There has never been a more exciting and fun time to travel around the world than now. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and mobile technology, travelling is so much easier – from checking out new destinations and planning your itinerary to using digital tools such as maps and apps to help you get around unfamiliar places. You don’t even need to lug around a camera anymore to record memories of your trip – all you need is to whip out your cellphone and take a memorable selfie.
However, despite all these technological advances that make travelling a breeze, nothing beats the charm of taking home a good old souvenir from the new places that you’ve visited. There’s just something about an item that’s indigenous to that place that you can hold and touch that helps bring back memories of your trip. Collecting certain types of souvenirs also make for a great hobby that will surely give you lots of fond recollections of looking back on them.
If you haven’t figured out what kind of souvenirs that you can start collecting, here are some of the most popular ones that people go for:
Lapel pins
Getting a lapel pin with a symbol or image of the places that you’ve been to is a great idea for a souvenir. It’s something unusual and unique, but that’s exactly where the novelty of a lapel pin lies. Pins are also small and easy to keep and collect. You can wear the pin on the collar of your shirt or your suit, and it will definitely help strike up a conversation with friends and strangers that you meet.
Refrigerator magnets
Magnets are another simple but effective kind of souvenir to collect. This is a cool idea especially for couples or families who travel a lot together because you can display these magnets on the refrigerator door, and it can also serve as a great conversation piece. You and your family can spend hours looking back on all the good times you had during vacation.
Mugs
Another quintessential souvenir favorite are mugs. They can serve a very practical purpose in your kitchen, or you can keep them nicely displayed behind a glass cupboard. Depending on your budget, you can go for simple designs or intricate, limited edition ones. A big trend these days is collecting mugs from certain establishments such as a popular chain of coffee shops that have branches all over the world.
T-shirts
In any vacation spot or tourist location, you are sure to find a shop that sells nifty souvenir t-shirts. This is another practical choice for a souvenir item to collect that you can actually use on a daily basis. It is also a cute idea to buy a matching souvenir t-shirt for each member of the family. T-shirts typically come in a multitude of colors and designs, and are thus quite exciting to choose and collect.
Other souvenir items
There are many other kinds of souvenir items that are gaining popularity among travelers today. You can get as unique and creative as you wish in terms of the things that you want to collect as souvenirs. Some people look for dolls or plush toys with local costumes of the countries that they visit; some people collect different versions of soda cans from foreign places. Whatever you end up with, just make sure these items are a real reflection of your own personal style and taste. After all, that’s what is most important – that these items provide you lots of good memories to look back on.
