The Souvenirs that Bring Me the Most Joy

Because I still can’t even believe I got to visit these places

I grew up in southern Alabama, down near Florida. My parents were young, and family vacations just meant going to see our grandparents, who also lived in southern Alabama. They were a whole two hours away though, so those were our big trips.

Sometime in my middle school years, Maw-Maw (grandma) and Paw-Paw (grandpa) started saving up to take all of the grandkids on a big beach vacation. They rented a little house half a mile from the beach, down in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me.

I’d been to Six Flags a couple of times, and I had stayed in motels before, but nothing like a beach vacation of several days. This felt like winning the lottery to thirteen-year-old me.

My brother, my cousin, and I painstakingly picked out the perfect souvenirs at one of those Alvin’s Island type stores. I chose a necklace and a few painted sea shells. Of course, I lost those many years ago, but I still have a few photos from that glorious vacation.

Photos are the greatest souvenir. They capture that moment in time and help you remember the feelings, the atmosphere, and the people you were with.

I always had the bug to travel, and I could not wait to get going.

In fact, one time, when I was extra young (maybe five), my dad had a business moving mobile homes with his big diesel truck. He offered to take my younger brother on a trip down I-10. My brother did not think that sounded like fun. I think he was too young, but I was raising my hand, “Me!! Take me!!” Well, who could refuse that? Away we went.

From that trip, my only souvenir is the memory of seeing the ocean for the very first time, lapping onto the shore. I loved to sit in the passenger seat, where I could stare out the window peacefully for hours.

Through all four years of high school, I stuck it out with the marching band and that hot, stiff uniform that made us all look like toy soldiers. I didn’t do it for the love of playing the trumpet. No, it was the promise of the annual spring trip that kept me in band.

Together, our rather large high school band, traveled from Alabama to San Antonio, Cinncinnati, and Orlando. Every year I proudly boarded those Southern Coaches buses with my bags and giddy anticipation in tow.

With two other kids in the family, these trips were expensive for our parents to swing. For many years they had to pay for me and my brother too. Maybe it was more than they could afford, but they knew how much it meant to us, so they always made it happen.

That meant I did not have a lot of budget for souvenirs. I could usually swing a good T-shirt though. I remember I bought a Hard Rock t-shirt or two on those trips for sure.

None of those t-shirts lasted. But you know what did? My pictures.

Actually, in the photo above, that blue shirt I am wearing (I’m the one in the middle) that was too big for me was my trip souvenir. The photo proved to be a better, more memorable keepsake.

In college, this tradition of keeping photos as my souvenirs continued. This was not because I was any kind of purposeful minimalist. It was because I literally had no extra money. I went away to college on scholarship, and I was poorer than the proverbial church mouse.

Big trips were more out of my price range than ever. But I’ll never forget this one-day trip I drug two of my best friends on. It was a fooball game day, which is like religion at the University of Alabama, and a boy in my group of friends had just broken my heart and scattered the pieces.

And of course, if I stayed in town and went to the game, he’d be right there to have to deal with. So that morning my friends and I hit the road, headed for Nashville, with no map and no plan, because I had the most supportive friends in the world.

We ended up at Opry Mills Mall that day, where we probably bought clothes. The sad thing about clothes as souvenirs is that I keep outgrowing them.

By junior and senior year, my buddy Jennings and I started making one-day beach trips. We would drive five hours south to the beach, spend a few hours there, then drive five hours back that same day. We had gas money, but no hotel money.

And that is how we came up with our most fun souvenir ever, the “Beach Travels of April and Jennings” scrapbook, filled with photos and quotes from our adventures. We figured it was the perfect souvenir, especially since Jennings was just as broke as I was.

Then I met a young Army cadet around the time of 9/11, fell in love, got married, and graduated early so I could go “travel the world with him”. And we have! Though in the beginning, it was always him doing the traveling, to exotic war zones, like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, he shared my joy of adventures. Together we have lived in many states and cities. Plus, we have visited Jamaica, Mexico, Israel, and Italy together. He is still more well-traveled than me, as he also takes trips with work.

We aren’t so poor anymore, and we can afford souvenirs now. The photos are still my favorite though.

I’m glad I took the time to sit down and write about this because I had a hard time enjoying our trip to Italy this summer. Anxiety had me in a chokehold. Relying on public transportation was fun to me when I was young, but this summer I could not relax at all.

Writing about these adventures from when I was younger kind of brings me back to who I used to be. Talking about this and revisiting these memories renews my enthusiasm for life.

I still felt that thrill when I went to Israel, in 2017, and I was so grateful to be there at all. In fact, I hit that souvenir shop by the Jordan River with gusto. All of our family got souvenirs from Israel.

This summer I had other stress on my mind. Life can do that to us too.

I needed this reminder to be grateful for the journey and the opportunity to travel, in and of itself. How cool is it that we get to go and see so many places and meet different people? I am filled with gratitude. These stories and photos, which are my souvenirs, help me to feel that joy again.

Check out these other great souvenir stories from Globetrotters' monthly challenge.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story from Michele Maize about her souvenirs from England. It is a delightful story with super cute souvenirs.

I could also relate to Jillian Amatt’s article, Nomad Souvenirs Must Be Small, as I also like to buy souvenirs that I can wear!