Souvenirs you bring home

I typically get a dish towel reflective of the area or a tourist site, or a nonbreakable ornament or keychain for a Christmas tree, sometimes the glossy picture books from a tourist site, sometimes a Starbucks mug. Often I'll buy some sort of food or beverage, olive oil, wine, pasta, spice, teas.

Four close friends and I are all fortunate to get to travel, (not necessarily together) so for our annual Christmas luncheon we always exchange small purchases we've made on our trips. Scarves, dish towel, one time a lavender sachet from Provence, chocolate, bookmarks, keychain, Christmas ornaments, garden decor from Paris, very small pottery dish. We have to get creative because buying 5 of something to bring home in luggage can't take up too much space.

Ditto bookmarks and keychains. Sometimes drink coasters, matchbooks, and over the years learned post cards of places like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Cape Canaveral, Mt Rushmore, Florida Everglades, Chaco Canyon, Monument Valley, Griffith Observatory were well received.

In Cuba I provided a young man with a packet of baseball cards. Took a picture of him holding them. Picture was published in the LA Times.
Following American Baseball is huge in Cuba.

We always get a fridge magnet or two showing somehwere we particularly enjoyed.

When I worked in the London office of a US Law Firm, I always used to collect foreign beer mats for someone in the postroom in Cleveland OH.

Christmas tree ornaments, magnets, jewelry and sometimes artwork from a local. I'm also a big thrift/charity shop fan so if I come across one I'll pop in and get whatever.

Well our preference would be to head over to Stuttgart and buy us a fully-restored vintage 911, drive it up to Wetzlar for a couple Leica lenses from the factory store, then on to Genève for a pair of his-and-hers Rolexes; then after a rousing tour of alpine switchbacks head down to Milano for some leather goods before driving to Paris, pick up a couple Vuitton suitcases, fill one with Chanel and Hermès for her and then off to London and Savile Row to fill the other suitcase with bespoke menswear.

However by necessity our souvenirs consist purely of photographs.

I’ve told myself no more dish towels since I have at least five I haven’t used, yet. But, I do enjoy the memories from each one I use.

I have a nice pitcher from Italy, France & Spain.

Otherwise, my photos are my favorite souvenir, and they pack super light! ; ). Those became a collection of on-line printed photo books that are opened occasionally during the year.

@GPD 😂😂😂
Wouldn’t that be nice?

@Jean Otherwise, my photos are my favorite souvenir, and they pack super light! ; )

Yes! Well said

I would truly enjoy being with GBP.

Not having a metal refrigerator, I try to a magnet from each town on a trip and put them together on a magnetic board.
And I often bring back a card from a museum that we have enjoyed. Yes to bookmarks, or anything that might get put in a shoe for protection, LITTLE Polish pottery pitcher!

I also stick to simple things like dish towels, Christmas ornaments, coasters, and post cards that feature favorite art or views. My photo books and trip reports are best for remembering our trips.

We are pretty similar. We tend to keep souvenirs small and meaningful, usually things like postcards or local food items.

I will usually buy a few postcards, generally of sights I can’t get a good photo of due to poor weather or scaffolding. I went a little crazy on fridge magnets in France last year because so many had images of famous artworks. I will also buy a small art print or two that I can frame when I get home. Maybe a pair of earrings, and I love a small tin of candy or mints that has a pretty image of some sort. I specifically look for a good quality pen, preferably hand made, that is distinctive to the country. So, I have a pen from Ireland that has an inlaid silver Celtic knot pattern, a hand turned olive wood pen from Greece, and a glass pen from Murano, Italy. I wasn’t able to find anything in Turkey, or France that I liked. But, in Paris, I found a tacky pencil topped with a gold crown and tiny ‘jewels’ that I grab every time I need a pencil. Probably because it’s the easiest to see. Sometimes I buy food items specific to a country such as spices and Turkish delight from Turkey, or a famous local tea, but these things are heavier, and bulky so I try not to.

I always buy books and they usually include a bookmark that I laminate and use.

A magnet.

Chocolate.

Postcards and bookmarks from museum gift shops.

A few times I've picked up coasters if I see some I like.

Sometimes mugs if I see one i like. Trying not to get one at each location as I have too many and they're bulky and breakable

Food!!

Since my European trips are usually to italy or to Spain, I bring things like olive oils, cheeses, canned fish and canned seafood, cured seafood like bottarga, chocolate and candies, jarred pestos and jams...if you can eat it, I've probably brought it home at one time or another...but I am trying to cut back.!!

Like many others I tend toward kitchen towels, bookmarks , postcards from art museum gift shops that are regularly changed out. Generally light weight and functional with the occasional ceramic tile. My first challenge is from my non shopping husband… “.Wait! Where will you put it? And don’t say the downstairs bathroom…my go to gallery of souvenirs. One favorite purchase was a keychain from Krakow attached to my jacket zipper…/shocking how many people notice it. And also baseball caps from various places we have visited, usually islands from a cruise with a top price tag of $5. They’re useful thanks to my dermatologist. Also surprising how many conversations they initiate ..people start talking to me and I’m flummoxed until I look at my cap ( I never thought I thought I could be mistaken for someone from Corfu or Belize but it happens quite often. Fun icebreaker for an inveterate kibbutzer like myself.. Happy travels!

From Italy mostly: locally grown food like lentils, chocolate, ridiculous candy and snacks for our grandchildren from highway stops like Autogrill, nuts especially hazelnuts and pistachios, Pocket Coffee, wine, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some potato chips my husband loves, pesto (various kinds), and pasta.

Also ceramics. Lots of photos.

I collect magnets from everywhere I have visited- I long ago ran out of space on the front and side of the fridge and now have an overflow of magnetic panels in my (home) office.

Magnets seem popular here. All these comments are great. The "mint tin" is an interesting idea as a gift too.
The food ones make me want to head to the airport now!

I like to bring back coffee cups from each of the cities I visit. The cups need to be made local, or at least made in the nation I'm visiting -- not foreign made junk. I didn't bring a coffee cup home from Bayeux, they were all made in China. In Prague I found a café with a paint your own pottery studio. I paint pottery like a third grader, but I love that mug.

Lots of books, especially from UK museums that are on historical topics I cover at work.

I'll bring back knitting yarn

Sometime tshirts. Loved the thought of a BBQ restaurant in Prague and got the tshirt.

Yeah sometime a fridge magnet.

Unique foods and a lot of candy... a LOT! I have fun bringing home a lot and dumping it on the break room table for folks I work with to enjoy over the next few days.

I'll take an empty suitcase to fill as I travel.

@VAP

@VAP - I have fun bringing home a lot and dumping it on the break room table for folks I work with to enjoy over the next few days.

Are most of your travels for work? Mine are all personal/private, and I work at a small office (15 total). If I have space on my carry-on, I will bring a bag of candy/chocolate to share with the team but it is harder these days with carry-on weight limit.

Edited to add: In hindsight, I wish I had an empty suitcase last year in Morocco. I did buy a mini ceramic salt/spice holder that my mom had asked for if I had room in my carry-on. It came wrapped in paper and clothes and thank goodness it didn't break.

My travel souvenirs have gone through phases, until I have "too many" of whatever and I switch to something else. So I have fun little travel memories everywhere around the house: the coffee mug cupboard, the magnetic travel map, the Christmas tree decorations, the basket of tea towels.

Recently, I've had fun buying useful clothing items that, when I wear them, remind me of where I was when I bought them - Sofia, Valencia, Brasov, Chichester, Vienna - and how much I enjoyed those trips and the little shopping excursions.

@- Joy -
All of my travels are personal. I'm a blacksmith that works in the museum education field and my personal travels, work, and my own personal interests do intersect quite a lot. I've found myself at the V&A taking photos of iron artifacts and then coming home and making reproductions. In 2023 I finally wandered into the Wallace Collection and spent hours taking detailed photos of artifacts we only get to see in books.

I use to be strictly carry-on only. By 2022 I was getting tired of souvenir origami packing that I started bringing and checking an empty carry-on sized bag just for souvenirs.

CWsocial - I've had fun buying useful clothing items that, when I wear them, remind me of where I was when I bought them

I've done the same. Hit some of the outdoor outfitters for their end of season sales for dirt cheap clothing. Canterbury was a fleece jacket and woolen base layer. In London an outfitter had an end of season sale with wool tshirts at £5 ea. I bought just one and kick myself everytime I wear that tshirt, for not buying the other 9 that were available. But yeah that was back in the age of souvenir origami packing before my 2nd suitcase.

Cloth bags from favourite food stores to use at home for grocery shopping
Prints to frame
Good chocolate
Stationary
Coffee, tea
Christmas ornaments

Christmas ornaments, tea towels, a table runner I use on a coffee table, small ceramics, cookbooks (they can be heavy but I’m selective), food items, wine (still have a bottle from our first Italy trip in 2013).

I thought of a big one that I missed earlier. I bring home a travel souvenir that I use quite often - cooking skills! I used to make Italian homemade pasta dishes or French croissants often for my husband. After he died, I haven’t made croissants, but I started inviting ladies in my neighborhood for an evening every few months to again make Italian pasta according to the season with my china set out for a fancy meal. It continues to bring joy & laughter and also very sweet memories from Europe & home on several levels.

I rarely buy souvenirs from a souvenir shop, only very occasionally. Last trip I bought my daughter a modern Delft candle holder. I had seen them online by chance a while back but found the postage too much. When I actually saw one in a museum shop I jumped on it! Mostly I buy food (coffee, tea, chocolate, vinegars, oils, etc) or items from kitchen shops. If I have no space in my luggage but fall in love with something bigger, I take a photo. You would be surprised at how many new and interesting things foreign kitchen shops have! We don't have much space to display souvenirs, hence the consumables and the 'usefuls'. I also really like supermarkets in foreign countries, and in Germany, which I visit often for work reasons, I like Drogerien (drug stores without the pharmaceuticals). There is always something good there. Last time in Germany I bought these pocket-sized tins of hand cream, which they often have as limited editions in winter. Aimed at children, the scent is called enticing things like 'fairy dust' or 'magic'. Also stationery supplies in Germany. They have traditional supplies like leather pencil cases, vocabulary books, grid-ruled notebooks and 'Tintenkiller' - ink dissolver. If you use an ink pen, Tintenkiller will erase your mistakes and the other end of the pen has a non-erasable felt tip, so you can write over your mistakes. Used a lot by school children.

You are making me want to shop in Europe again!

Lavandula

I still have my “Pope-ner” bottle opener I got in Rome.

For a while I purchased tiles and have 10 of them displayed on the longish counter in my guest bathroom/laundry room so I enjoy them while doing onerous laundry work and guests also get to enjoy them. Tea towels for sure and also aprons, favourite is one from Crete followed closely by one from Sicily with a recipe for limoncello, now very faded, printed on it.

Because our son loves soccer jerseys, we buy him a current jersey from that city or country's soccer team. This year he got Germany's national jersey.

Love to bring home dish towels, fabric bags with the place visited imprinted on the side, boxes of tea, fridge magnet, postcards. British chocolate always finds a place in my suitcase. Always. :)

Last couple of trips we have added skeins of yarn. Son has found some cool tShirts from a few of the spots we’ve visited including pubs and museum gift shops.

Thanks Joy, what a fun thread. On a biking trip around Andalusia, I acquired a number of gorgeous hand painted tiles & several small pitchers. I still use them 45 years later! (They survived a train trip back to Germany and trip home to CA.) Now there's always local Swedish "chocolate nougat" bars, my hairdresser would be so bummed if I didn't bring her some. I also bring "Swedish hth", an amazing local hand lotion, it's a special request from our house sitter.

A few years ago I paid up for a bottle of Modena balsamic vinegar with truffle oil in Italy, you just need a few drops & I'm still using it in pasta. And cloth grocery bags can also be fun & cheap. I just picked up a beautiful cloth bag of a 1500’s high society lady in lace & pearls from a local museum.

Yes, indeed the pictures that now become Shutterfly picture books, thanks to the many I've seen at in-person RS meetings in the East Bay. And thank you Christine for reminding me when there's a sale, I usually save $100 by waiting for the 'lie flat as many pages as you like' versions!

When I first read your thread I decided I didn't really have anything to contribute because I am not a shopper and I'm a fairly light packer. AND, after cleaning out our parents' home in 2013 I swore I would not bring back as much stuff as they did from their travels so even if I had had shopping tendencies that would have put the kibosh on them, hahaha.

HOWEVER....I loved what Jean said about bringing back "cooking skills"....!!!! I did a couple of art classes and tried my hand at sketching during my recent Paris trip so I have those memories, a new skill or two and a few pages in sketch books as well, lol.

Today it's also quite chilly here in North Idaho (high of 48 with rain!!) so I have put on something I DID buy and that is yet another stripey shirt from a vendor at Bastille Market. I can't quite bring myself to pay for one of the expensive brand name marinières like ArmorLux but a 100% cotton, long sleeve shirt for 19E will do it for me!

I bring home a wall calendar for the following year if they are available.
Though, last year in France it took me three days to find a shop selling them.
I guess they aren’t a thing there.
Nice soap, especially from Italy.
Cheese from France. Much cheese.🧀
Fridge magnets.

I loved reading this!!

And the winner of the "Best Thing to Bring Home from Europe" is......Spidey....for the POPE-NER!!!

Ohhh, I thought of another thing! Art or craft supplies!

Yes, I visited an art supply store and restrained myself, mostly because I did not have much room in my suitcase. I did get some very nice watercolor brushes. I realized after I purchased that the brand is readily available in the US and even at the big non-chain art supply store in Spokane but it's a French brand (since 1793, hahaha) and apparently still made in France at their factory in Brittany.

Thru the years I've also seen very cute scrapbooking supplies in Yellowstone as well as at a stationery store near my hotels in Paris.

Now that I have 2 grandchildren I will bring them each something very small...depending on where I am. I will buy a key chain for the Christmas tree. My H will get something to consume, if memorable. For me, I will buy a pair of earrings...or two. On a rare occasion, I will be in a fabric store and purchase some fabric for a future project. Everything will need to fit in my carryon. Otherwise, I am way beyond needing things. I've downsized, love it, and I'm not going back! LOL

@ PAM - When I first read your thread I decided I didn't really have anything to contribute because I am not a shopper and I'm a fairly light packer. AND, after cleaning out our parents' home in 2013 I swore I would not bring back as much stuff as they did from their travels so even if I had had shopping tendencies that would have put the kibosh on them, hahaha.

Thanks for coming to share. Before I started doing carry-on only (2019), I use to buy so much stuff and trinkets. Some of them were very representative of the country and special moment, others were just pens and little figurines. When in Beijing, I bought this Chinese flute (Hulusi) at an artisan fair after I had watched a group of seniors playing it at a park. That moment is very special and I have a video of them playing and singing "Auld Lang Syne". Did I really need to buy the flute? Probably not. I can't even figure out how to play it. It's hard! I have few other "memorabilia" as I call these souvernirs. But I don't display them in the house and they now sit in a drawer with my other "travel treasures". I have done enough "show and tell" at kid's school but we are past that phase. I am more minimalist now, so will get myself something useful or consumable.

@Sandancisco - On a biking trip around Andalusia, I acquired a number of gorgeous hand painted tiles & several small pitchers. I still use them 45 years later! (They survived a train trip back to Germany and trip home to CA.)

I am more impressed the tiles survived the biking trip itself ! Glad to hear you are still using them, maybe I'll find some use for my treasures.

I am more impressed the tiles survived the biking trip itself ! Glad
to hear you are still using them, maybe I'll find some use for my
treasures.

Hahaha, yes indeed! And the tiles have only started to chip recently from continued use, not bad for 45 years of use.

I buy shopping bags from the local grocery stores. I think they elevate my farmers’ market game.

"I buy shopping bags from the local grocery stores. I think they elevate my farmers’ market game."

Oh gosh....that made me laugh out loud! I kept forgetting to go by the Monoprix in Paris to get some of their bags this last trip, hahaha! I was just going to elevate my Fred Meyer experience but the Farmers Market sounds much better, lol!!

We always get a magnet for the garage freezer and a Christmas ornament. The ornament is often nitration ornament, but anything fun that can be turned into one.

In the part I have bought dish towels, but currently I have more than I need.

I do love to bring home the grocery store bags we have loads of the Bonus ones from Iceland but they work so well for so many things.

I do usually buy something that the country area is known for. In Iceland I have bought sweaters and on the last trip had one made for me. Wool hats from there too have made their way home with us quite often.

We get magnets for each town we visit, and a tote bag from one of them. The tote bags are dual purpose - they give us space if we need it to bring more stuff back, but more importantly, every time I need a bag for grocery shopping or whatever, it brings me back to where I was when I purchased it.

This will get me in so much trouble. But every time I scroll down and see this topic I have an incrediable happy moment.

In 1986, just out of courisioty and boredom I made my first trip to Tegucigapla, Honduras. 6 months later, almost to the day, the manager of my hotel in Teguicagalpa and I became husbsnd and wife. 3 children later, the best 35 years of my life.

In 1986, just out of courisioty and boredom I made my first trip to Tegucigapla, Honduras. 6 months later, almost to the day, the manager of my hotel in Teguicagalpa and I became husbsnd and wife. 3 children later, the best 35 years of my life.

Edited to add: (above is from Mr. E)

❤️❤️

Joy, This is wonderful! LOL Because, it could have been the worst souvenir ever!

@Wray - this is from Mr. E, not me.

I just realized I brought back very heavy German beer steins in the same carryon to the US as those Spanish tiles & pitcher! As a college student, I just went along with my German friends and rarely paid much attention to the beer we drank, but the family I stayed with gifted me some incredible hand made steins. Just had a beer with a neighbor recently, but she wondered what all the fuss was about and didn't like the heavy lid! hahahaha.

I like edible souvenirs, so I usually buy coffee, jam & honey wherever I am. We look for photos or paintings of local scenery to frame, but only from street vendors. Then, whatever catches my eye. One of my favorites is one of those little plastic solar wigglers of waving Queen Elizabeth II waving queen. I have a pope-ener too.

My mom would always buy "the golden book of" books wherever she went. They were all over the souvenir shops. They are about 125 pages of high quality pictures with some text, not too much text, coffee table type books. They are great, but I think the cell phones killed them, never see them anymore.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266738912740

I was a huge souvenir buyer for many years. I felt like when I was on trips half my time was spent looking for mementos for myself, friends, family, and coworkers. I had so many collections of magnets, Christmas ornaments, figurines, coffee mugs, alebrijes, watercolor scenes, t shirts, sand, sweaters, and necklaces. During Covid, I all of a sudden just stopped. My souvenir hunting has gone down now to just a sticker where ever I go. I buy a sticker to put on my daily planner and call it good. It did take a lot of pressure off my trips, feeling like I had a long list of purchases I had to make. Mind you I do still take a lot of photos and now have piles of Shutterfly photo coffee table books.

The one item I always buy and it often requires searching quite a few tourist shops is a post card that is a drawing or painting of a notable site or view of the locale. Photo postcards abound, but postcards that are illustration or a print of a painting are much harder to find. I have a collection from many years of travel and they have been collaged and framed and it hangs in my hallway. I have few more that waiting for several more to make up another collage.

I've learned to avoid most food items unless it is something that I actually eat during the subsequent days of my travels- I 've enjoyed Hob Nobs in Edinburgh, torroni (sp?) while in Spain, etc. I still have piri-piri sauce/oil from my 2019 Portugal trip- I always forget that I have it, and I have ended up throwing away other jarred condiments that I brought home from travels. Dry items like tea or spices will get used.

Other items that I buy I have to be usable. I may buy small jewelry - a necklace or earrings. When I found a nicer jacquard weave tea towel in Portugal, it came home and is now the dust cover for my sewing machine.

I bought a gorgeous calendar with Italian architectural drawings, I wish I could have found a large poster, we would have had it framed. I recall buying it at an outdoor stall near our hotel. It was called 'Architetura Italiana' (sp).

At the far Pompeii exit there was a lovely gift shop where I bought not only post cards, but the latest book by the director about the scavi, "The Buried City". (Not a light read but I just finished it 6 months later!) Museum gift shops are a great place to shop!

I try to get something particular to the area - glass in Venice, leather in Florence, ceramic plate in Positano, lace from Burano, a spurtle and a quaiche and a plaid scarf from Scotland. Small items that remind me of the place I visited.