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Reminders of trips passed

So a topic discussing Travel Apps that document your trip got me thinking. How many of you have things around your house that remind you of your past trips?

I am not necessarily talking about souvenirs as such, or at least only about souvenirs. But any reminders what so ever?

I don’t tend to collect “traditional” souvenirs much. I do buy books as I like to read and have a large library but other than that and the occasional hat or T-shirt or something I don’t actually have any real souvenirs I bought on my trips.

I have created books of my more recent major trips, and I have a couple collages made up of ticket stubs and brochures and maps. These hang on the wall in my library. I have digital albums from my trips (usually a “best of” and another with all the photos from that trip) That I can play on any screen I have. They sometimes get played on the TV in my office as a screen saver. (Something I am trying to do more often)

I find these kind of things spark my memory of a trip so that I get a little “flash” back to the trip and a moment of enjoyment remembering that trip. Vs other trips that I have nothing out to remind me of them and thus I seldom think about them.
For example most of my US trips I have nothing but old photos in a box or digital photos stored either on disk or in my IPads memory somewhere. Or worse yet my first trip to Europe in 1977 as a kid I have nothing from, no photos, no souvenirs, nothing as it was all lost in a house fire. So I seldom think of that trip except the parts that overlapped my last trip. When I revisited a few location.

After the trip I took my father on in 17 we started buying the little Lego Architecture sets and city skyline sets of places we visited. And I have a few of those on display around the house that also bring back memories.

Note it is not that my memory is bad and I don’t remember these trips it is simply that I don’t think about them. And even the digital albums hardly ever get played.

I find the physical objects such as the Books or the collages are more readily see as I walk around the house and thus they do a better job of triggering memories then things that are put away ir only exist in some computers storage device and that you only see if you actively go looking for them.

So how many of you have things around your home that trigger memories of past trips?

Is it just me?

Maybe I am just feeling sentimental today…. As it was two years ago today (as I type this) that I lost my travel partner..

Posted by
2252 posts

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how much traveling together meant to each of you and I know you miss your Dad and those wonderful adventures with him. And no, Douglas, it isn’t just you! Besides photo books I have made for each trip, I have a planter between my living and dining room. Three of its sides are covered with some small ceramic tiles my husband and I collected on our trips together, each representing a country we visited. While I don’t get the books out all that often, I do see the tiles and they bring me wonderful memories!

Posted by
4616 posts

Oh, condolences and your sentimentally is very understandable. I'm sure many here have shared experiences of your type of loss. Wishing you peace today.

You may not receive too many responses as a recent topic on souvenirs was very popular. Altho not a topic on personal loss, you may enjoy the various feelings expressed for and against travel momentos.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing/souvenirs-sentimentality-a-slippery-slope

Posted by
11056 posts

I tend to buy useful items if I buy anything to bring home. My cute kitchen timer is from Italy, for example. A container to dispense oil and vinegar and a parmesan cheese shaker are others from Italy.

Posted by
7280 posts

A big Florian candy bag from a trip that included Nice, France is a reminder of many trips to southern France. Now that grocery stores in the state are charging for flimsy plastic bags if you don’t bring your own, it’s with me pretty much any time I go to the store.

It was most of the time already, but now it’s really getting treasured, and it’s holding up well under the use.

Posted by
1647 posts

I am sorry for your loss, but keep traveling if you can.

I think photos are the best.

I selected 4 of the best photographs I took (IMO) and have them mounted and framed. One is in Lake Bled, another is in Hallstatt, another is in Portofino and the last is in Vernazza. I also have a few others of Switzerland and Croatia natural landscapes.

I also use photos for screen savers and wallpaper on the computer. The final thing is this forum. Beyond some of the basic posts, the conversations here are a great reminder of travels of the past.

Posted by
6431 posts

After several trips to Mexico, we have wood carvings and placemats from there in various places around the house. I use travel photos as a desktop screen saver, switching trips periodically. I have some hats and t-shirts from travels, some of which I hardly ever wear and some of which I still like a lot. And some of the older t-shirts have shrunk (like the rest of my clothing) as I age. ;-) A few photo albums in book form and many on the computer. But we don't usually shop for souvenirs for ourselves, and we seldom bring home gifts for others. Shopping isn't a goal for our trips, though sometimes it becomes necessary.

Happy continued travels to you, Douglas, and good memories of your trips and other times with your dad.

Posted by
1473 posts

douglas, I still remember the family trips that we took to Michigan in the summer with my Dad, but otherwise he wasn't a traveler. I am however, traveling with my son. I hope he cherishes these trips one day as much as you cherish the trips with your father.

In my earlier trips, I tried to buy a practical item that I could use in every day life. I have an Aran sweater (it is almost too warm to wear) and a multicolor wool jacket from Ireland. I have a a Waterford crystal dish that I use to hold paper clips on my desk at work. I have silk scarves from Lake Como, Istanbul and Paris. I have a wool poncho from Iceland. And yes, they absolutely remind me of my trips.

I also have about 12 8 x 10 photos that I took on my cell phone framed and displayed in a grid on my office wall at work. I still love my work, but get aggravated by the bureaucratic red tape and looking up at those pictures helps me to keep going. I need to work to afford more trips. I have plenty of wall space left and hope to fill it all in the next 10 years.

Posted by
461 posts

I love taking photos of places we have traveled. I often get a favorite photo enlarged and either put it on canvas or metal, and frame it and put it in our office or hallways. I also make a Shutterfly photo album of each of our trips.

I like buying a Christmas ornament from each country that we go to, and when I decorate the Christmas tree each year it brings back fond memories.

Lightweight inexpensive items that I buy are tea towels and napkins. I also buy a small finger dipping bowl from each country. I collect cookie tins from each country and have the benefit of enjoying the cookies or chocolate that comes with them and then having them to use later.

Sharing stories about our trips with others who have gone there is the best!

Posted by
620 posts

The easiest reminders are books, I can sit here at work and look at the titles sitting on the shelf and I have been working through John Stow's 1598 Survey of London that I picked up last March at the Museum of London before they closed for their move.

I do take a lots of photo detailed of iron work/hardware and artifacts. Took pictures of an 18th century toaster displayed at the V&A, and once I returned to work I fired up the forge and made a reproduction of the toaster that's now used in the museum. On another trip took pictures of a 13th century iron candle holder on display at the Museum of London. I thought the candle holder was sort of ugly and I wondered why it was forged and assembled in the manner that it was. Returned home and fired the forge, made a reproduction and answered that question.

Posted by
8261 posts

Douglas, sending lots of kind thoughts your way on this day.

I make travel books and they are near my couch. I enjoy going through them, especially on a long winter's day. I also buy Christmas ornaments. One of my favorites is one my husband and I bought together in Alaska about a year before he passed away. It is always a special moment to put that one on the tree.

Posted by
4024 posts

We have 6- 5" × 7" photos in our living room and 6 more on our kitchen, all in 8 × 10 frames. One or two get switched after every trip to the latest memories. A phrase we use while travelling after we've taken a particularly good photo is to call it 'Wall Worthy.'

Posted by
739 posts

How have i never thought of buying Christmas ornaments? I collect Christmas ointments. I have an 8’ tree and a 12’ tree tagt are both over flowing with individual unique ornaments. I have bought them on US trips and yet i have ne er bought them over seas…
Go figure…

Posted by
2168 posts

Douglas - if you make that trip with your friends maybe you can start collecting ornaments. Thank you for sharing the memories of travel with your dad; you really had something special there.

On one of our first trips to Paris my husband convinced me we should buy a painting in Place du Tertre. It’s hung on walls in 2 houses and is my “happy place” every time I look at it. Last trip in 2019 we went back to the square and bought another piece from the same artist, which I love almost as much. We are headed back in June and this trip I’m going to make sure I have photos to show the artist (if he’s still there) where they currently hang. I have a copper ladle in the kitchen that we bought last year in Montepulciano, salt that we got in Trapani, a cheese slicing knife that we got In Nuremberg that I always forget how to use, scenic placements that we use with our grandchildren, and Christmas ornaments that go on the “travel tree”.

Posted by
279 posts

When cleaning out some old photos of my grandparents after they had both passed away, I found some photos of my grandmother on a trip they had taken to Europe in 1972. In one, she was standing by a light post by the grand canal in Venice. In another she was standing on the steps in front of the gardens at Versailles. Another was a photo of the Eiffel Tower. Of course, I saved them!

When my husband and I went to France in 2017, I posed in the exact same spot on the steps at Versailles. I also took a photo of the Eiffel tower from the same vantage point as my grandmother did. When we went to Italy in 2019, we found the spot where she stood by the grand canal (by using the buildings in the background--turns out it was right by the Rialto Bridge) and I posed there for a picture.

I then printed the photos we had taken and displayed them in a collage-type frame alongside my grandmother's photos. It's neat to see us standing in the exact same spot--me 45 years later! I never knew that she and my grandpa had traveled to Europe. I would have loved to visit with them about our common interest of travel.

Posted by
739 posts

It is the reminders that trigger memories that I like. I don’t tend to by much for myself. No stuffed animals or or snow globes or shot glasses. Not that those are bad if you like that kind of thing. For me it more ticket stubs and maps and what have you. The object is just something that reminds me about a trip I otherwise may not think about very often.