GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT

October Monthly Challenge — Souvenirs

What memorable items have you brought back from your travels?

The moment I saw this one, I knew, I had to get it. There was a smell surrounding the shop that was just so unique. The saleswoman was smiling at me as the sun was shining through the window. It had been a perfect day.

Those are the moments we travel for. Such unique memories include smells and sounds and leave us with a feeling we won’t forget so soon. And in situations like those we tend to fall for an item.

Souvenirs.

They are everywhere where tourists are. Souvenirs. From Eiffel Tower statues to shirts and bracelets. Certain items can be found from Greenland to Italy and all the way into the desert. Often, they even have the same patterns and colors.

I’ve found colored pants in Mozambique which looked exactly the same in Thailand. And yet, I will carry the memories of them with me whenever I wear them.

On my first African adventure, I was introduced to a very different jewelry culture than the one we have in Europe. Instead of gold and silver earrings, necklaces and bracelets, there were hundreds of colorful beads displayed.

My kind of jewelry.

I bought one. Then two. And soon had an arm filled with bracelets. It began as just wearing jewelry to buying souvenirs from all the countries I visited. My arm is my shelf displaying memories from my travels.

I do remember upon arriving in Zanzibar, I strolled through the streets of Stonetown when I came past an atelier. A young artist was sitting in front of a palette of colors splashing the canvas in front of him. I didn’t enter but stayed just in the door frame watching him. If I wasn’t going to travel for another two months living out of a backpack, that painting would have been my souvenir from here.

A few days later, I found myself walking along the beach when several Masai men were displaying paintings on the white sand. The situation was so bizarre. The Masai men didn’t belong here, on the island. Neither did those paintings. They might have come from the guy I saw in his atelier.

In this month’s challenge, we’re looking for stories sharing memories from your travels including souvenirs. Which souvenirs do you buy? Is there a collection at home waiting for you to add one more shotglass? Then please don’t tell us “I went to the shop and bought a shot glass from Paris.”

Instead, take us with you on the journey.

“The sun was shining when I was strolling down the alley. I watched people of all ages spending time in the park, playing cards, reading books or just sitting on a bench. Some birds were chirping in the trees and a smell of spring was surrounding me. That was when I almost stumbled upon the street vendor. He didn’t have many but there was one shot glass standing out to me. I looked up and admired the majestic Eiffel Tower and knew, this was the right glass for my collection.”

We want to be with you in this situation. Take us on a journey across the world and make memories with us. Share your thoughts, fears and feelings, and let us take part in the adventure.

I do remember the day I arrived in Windhoek, Namibia. It was the celebration of the 25th independence from South Africa and the streets were filled with military people marching down. I had never seen something like that. I was intimidated, to say the least.

I stepped aside and walked into a side street when these Himba women took notice of me, the white tourist. They saw my arm filled with bracelets and soon began a conversation with me. Minutes later I had ten of their bracelets wrapped around my wrist without having paid for one. Yet.

Once I decided which one I wanted to remember that day, I didn’t just leave with less money in my pocket and one more bracelet on my arm but my skin was as red as theirs. From touching me over and over, the natural paint they applied to their skin was shared with me. This kind of souvenir didn’t last for long but I carried it with me for a few hours.

There was a time in my life when I collected sand from all the beaches I visited. I do know, this isn’t legal and the best practice but as I stated, I stopped doing this.

However, if you’d like to share a story about how the glass jar filled with sand came into your living room, I’d love to hear how the sand felt on your feet as you were walking down the beach. Were there any seagulls flying above your head and did the ocean have waves that day? How did you feel when you bent down to put a bit of sand in the plastic bag?

Souvenirs can take on many shapes. While the more obvious ones are displayed on shelves in tourist shops around the world, there are many more souvenirs we carry back with us.

Journals.

On my first African adventure, I wrote in a diary. Daily. For over six months. I kept bus tickets next to my daily notes and also glued in all the notes my students wrote for me when I left the school I was teaching in Ghana.

I think you get the idea. We are looking for your personal narrative describing where you bought that golden Buddha and what memories it evokes when you look at it in your garden.

Now, it is your turn. Please share with us your stories of where and when you almost bought that cheap statue and then decided against it because you found something better.

Souvenirs

We are not looking for stories sharing pictures of a souvenir statue on your shelf. We want to know where you found that statue, why you decided to buy it and which memories you connect with it.

Be creative.

If you need some ideas, here we go:

The Ultimate Souvenir I’ve Ever Bought

My First Souvenir Was XXX

I Have Been Walking Down an Alley When I Saw This Souvenir

The Most Fascinating Souvenirs I Have Found in XXX

This is How I Experienced A Souvenir Shop in XXX

My Favorite Souvenir Story

I Didn’t Know I’d Fall in Love With These Souvenirs

A Very Different Kind of Souvenir

I Never Understood Why People Would Buy Souvenirs

A requirement for the monthly challenge submissions is to tag 2 articles that either inspired you to go to this place, have quality content about the same country you’re talking about or maybe it’s just a travel piece you really enjoyed reading.

You can use the search function to review our publication and look for articles about your destination. It’s easy and a great way to show appreciation to other writers out here.

We’re looking forward to your submissions. As always, at the end of the month, the editors of Globetrotters will announce their winners. While we also submit our entries, we do not participate in the competition.

Please remember to follow our guidelines when submitting an article:

• The maximum article length must be 10 minutes.
• Always credit your images. We only accept your own photographs. Please review our image policy if unsure.
• Write your article in the form title-subtitle-title image.
• Please add the tag “monthly challenge”.
• Make sure that travel is still a focus of your story.
• List 2 articles and tag the writers who created them
• The challenge will run from October 1st until October 28th. We reserve the last days of the month to post the results from the challenge.
• For more clarification on submissions, visit the Globetrotters submission guidelines.

We, the team of editors at Globetrotters (JoAnn, Adrienne, Jillian, Michele & Anne) want to thank each of you for contributing to our publication. You’ve sent so many fascinating articles on past challenges and we can’t wait for the next ones.

Thank you.

Michele Maize has kicked off the challenge with the first prompt submission. Get inspired by her funny travel essay.

Read here the final post of our previous monthly challenge. We asked you to share your stories about wildlife in the world. In this article, the editors announce their personal winners: