Travel memories on my Christmas Tree

how sweet. Sounds just the right emphasis.

If you are only putting up the top four feet - how big is that monster???

Our tree is about 14 inches with automatic lights so no extras on there. We have a few memory joggers around but that's it. Most recently added to my desk is a little 3D plexiglass cricketer in a rectangular solid, illuminated by 3 ancient LED from below, Looks very 70s. To each their own, eh?

I love the idea of writing a short note about each ornament. I am going to steal that idea and do it this year. That way, when we are gone and the kids sift through, they will know more about each one. Our tree is almost all ornaments from travels and I love unwrapping each one as I can remember where we were. Not all of the ornaments have the city/country on them, so this will definitely help.

My tree is decorated also with ornaments from our travels. I never thought of writing a note about where I got the ornament and when. It is a lovely idea that I am going to start this year.

If you are only putting up the top four feet - how big is that monster???

I think it must be 7' tall, with two 3' sections and the last little bit at the top, plus the Christmas star. It's stored in pieces in the attic, which have to be carried down the stairs. And the table moved out of the bay window for it to fit. The mini-me tree is sitting on the table, so no furniture moving either!

Not all of the ornaments have the city/country on them

So true. I do try to buy ones that say "Salzburg" or "Bulgaria" on them, but that can be limiting.

With the notes, when I am gone, my brother will know what he is throwing away ;-)

Oh, yes. We've been doing this for about 25 years. Items to hang from our tree are usually the only souvenirs we bring home.

A sampling:

An oyster shell Santa from Prince Edward Island
A mini adirondack chair from Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
A tiny buddha from Chi Lin nunnery in Kowloon
A set of 9 wooden Matariki stars (Maori) from Auckland
A bell from Budapest
A mini stein from Munich
A fragment of the Berlin Wall
A sparkly Eiffel Tower
A Notre Dame gargoyle
A sloth from Costa Rica
A paper lantern from Taipei
A tiny plate with Sisi on it from Vienna
A mini tiled lizard from Barcelona
A van Gogh and easel from Amsterdam
A mini windmill from Zaans Schans
A small wooden oryx from Namibia
A carved wooden temple shape with a figure and lotus blossoms on it from Angkor Wat
A mini conical hat from Hoi An, Vietnam
A crown from the Tower of London
A mini Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen
Lego figures of us from the flagship Lego store in Copenhagen
A black madonna from Montserrat, Spain
An angel in a muumuu from Honolulu
A wooden koala with Indigenous markings from Sydney
A sparkly kookaburra from the Daintree Rainforest, Australia
A hairy coo from the Scottish Highlands
A shamrock from Ireland
A viking ship from Oslo
A flower-bedecked bull from Madrid
A mini parliament buildings (Centre Block) from Ottawa
A toboggan and a snowshoe from Quebec
A Nelson Mandela finger puppet from the Human Rights museum in Winnipeg
A dove from the Nobel Peace museum in Oslo
A storyteller doll from Santa Fe
A "cornament" (beaded cob of corn with deerskin leaves) from a pueblo in New Mexico
Tiny llamas from Peru
A witch on a broomstick from Salem, Massachusetts
A blue booby foot from the Galapagos Islands
A small pouch with the touching fingers from the Sistine Chapel depicted on it
A beaded, cloth replica of Ponte Vecchio
A glass gondola with gondolier from Murano
A beaded hummingbird from Merida, Mexico
A mini stein from Prague
Etc.

a little 3D plexiglass cricketer in a rectangular solid, illuminated by 3 ancient LED from below
I am trying to picture this .... and wondering where you bought it! Sounds very tech, even if 70's style.

Do your holiday decorations bring back special travel memories?

You bet! We've accrued enough from our adventures both here and abroad that we've named it "The Travel Tree!" We set aside a "Tree Fest" day every year to put on seasonal music, crack a bottle of bubbly, lay out a small buffet of snacks, and assemble/decorate the thing. My husband and I both have faves that are the first to be hung; mine include a small bear in a sweater from Antwerp, a tiny, authentic Navajo-woven rug from the Grand Canyon, a colorful, hand-painted ball from the Cinque Terre.... lots of memories. I keep an ongoing list of where they all came from. Ooh, hanging an old passport? What a great idea, CW!! LOL, my first is from 1955 and I am 3 months old.

BB, your tree of 25 years of travel ornaments sounds marvelous! It would be fun to "shop for travel destinations" from your tree!!

Ooh, hanging an old passport? What a great idea, CW!!
I think I might have adopted that idea from the forum, a few years back!

Kate, I love your Tree Fest day idea! I tried to get Alexa to play Christmas tunes last night, but she didn't want to participate. (Adding to my list for Santa, a more cooperative Alexa!)

a small bear in a sweater from Antwerp
Sounds adorable! Funny how a little bear can evoke an entire trip!

BB, you know what I love about your list of ornaments....each one, if seen individually, might seem (if you will forgive my phrase to make my point) like a "silly little thing." "A mini conical hat from Hoi An, Vietnam" by itself might be forgotten in a cupboard. But taken together with all of your ornaments displayed on your tree, they tell the most amazing story of a travel life well-lived!

CWsocial--That is funny! Yes, the kids will know what they are throwing out:) Both are sentimental though so I think they would divide up most of them. We have a wooden Pinocchio figurine from Venice that was actually a toy, but it has always gone on the Christmas tree. My husband found a knit Christmas tree ornament in Iceland at a small handmade shop, so name on it. I bought a small wooden ptarmigan ornament in Greenland at an artists studio, and again there is nothing on it. I might write on the back of that. I did have a special Hotel Del Coronado wooden ornament from my college graduation, but the younger pup ate it last week, along with a limb of the tree.

CW, so many of you lovely RS regulars are SO well traveled that I'm sure our list of baubles is much shorter - and not as interesting - in comparison!

Both are sentimental though so I think they would divide up most of them.

Kids are much more sentimental than brothers. At least my brother. My Mom just gave me a few sentimental family ornaments, which she kindly said "she thought I would appreciate more than my brothers would."

the younger pup ate it last week, along with a limb of the tree.
Oh my, I chuckled at that! Knowing, of course, that your pup is undoubtedly fine. Though I can imagine that tree limb might have caused some stomach upset!

Another advantage of my mini-tree being on the table - the dog ran around under it last night, but couldn't knock anything off!

CWsocial, what a fun “mini-tree”! And weren’t the Christmas Markets fun? : ). Maybe you might want your own “travel tree” each year! I have a short tree that was part of a set of 3. I use the tallest & call it my “Grandma Tree” with an ornament with each one & a little colorful wooden string.

I don’t usually buy ornaments when I travel, but I have one from our 45th anniversary to England that I picked up in York. I found a similar one during this trip & also bought a few others in Vienna & Esslingen. My main European decor are my new 8 Christmas Market mugs on a bookshelf shelf.

CWsocial, I decorated my Christmas tree a few weeks before I left for the trip. I figured I would come home tired & want to consider skipping decorating, except I host a neighborhood Christmas party. It was nice to walk in the house & feel like the Christmas atmosphere from the trip was extended into my home & special to add the new ornaments! I’m glad your glass ornaments survived the travel! : )

I'm sure our list of baubles is much shorter

Perhaps shorter, but I imagine just as memorable, if each one not more so.

My Mom has ornaments made by us kids, which are the ones she prizes on her mini tree.

Everyone's trees and ornaments sound wonderful! CWsocial, thanks for the idea of writing information about the ornaments: where you purchased it and when. I have not done that but will start now.

We didn't buy ornaments on every trip but we have purchased ornaments for quite a few trips, and I love hanging them on our tree, which has gotten smaller, too. So now I hang only our travel ornaments and ornaments from our children and grandchildren. We have ornaments from Paris, Granada, Prague, Telc, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Montenegro, San Antonio, Cape Cod, Germany, Scotland, China, Vermont, Russia, Glacier NP, and Mt. Rainier NP. I might have left a few out.

This is a fun thread!

And weren’t the Christmas Markets fun? : ). Maybe you might want your own “travel tree” each year!

Yes they were! I didn't think I had enough travel ornaments for an entire "travel tree" - even a mini one. I only started buying Christmas ornaments when I ran out of space for tea towels and magnets and keychains, oh my! Now that I seem to have a collection, even if only from my more recent travels, the Travel Tree may become a tradition!

I must caution myself, however, that if I buy too many travel ornaments, I'll have to put the big tree up again to fit them all!

CWsocial, I decorated my Christmas tree a few weeks before I left for the trip.

So smart, Jean. I put up a few decorations before I left, but was decidedly against putting up the tree for my abbreviated holiday season. And then I bought those ornaments at the Christmas markets ;-)

My main European decor are my new 8 Christmas Market mugs on a bookshelf shelf.

This is clever, Jean. I saw your photo and realized that I had been thinking that I would need to find kitchen cupboard space (which there isn't) to store them. It hadn't occurred to me (simple as it may seem) to display them during the holiday and then pack them away in the Christmas attic!

So now I hang only our travel ornaments and ornaments from our children and grandchildren.

kmkwoo, I love the priorities of ornaments from the littles .... and .... the travel ornaments!

CWsocial,
My priorities are my children when they were little, current littles; travel and especially precious to me are my grandmother's sparkling brooches on pretty ribbon hung on the tree. My ornament from the RS Munich, Salzburg, Vienna tour is from the Orberndorf Museum/Silent Night!

CWsocial, you just made me think of an idea. When you or I are packing away our Christmas Market mugs, take some time to write a few pages about them. Mine already have the city or market names on them, but I could write what I drank out of them, how my daughter & I were feeling about that specific market, or if we bought it early because we were cold, etc. I have the trip report for the things people on the forum care about, but this could be that personal excitement & reflection that will make opening that bin each year something extra special to put me mentally back in those places again. : ).

Kids are much more sentimental than brothers.

My kids' version of sentimental: take a photo and then throw it away.

my grandmother's sparkling brooches on pretty ribbon hung on the tree.

KD, this is a lovely idea! I have a few simple Christmas ornaments that my Mom's mom made .... she cut up pretty pictures from Christmas cards and hand sewed them into little ornaments. I don't have anything on my tree from my Dad's mom, so I'm going to look for something of hers that I can hang on a ribbon as an ornament.

that personal excitement & reflection that will make opening that bin each year something extra special to put me mentally back in those places again. : )

Jean, that is a wonderful idea that will bring those mugs to life each time you (or your children and grandchildren) read their stories!

Perhaps I'll start with the 3 I bought this year. I had just about given up on buying an ornament in Munich, when I wandered from the Christmas Markets into a little garden store. I didn't go in looking for ornaments, just admiring their pretty display of flowers and plants. They had one small display of ornaments, and I recognized "mine" as soon as I saw it. I loved it even more when the clerk told me its little story.

I'd love to remind myself of that peek into the garden shop!

My "go to" souvenir from our travels is always a Christmas ornament, and somewhere on the ornament I write the year that it was purchased.. But, I will only buy ornaments that are made by local artisans; never any that are mass produced in another country. We always have a live tree that is at least 11 feet tall, and it gives us great pleasure to see it decorated with our various travel and family mementos. Every year it is a labor of love to decorate our tree!

If I didn't have two overly curious young cats I could put up my tiny (fake) mini tree forest and hang the various little things I got on my travels. My favorites are a wee pair of wooden shoes from Amsterdam and a stone shamrock from Ireland. I also have ornaments given to me by my grandparents after their extensive world travels - my favorite is a very non-traditional silk embroidered horse from China. Great suggestions to document the origin story for future use, though I suspect my niece and nephew will fall in the "photograph and toss it" category. Kids these days :)

My kids' version of sentimental: take a photo and then throw it away.

The digital generations will have so much less "stuff" than those of us who grew up in the day of paper and physical. That reminds me, I need to get my photos onto my television for display ... since I don't make photo albums. Because I'd never be able to choose the photos! On the TV, I can display every single photo!

We always have a live tree that is at least 11 feet tall

See, Nigel, mine isn't really that big!!

I admire your local artisans rule, TravelBug79!

CL, I love that you have travel ornaments from your grandparents, wow!!

I was about to suggest that you put your "tiny (fake) mini tree forest" up on a table. Until I remembered that will stop my small dog, but is simply a new challenge two overly curious young cats!

Well, those of you who know me in person, know how much I like Ranch Dressing, because I always ask you to bring packets of it to me. Imagine my surprise yesterday, when one of my friends who had been in Florida, gave me a Ranch Dressing Ornament for my tree! Laughter filled the cafe when I saw it.

One of the stands at the Frankfurt Christmas market is selling cookie cutters and they have them for different landmarks in Frankfurt as well as for some other cities too. These would make great ornaments and you don't have to worry about them breaking when you pack. Saw something similar in Mainz too.

B, your tree of 25 years of travel ornaments sounds marvelous! It would be fun to "shop for travel destinations" from your tree!!

CWsocial, it's certainly fun to remember the destinations as we decorate the tree every year. And, yes, they are silly little things. It's fitting, because a lot of Christmas ornaments are little trinkets, and so are a lot of souvenirs people buy (keychains, spoons, magnets, etc.). I'm not a fan of tchotchkes with countries' names on them, as a rule. Buying those things to use as tree ornaments is fun, though.

And I also love the passport idea. I'll have to dig out our old ones to hang. If I recall correctly, they already have holes punched in them by Passport Canada, to render them unusable, so they'll be easy to hang.

Love hearing about everyone's "travel tree". It's good to know I'm not the only one collecting ornaments and decorations. Besides souvenirs, my ornament collection goes back long ago to when I was a kid.

The "travel tree" is 4ft and in the entry hall with ceramic Santas. Most of my souvenirs are on it and a few reminders of earlier trips: Delft balls depicting windmills, painted eggs from Prague, colored glass from Venice, Connemara marble from Killarney, tourist ornaments from Rome celebrating my trip with sister-in-law, glass bells from Ireland and Salzburg.

Not everything is on that tree. Horse ornaments from London, Vienna and Lipica are on the den's 3ft "horse tree". Crystal ornaments from Waterford, Dingle and elsewhere are on the 7 1/2ft living room's “crystal and silver tree” and its little 3ft overflow tree.

I eliminated the bedroom's angel and breast cancer tree but combined most of those ornaments with the 3ft. guest room "turtle tree". Oh, I forgot the family room's 3ft and two 4ft trees are full of Santa, toys and old ornaments.

Yes I have a lot, but each tree is filled with memories as are the multitude of Santas everywhere in the house.

Merry Christmas to all! Happy Holidays to those who celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Happy New Years to everyone else.

Edit: I’m married to the Grinch, or maybe he’s Scrooge. Bah Humbug. After 55 years of marriage, he puts up with my obsessive decorating. My concession to him is no outdoor lights except Starboard and Port in the porch lights.

a Ranch Dressing Ornament for my tree!
Ms. Jo, that is hilarious! And wonderful to have a friend who knows your tastes, literally ;-)

*cookie cutters ... for different landmarks in Frankfurt as well as for some other cities too"
That is a fabulous souvenir idea. I can imagine a travel themed holiday with little Römer cookies!

KD--The brooch idea is fantastic! I have been wearing one of my mom's brooch's the last few weeks and am so surprised at how many people comment on it, especially the younger generation. I love it as it brings back so many memories.

CW--My husband found the shredded wooden ornament in a million pieces. The pup did ingest some though as of course in the middle of the night she started making that sound. The one that makes you fly out of bed and rush them to the bathroom tile floor to get sick. She is fine though.

in the middle of the night she started making that sound

I know that sound, in the middle of the night! And the rush to the tile floor, because of course the carpet is much more comfortable for a good puke ;-/ I'm glad she is fine!

Another high five for the brooch idea! I've a couple of my own grandmother's and no clue what this hopeless tomboy should do with them. Brilliant. Thank you.

Horsewoofie, I love your themed trees! My travel ornaments have always had a section on my "fancy" tree, but your Crystal and Silver tree (and its little overflow tree) give me an vision of having two - the travel one and the "fancy" one. I'll have to get creative to fit two in my California-sized house! :-)

Reading this thread made me happy. :) I wasn’t organized enough to get all the normal Christmas decorating done before my Dec. trip; and with not having everyone to my house for Christmas, it didn’t happen in this intervening week either. So I just have my somewhat small tree out - and am going to revamp all my decorating (and tubs of stuff) when I get home in January.

I love the lists of ornaments! I brought home coffee mugs as my “item” for years so don’t have as many travel ornaments, but do have quite a few. In 2020, my tree was a “travel tree” but I think it will be that from now on.

My children are also of the “take a picture and then send stuff to a new home” variety.

We buy Christmas ornaments too when we travel but some of them were from years ago and we weren’t quite sure of the year. So for those and also for those that were unusual and didn’t have a location on them I had small wooden labels made by a seller on Etsy. Then I attached with thin silver or gold ribbon. It was my Christmas present to myself.

I’m kind of an Ebenezer Scrooge this year. I hate the feeling. I used to buy beautiful ornaments the day after Christmas. The Mover lost them in a move many years ago. Thankfully, we are getting out of coastal California before the atmospheric river hits Christmas Eve, and heading to Death Valley National Park. I hope to loose the Scrooge feeling and get some Christmas Spirit at the hotel.
Merry Christmas everyone!

I buy key chains at the gift stores to use as tree . ornaments. I just unscrew the chain part leaving the other part that has the name of the location and usually a lovely depiction of the place then I add a ribbon where the chain was attached. It takes no room.in the suitcase and they usually cost a minimal.amount of money sometimes.only five or six dollars. Our funniest one was a hatchet from the Lizzie Borden museum.in Massachusetts, it gets a lot of comments hanging on a Christmas tree.

Hope you perk up, Diane. Me too.

What is an atmospheric river? Fog?

I brought home coffee mugs as my “item”

And I borrowed your idea, as you know. So instead of chipped mugs from Bed Bath & Beyond, I have lovely new ones from Sevilla and Greece and, most recently, Poland (by way of a Vienna Christmas Market) that make me smile when I have coffee!

ncangelose, your wooden labels sound lovely for little treasures!

Diane, no! We've had movers lose things over our many Air Force moves when I was a kid. But your collection of Christmas Ornaments? Errrrrrrr. One of the "nice to have" items on my emergency fire evacuation list (on the 30 minute warning list, not the 10 minute one) is my small box of Christmas travel ornamenta, for sentimental value! I can understand that would give you a Scrooge of an attitude!

Nigel, an atmospheric river is a high density stream of moisture flowing like a river as it is carried by the jet stream and dumping loads of rain along its course. Well, that's my layman's description. I didn't Google it for accuracy. One year, I was hauling buckets of atmospheric river water from my back yard. That was before I discovered that I had a drain back there that had been overgrown with grass!

Gail, brilliant! As soon as the sun comes up (I'm still waking up on Vienna time) I'm rounding up my clutter of keychains and hanging them on the travel tree!

I bet I can do that with some of the other little "treasures " that I've collected over the years!

Our funniest one was a hatchet from the Lizzie Borden museum.in Massachusetts, it gets a lot of comments hanging on a Christmas tree.

I bet it does!! Ha!

now that one I have to see...

mother gets 40, dad - 41

Nigel, the other term is a pineapple express- which is specifically an atmospheric river which originated around Hawaii.

Our funniest one was a hatchet from the Lizzie Borden museum.in Massachusetts, it gets a lot of comments hanging on a Christmas tree.

Oooh, I love that. I didn't know there was a Lizzie Borden museum. I once went as her to a "Come as your favourite criminal or dead person" party. (She qualified on both counts.)

A lot of my ornaments are repurposed keychains, because they are a good size for hanging on the tree.

most recently, Poland (by way of a Vienna Christmas Market)

Ooooh, jealous! I am drinking out of Stockholm today and next year’s tree will have a lovely hand-painted egg from Romania. :)

Also laughing about the Lizzie Borden ornament. 🤣

Yes about the Lizzie Borden house. It is located in Fall.River.Massachusetts and when we were there it had a really nice gift shop out back and we had a great tour of the original house which is now a B&B. You can even stay in one of the bedrooms where one of the parents was murdered. Loved the tour but am not adventurous enough to sleep there. Loved the fact that Nigel remembers the 40 and 41 whacks!!!

There was a song:

Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
Gave her father 41.

I love the topic and variety of comments! Especially intriguing are the traveI items repurposed to hang on trees, like key chains, brooches, etc. I brought back a traditional Swedish advent candelabra, that miraculously folded flat, to CA, where it sits on the sideboard with my 'tomte', a Swedish elf with very particular habits. (He expects to be fed porridge with lots of butter on Christmas eve or he raises havoc.) A colored wool string of balls from Trader Joes was easy to carry with me to Sweden this year to display along with some heavy mercury glass balls I picked up here in Uppsala, they all grace the window under another advent candelabra, this one electric. There's also a large paper star with cutouts, also Swedish (but I know IKEA carries them!), lit from within, in another window.

About pets - my mom cut out and baked cookies made only of flour & water (to discourage us from eating them??) to hang on the tree as ornaments. One year our dog stood by the front door politely wagging her tail to be let out, with a mouth bulging with cookies off the tree.

Right, Sandancisco! A couple of ours were originally keychains! A favorite from that bunch (and memento of Vermont) is a 3" Bernie Sander's string doll with mittens, mask and all. Looks like this:

https://bullcityfairtrade.com/products/bernie-mittens-string-doll?srsltid=AfmBOop9-6zrHkgZagAA_zX-TUtQWiNMmnzpnWEzxff8f7tN0PyiywIJ&variant=42129951817982

Well, ironically, I was just chatting with CW and right after I got off, I pulled up the forum and this thread popped up at the top. I don't know how I missed it,but I'm looking through all this now and seeing all these wonderful ideas coming into my mind for future Christmas decorations! This is such a great idea, and I don't know why I've never done this in the past!

It's not like I don't like to shop or anything... 😂

Thanks, Nigel! Well, the atmospheric river is following us on our getaway. Bah Humbug for sure. Catherine’s definition is accurate and if rain amounts are accurate, many are going to suffer flooding.

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=koala%20in%20a%20christmas%20tree%20youtube&mid=FAD2D80621A9FF36BC04FAD2D80621A9FF36BC04&ajaxhist=0

Ron, I could go for an ornament like that!

Oh my, beyond adorable ... ornament! Glad that all ended well for the unexpected little Christmas tree visitor!