Sometime sa quality photograph if I see something that I like. Also occasional t-shirts if the place I am visiting is interesting and unusual. For example - anyone can get an Alaska t-shirt for Juneau, etc but how many people have a t-short from Hyder Alaska?

 

DON

[nyfarmgirl]

Since I love to cook, I always try to buy liquors, spices, cookbooks or some type of food related item. I do seem to have quite a magnet collection as well. I don't do tshirts or hats unless we just happen to need one. I also don't want something that was made in China unless I am visiting China.

 

I like things that I can use in my everyday life that remind me of places where I have been. Two of my favorites are a porcelain box that I got in Mexico that I keep salt in beside my stove and an apron with a Jambalaya recipe on it from New Orleans.

 

I have found a good use for key chains - attach a key chain with location on it to a cheap thumb drive that has a back up file of all pix from that trip. Keep in safe or firebox to prevent loss in case of disaster.

[Starlaker]

I pick up a Christmas ornament (or something that I can turn into an ornament) at every place we travel to. I have a separate Christmas tree that only has my travel ornaments on it. I love setting it up each year and reliving my travels as I decorate and undecorate it. I also have the various ship ornaments like the OP. I also try to pick up a small piece of local pottery if it is attractive and unique to the area.

[feathersandnananose]

Hubby loves a T-shirt from EVERY port....you should see the collection... but I do one set of earrings from each TRIP - it's lovely to be reminded of "that trip" when you put on your earrings in the morning....

 

But I fully admit that the most USEFUL thing ever bought was in Alaska: the Ulu Knife with cutting bowl/block (There's nothing better for mincing herbs or garlic than the Ulu and the wooden cutting bowl!)

 

Barb in so cal

[scapel]

I was collecting hat pins. Wear the hat and people might strike up a conversation about them having visited that place. Nice way to meet people. On a Rhine River cruise I walked out of the bridge and the win hit me hard and took the hat to the Rhine pins and all, so I quit collecting.

[t60]

snip...I have found a good use for key chains - attach a key chain with location on it to a cheap thumb drive that has a back up file of all pix from that trip snip...

 

I do this as well

 

OH has just started to collect pins to put on his lanyard or hat band

 

Sandy in Spain

[heatherandfred]

Magnets are a MUST for us.

[sjcruiser]

We stopped bringing other people back souvenirs a long time ago, unless we find something unique or different, and think that they would appreciate it, or get a kick out of it. Whether on a cruise, land vacation, or flying into a different country or city, even just for a layover, we buy a magnet for our refrigerator.

[the_journeyman]

We have a "travel tree" which is a Christmas tree decorated with nothing but ornaments we travel to be it on a cruise ship or what. So that's something we always look for in every port and look for the nice brass stamped ones on the ships we sail on.

 

I like rum, so if I see a local rum when in the islands, I'm always game to take some home with me.

 

JM

[Philob]

We stopped buying souvenirs and the like a long time ago.

 

This happened after we helped out some friends clean out their parents home after the last one passed on. The parents were travelers, somewhere new every year, and they always bought stuff. The home was so full from things overseas you had to walk sideways in the hallway. They even had a Macaw, Braack :p, was his name, to remind them of South America, plus a few lizards.

 

Everything was tossed; Braack, etal, was given to the zoo. :(

[Hflors]

I collect thimbles and have them from all over the world. Many of my family have brought me back thimbles because they are easy to pack and inexpensive. DH collect baseball cap type hats from all the ships and islands we have visited

 

I now have two cabinets full and am still collecting my thimbles.

 

Helen

[paul929207]

We get refrig. magnets

[cynthe66]

Since our honeymoon and my first cruise we always buy a picture frame with the ships name and get a formal picture taken. Also on my last cruise we were in Cozumel and I bought and apron and am looking forward to finding more on my next cruises. I wear it at work and the residents ask me about it, so I tell them about the few cruises I've been on.

[Gold Mine Gal]

I have what I call my "wall of memories" which displays handcrafted items or pictures from local artists. Everything from a little tin bird to a picture painted with a fingernail. My wall is getting full but I keep squeezing items on it. It is quite a conversation piece. I also find a unique magnet and as soon as I get home, I write the date on it with a sharpie. I just need to look at my "wall" or my fridge and the memories come flooding back.:)

[Love.II.Cruise]

We don't have anything we specifically look for, but if we see table linens with napkins cheap, we buy. We use these everyday at home.

 

The last time we were in Costa Rica we bought a beautiful set of Tiger Wood small salad bowls with a large salad bowl and serving spoon and fork. We love it.

 

We look for unique items... we have a conch shell with a small bulb in the middle that is beautiful when lit (paid $10). We have a Sun art piece made of several precisely cut mirrors (paid less than $20).

 

On my first cruise with my parents in Hawaii, they bought me illusion pearls. I still have them and wore them on my wedding day.

 

We don't have anything that is a must seek out and buy, but if we run into something special, we'll buy it. Thus far, of all places I've been, my favorite place to clothes shop is Key West.