Take a Souvenir Which Makes You Smile
Even if it’s five years later…
This month’s challenge made me chuckle. Not an evil one. More like the one ‘I wouldn’t even know where to start’!
My husband and I have been travel partners to 50+ countries together. We love the priceless memories and pictures we’ve gathered.
In life, it’s not where you go. It’s who you travel with. — CHARLES SCHULZ
Yet, the most arguments we’ve had on travel are about what to take and what to leave behind.
The reason is I can be quite stingy, and he’s the opposite. He has unique passions, and he wants to pick up up stuff he thinks I don’t have an eye for.
What we do ultimately is try to strike a balance. This is how we agreed we take something which makes us smile years later.
One of my earliest memories was in Venice during our honeymoon. We were in Venice at the time of the Annual Ball and saw the beautiful Venetian masks on display everywhere.
My heart set out on them until I saw the price.
Yet, I didn’t want to leave without at least one and my husband graciously offered to pay for it.
Putting it on makes me feel naughty and takes me back in time.
I also enjoy postcards. I remember listening to a man playing a saxophone in Prague. After the performance, he set out sharing the postcard with the listeners.
This one is special because it reminds me of the spell-binding performance and the creativity of an artist. I gladly paid for this one.
I also took pawn shop paintings, wall hangings and statues from China, Monaco, Greece, Singapore and Indonesia for keepsakes. They find a place on our walls and corners of every home we’ve had over the years.
Now let me share some souvenirs that my better half and I have argued about.
One of his fetishes is to pick up weird looking musical instruments.
In the picture below, do you see a bowl with a wooden piece? He bought it, and it’s the one I like most in his collection because it has a spiritual note to it.
It’s peaceful when you play it by swirling the wooden piece along the circumference of the bowl.
He also bought a weird-looking big drum and a snake-looking clarinet, which I find difficult to look at. They are also visible in the picture above if you look closely.
In such moments, I want to be more supportive, but it’s baffling to know how much he wants to take it, even though he never plans to use it.
I remember we had a heated exchange about it right at the shop after he posed for the picture above. It took me a few minutes to cool down, after which I had to repair the damage I had done.
We finally ended up buying them because otherwise, it seemed I may have upset him for the entire trip. They take space in our home until today.
I smile at them because it reminds me how important it is to embrace the uniqueness of our loved ones. Sometimes, it means accepting a few weird musical instruments which gather dust.
Once, in Iceland, he wanted to bring home Thor’s hammer. Thankfully, he agreed it won’t fit anywhere in our luggage. Phew, I dodged that one!
Look at the size of it in the picture below.
Next, these Game of Thrones outfits for Daenerys and Jon Snow we saw in Croatia almost made home, thanks to my husband.
When I remained quiet despite his enthusiasm, he eventually gave up. It wasn’t a deliberate move, more like figuring out how to react in the moment.
One thing we both agree on is to pick up fridge magnets. The picture below is now five years old. Right now, we don’t have a fridge top that is magnetic.
So, we’re stashing our magnets like diamonds we need to hold on to. We smile when we think of them, as it reminds us to find a spot for them.
This doesn’t stop us from collecting more. It’s a ritual before a trip ends.
We also agree on our least favorite souvenir.
In Bath, the foodie spirit in us got stuck trying the different flavors of fudge. We ended up getting a few varieties back home.
It was way too sweet for our taste. As much as we liked the history and storytelling around fudge in Bath, it didn’t taste the same without the marketing gimmick the moment we landed home.
This one made some people with sweet tooth smile, as we gave most of it away to friends.
Hope you enjoyed this collection of our memories and it made you smile or laugh.
These souvenirs are an icing on the cake of our beautiful travel adventures. They will always have a special place in our heart and will belong in our homes.
We’ve also learned how to travel together as a couple with these experiences. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.
You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free — Thich Nhat Hahn
Souvenir stories I enjoyed :
Anne Bonfert’s account of Himba women selling souvenirs and her sand collection from Europe :
Michele Maize’s account of her experience at London airport, thanks to her unique choice of souvenir collection :
Erie Astin’s piece about her magnet collection is so relatable :
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