Getting Into Travel Collecting (Real Souvenirs)

I recently read somewhere that some people have a collection of celebrity hair that they keep. To me, I’m thinking, what an odd collection.

My tastes are a little less eccentric. I’m not a particular collector of anything. But every once in a while, I do find something that strikes my fancy. For instance, I’ve purchased jewelry, cultural masks, and even carved alebrijes.

These collections were largely developed due to me traveling so much. I’m never really one to look for souvenirs. But if it’s unique, I’ll get it. Especially if it displays some fascination over the local culture.

How I Started Collecting

When I was in my early teens, I remember my aunt giving me a quarter coin collection display for all the US states. It was a hard display in the form of a map. Each state had a whole in it made for a quarter. Everytime I found a new quarter for a particular state, I would be excited to place that quarter on my map.

Those were some of my earliest memories of collecting things.

As I got older, I would travel so much that I became a minimalist by choice. Not that being a minimalist is bad, but it does seem to undervalue aesthetic. And as I get older, I find the aesthetic is becoming less commoditized. So I wanted to start collecting. But it had to be valuable.

I liked things that were nice to look at, and had some sort of meaning to it. It took a while. But now that I’ve been traveling for four years I have a keener eye of what looks worthy to keep as a token of that country or city I’ve been to.

So now my minimalist lifestyle is complicated with the things I want to bring back home. It’s not a terrible problem to have. But I do have to think about it.

Unique Travel Collections

The most expensive souvenir I’ve purchased was in Dubai. Can you guess what it was??

Yup. It’s gold. Gold and Dubai go hand in hand with each other. I can’t imagine leaving that place without it.

But you do have to be mindful of certain rules. Travel Mocha talks about certain restrictions of bringing gold back from Dubai to another country. For instance in the article, How Much Gold Can Tourists Carry From Dubai to UK? It states:

“Tourists can carry up to 10kg of gold from Dubai to the UK. There is no limit on the amount of gold you can bring into the UK. However, the UAE enforces a limit of 10 kilograms of gold per person when individuals leave the country.”

If you’re not into gold then you can skip that altogether.

Alebrije Collection

Another piece of travel souvenir I’ve purchased was an Alebrije from Mexico. This souvenir has an interesting back story. First of all let me explain what it is.

An alebrije is a wooden craft made of opal wood. It originally started as a paper mache culture by a man who woke up from the dream and started to craft.

In his dream he would see different creatures of many colors. Their bodies were shaped by two or more animals combined to one. From this dream, he was inspired to recreate these creatures in the form of what is now known as alebrijes.

How to Collect Things Not Experiences from Traveling

Everyone always says, “Collect experiences, and not things.” I think it’s a useful phrase in materialistic culture.

But in a culture that seems to over optimize, sometimes we forget the value of aesthetics within things. I’m not against having experiences, as a matter of fact, I travel because I want to experience a book of my life and not just a chapter.

But as a stack on top of experiences, it’s also nice to be able to bring a collector’s item from a place. I can’t tell you what you should buy when you travel, but I can tell you how I process what to buy for the sake of collecting.

Here are my thought processes when I want looking to purchase a souvenir:

• Did the locals make it?
• Is it iconic to the region?
• Can I fit it in my suitcase?
• Will I have issues with customs for this?
• Where would I put it on display?
• If I can’t buy it online, it’s a yes

They are mostly questions to ask yourself. Each person has a list of questions about what they are looking for in a souvenir.

The Best Travel Souvenirs

Sometimes you can go on a hike and find a cool rock to bring back with you. It’s not so much about the thing itself. It’s more about how to condense experiences to a memento that you can take back.

One time a close friend had given me a piece of wood that was supposed to smell good when burned. I just kept the piece of wood as a memento. I thought it was a cool gift to get.

I’ve been traveling for about four years now and have been to the remotest corners of the world at this point. It’s easy to find so many different things you can take back home with you. By far my favorites have been the gifts others have given to me rather than what I could choose on my own.

Conclusion

If you liked this article and enjoyed my insights. I mostly hang around Travel Mocha, so feel free to check that out.

It’s a website that focuses on local insights that are well researched and experienced first hand. Right now the content mostly has a focus on Mexico City and Dubai. But there are also articles about cities in the USA. Feel free to check it out! And happy travels!