The Most Valuable Souvenirs Are Those Bound with Emotions

It’s not about the objects sitting on my shelves and collecting dust but about the memories of people and feelings.

It has been a while since I participated in the Globetrotters challenge. I love replying to challenges, but work, farm and life keep me so busy that I struggle to find the opportunity to write. This time, however, maybe partially thanks to my arm injury preventing me from working on the farm, I decided to write my response. Not to mention that the topic Anne Bonfert chose is truly appealing.

I’m not someone who collects plenty of souvenirs from my travels. In fact, I hardly buy any, except for some little beauties for my besties, to show them that even when I am far away over the ocean, I always think of them and appreciate their friendship.

I’ve, however, a few very special souvenirs, which I usually got from someone who, in one way or another, deeply touched my heart. Sometimes they were friends, sometimes completely strangers (or should I call them new-found friends?), yet the little object means the world to me, as it reminds me of something extraordinary.

I can’t share all my unique souvenirs here, so I decided to share three from my last trip to Europe, which was not about the places and wild adventures but about the people, the friendships and reunions.

The story behind the Smiley

My cover photo shows two objects lying on my desk (and no, they do not collect dust there; they give me a peaceful feeling and make me smile every time I look at them). On the left is a map of Silesian Beskids, one of the Beskids mountain ranges in Outer Western Carpathians, the mountains where I grew up. On the left is a pamphlet about Gypsy Forest, a forest and region very special to me and my best friend (this is a story for another time). On the pamphlet, there is written “700 years of Mikuszowice”; Mikuszowice is an informal district of the town where I grew up.

Some of you know that back in Poland I have a very special friend, let’s call her Alicia. We have been friends since our teenage years, and we were there for each other through thin and thick. Since I emigrated, every time I visit Poland, we will meet. There has never been an exception; we always meet — she is my priority number one.

And so this year, I tried to contact her before I went to Poland. We didn’t talk much as our busy lives and the different time zones added to the communication challenge, but at least she knew when I would be in town. When I arrived in Poland the very next morning, I sent her a message on WhatsApp. No reply. Strange… I waited a few days, sent a message again and… nothing. I contacted her son. “She will call you tomorrow” — he replied. Tomorrow came, and nothing… Ten days passed. It was already Thursday, and Saturday morning, I would be leaving.

I sat in my kitchen, thinking about Alicia, feeling disheartened and losing hope of seeing her. I wondered what had happened and why wouldn’t she reply to my messages. Something like that has never happened before. Nothing made sense… I accepted that this would be the first trip back to Poland, that I didn’t get to see her, and with a heavy heart, I continued writing some notes about my holidays. Suddenly, I heard “Ding” on my phone, and a message came in. It was Alicia! (The magic of acceptance; when we accept the worst, it will never happen; things get better)

“Are you still here?” — she asked

“Yes, I’m, but I’m leaving Saturday morning. My sister has to go back, so I can’t push it any further,” — I replied, excited and worried at the same time

“Okay, no worries. Tomorrow, 5 pm, I will pick you up and… you will see what we do ; ) See you then!” — she wrote back

The next day, she picked me up as we agreed and gave me two options. I chose the Gypsy Forest, as we made many beautiful memories there during our teenage years.

And as always, we laughed together to tears; we shared our pain and sorrows, we cried together, but always ended with laughter. Like in the old days, laughter was our motto — “Smile, always smile, as tomorrow could be worse, so appreciate the now and each other company”. She told me why she didn’t reply to my messages; she couldn’t commit to meeting with me because… Well, it was one of the moments when I thought to myself, “With all the rubbish I’m facing, my life looks like paradise filled with roses compared to what she is facing”.

While we reminisced about our young years, all the laughter and tears walking through the mountains, I told Alicia, “I miss the mountains… I wish I had bought some map of the region, but I don’t even know where to get printed maps those days.”

“If I knew that you wanted a map, I could have stolen one from my husband — he has so many of them that he wouldn’t even notice if one was missing”, — she laughed

We continued enjoying the evening until I got a message from my sister: “Where are you? Are you all right? I’m worrying about you. Should I come and pick you up?”. Another hour passed since I got the message before I finally was back home.

The following morning, the car was already packed, and we were saying goodbye to our parents and getting ready for the journey back to Germany when I heard the “ding” on my phone and saw a message from Alicia:

“Are you still at your parents?”

“Yes, I’m, but I’m leaving in 15 min” — I replied

“That’s okay. Come to the gate, I have something for you,” — she wrote.

I walked to the gate and couldn’t believe to see her there. “What could be so important that despite all she is going through, she found the time to come here and tried to catch me before I leave? What does she have for me?” I wondered. I opened the gate, and she handed me the map and the pamphlet, saying, “You wanted a map, so here is a map for you. See the smiley? I drew it for you. Every time you look at it, you will think of me and smile”. I was stunned and deeply grateful to have a friend like her. This type of friendship is exceptional and doesn’t happen often. Only those who have experienced it will understand.

The Tourist Stamp

It all started with a walk to Chata Wuja Toma (“The Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) with my sister and her youngest son. We walked from Szczyrk, so it wasn’t a particularly long hike, but in some places, the road was very steep, so we got some exercise.

When we arrived at the hostel, we got a bite to eat, and my sister asked her son what he would like as memorabilia. We suggested that he could get a certificate or a medal that he reached the peak. But he wasn’t interested in those and chose a tourist stamp, like the one in the photograph below, but from a different place.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but a bit later, I realized it was a game. These Stamps are spread throughout Poland, on many mountain peaks and other historical places.

A couple of days later, when I went for a hike to the highest mountain in the region I grew up in, I kept thinking about all the beautiful times I had with my family and friends in the mountains when I was living there; all the solo-hikes of my youth when I tried to escape the painful reality, and all the reunions I have experienced now.

I realized there was one statement all my friends repeated, “Next time you come, we will go hiking together”. I also had a wonderful reunion with my cousin’s family, especially her husband, which is a story for another time. I told him that for me, he was always part of my family, and these words meant the world to him. When we finished chatting, he said to me, “When you come next time, let’s go hiking together. I know the mountains like the back of my hand — I will show you magnificent places you have never seen before”.

I walked into the hostel to buy some water and looked around me. I noticed the stamp (pictured in the photo above) and decided to buy it, thinking to myself, “Yes, this is the beginning of all the hikes I will have in the mountains of my childhood”. And now, when I look at the stamp on my desk, I smile and think, “Yes, next time, we will go hiking together.”

Overnight stop-over on the way back to my sister

On the way back from my parents, my sister and I decided to make the journey more enjoyable and stay overnight in a hotel in Dresden. The boys loved spending the night in the hotel, and we enjoyed ourselves.

The next morning, we went for a walk before we left Dresden. We stopped in a chocolate museum, where the boys and I had a great time admiring every single chocolate, and my sister almost burst into tears, saying, “Jan! You should help me with the kids, and you are worse than them! Can we go yet!”. I still have to laugh when I think about this moment, and my sister laughs at this now, too.

Then we found market booths selling souvenirs. I thought I could get something for my friends back in Australia, and my 11-year-old nephew also wanted to buy something for his friend (or so he told me). He chose a few from the display and asked me which one I liked the most, at the same time suggesting which would be his favourite. I agreed that the one he chose was wonderful. He paid for it, turned around and said, “It’s for you, Auntie Jan”, handing me the magnet. This was a very touching moment. Now, every time I look at the fridge where the magnet has its honourable place, I think about my sister, her kids and the wonderful time we had together.

I love all the memorabilia I brought home from my recent trip. They aren’t expansive objects or wonderful pieces of art, but each of them tells a heartfelt story and puts a smile on my face.

There are so many wonderful Souvenir stories in Globetrotters that it is pretty difficult to choose just a couple. The best is to go to the publication and read them all! But I need to choose something, so here it is:

I enjoyed the story from Bell Dae not only because it made me think about my adventures in Canada, when I traveled through the “less traveled roads” of the country, sometimes stopping overnight “God only knows where” because campgrounds were still shut for the season, and learning about the culture of First Nation People.

Another story which I found unique and interesting was by Matthew David (and I don’t even have any tattoos)