Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Wanderlust Librarian | Souvenirs

How do you remember a vacation? Is it through pictures or videos? Food? A special outfit?

There are many ways to reminisce about a trip but the most common of all is buying a souvenir. The Webster's New Explorer College Dictionary defines the word as: 

souvenir: something that serves as a reminder

It's hard to take a mug - shot. :)
I enjoy taking a lot of pictures, but having a tangible item that has come from that destination is something that can never be duplicated. Souvenirs can be kitchy (like a mini Eiffel Tower or a Hawaiian hula girl) or mundane (magnets, snowglobes) but they were collected from a time and place that is special to the collector.

My personal souvenir of choice? Starbucks City Mugs. Never heard of them? I hadn't either until a few years ago when I saw a mug at the Starbucks in Paris. I love coffee and I love Paris!  Most major cities in the United States have mugs for their city. I found a set of mini demitasse mugs when I went to the Starbucks in Jakarta, Indonesia. My local Starbucks carries a "California" mug! 

My friend, Lizzie, collects magnets from the cities that she visits. She has them all over her personal book cart. There's definitely no denying that the cart belongs to her!

fridgedoor.com
I recently found magnets at a store in San Francisco. They were cheap ($1.00) and they LOOK cheap. They're so silly looking that I was immediately attracted to them. I've purchased 8 magnets of the states I've visited. I can't wait to buy more (as soon as I visit more states!). 

I'm not especially crafty, but I really want to look at new ways of displaying my souvenirs and photos. I found a good mix of display ideas in the book: Fun with Family Photos: crafts, keepsakes and gifts.  

I'd love to hear about your travel souvenirs and how you display them in your home. Leave a comment and I'll follow up with you on a future blog post! 

Happy Collecting and Happy Travels! 

3 comments:

  1. I love souvenir magnets! Plus, there's nothing more annoying than realizing you don't have a magnet to use when you want to put something on your fridge. Souvenir magnets are a double win!

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  2. I don't collect souvenirs but I often get them from others who travel. Here are two of my favorite ones. A small pouch with a little wooden elephant on it for a button that keeps it closed that I use to carry my key and i.d. and money when I go on hikes. I've had this for nearly 8 years now and it shows no signs of wear. Also, my friend Joanne sends me small notebooks in which she journals her hiking trips through national parks and then mails them to me when she's done with the trip. Original idea and I feel like I've participated in the trips.

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  3. For lots of years I collected matchbooks on travels. Colorful and descriptive and cool. Now there's not much smoking these days, so restaurants, hotels, and bars don't stock matchbooks anymore. I keep the matchbook collection in glass jars - the books look pretty sitting in the glass, like a multi-layered food dish.
    -Alex

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