Like travellers everywhere, we brought home plenty of tacky souvenirs from our recent trip to Europe.
It can be hard to decide what souvenirs you want to bring home.
Ideally, you want something special to generate fond memories; not too fragile so it won’t smash in your suitcase; and that customs won’t confiscate. But perhaps hardest of all is to find something that will actually be useful and valued once at home, and not just left to collect dust, or put away in a drawer.
In years gone by we collected fridge magnets from every destination we visited … but our fridge grew cluttered, so we had to find a new solution. Keyrings? Fact is, you can really only carry one. Spoons? Not my thing. Snow globes? Too fragile. Ashtrays? We don’t smoke. Mouse mats? Pens? Coffee mugs? Nahhh …
While we were in Europe I hit upon the solution: wearable souvenirs.
It combines two loves in one: fashion and travel!
Whether it’s a piece of jewellery, a scarf, socks and jocks, a tshirt or a sweatshirt – each time you wear your wearable souvenir, you will smile remembering your holiday. Not to mention, they make for a great chance to bore everybody with tales of your travels conversation starters! Imagine: Wherever did you get that cute necklace? “Oh, just this darling little shop in Marseilles … ” you can reply smugly.
Wearable souvenirs don’t even have to have the place name emblazoned across them; it can be something more discreet, like the sheer cream top the hubster picked out for me in Singapore, or my new Italian beach coverup … but YOU will know the story behind the piece.
Here are just a few of the “wearable souvenirs” I brought home from our trip:
What type of souvenirs do you usually like to bring home?!
I also like to bring home things I can wear such as tops and jewellery. On our last trip to see Uluru I bought a lovely bead necklace at an indigenous market which went well with a pale yellow top I wore at my special birthday dinner under the stars. We usually try to buy at least one good quality souvenir such as animal ornaments or handmade plates and pottery etc that remind us of the place we visited. We also love collecting rocks and shells from around the world. So far, we’ve had no trouble getting them through customs.
What a perfect excuse to go clothes shopping 😉
I love those kinds of souvenirs too x
I love the idea of wearable souvenirs! Plus I always take hundreds and hundreds of photos whenever I travel!
Oh yes, I always bring home heaps of photos – we took over 3800 on this last trip!
I also pick up clothing or jewellery or something I would use everyday and not just sit on the shelf..the exception being Christmas ornaments. I collect these and in places not known for Christmas celebration substitute key rings. Decorating the tree at Christmas time always brings back such memories. And our tree is quite unique. Lol.