Living a life where you’re constantly on the road, traveling to new places, and experiencing different cultures is like a dream come true for those who have wanderlust. It can seem foolish to stay in one place all your life when there are plenty of adventures to take worldwide.
If you’re new to this kind of adventurous life, then you should start with baby steps. Before you commit to a long and winding journey away from your comfort zone, you should be able to find your footing as an adventurer. This initial period will allow you to discover if you can travel with only a backpack or not.
This is important because it decides what kind of memorabilia you can take with you as you’re traveling. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and they are essential parts of traveling, but they aren’t things that can hold sentimental value like these four collectible items below:
Item #1 Postcards
With almost all parts of the world connected through the internet, handwritten notes sent through snail mail can be rare. This can be something you do while you travel, particularly if you are a sucker for handwritten messages, even if it’s just from yourself.
You can turn this into a tradition each time you visit a new place. For instance, you can go to a local bookstore to buy a postcard, write a short message detailing your experiences and adventures, and mail it to your home address no matter where you go.
Doing so can allow you to experience the mailing processes in different parts of the world while you get a meaningful keepsake from everywhere you go. It can also act like a journal entry that you can reread each time you’re feeling nostalgic about the adventures you had in that specific place.
Once you receive your postcard through the mail, you should keep it inside an album or a clear book that contains all your cards from your other adventures. This way, you can have an album containing all your travels and experiences.
Item #2 Figurines
Almost every country and culture have a distinct art style that they are proud of. If this interests you, you can make it a point to find an artist that you can meet or, at least, see the works of when you go to their hometown.
You might be fortunate enough to find a sculptor who makes animal porcelain figurines you can buy from. This way, you can support the local artist while getting yourself a keepsake that can hold sentimental value about your adventure to the place where you got it from.
Like the postcard tradition, collecting mini sculptures or artworks from all over the world can be a good way to document your adventures. You can even create a miniature museum in your home to place all the figurines or sculptures that you have collected from all your travels.
Item #3 T-shirts
One of the best parts about global tourism is that there is no scarcity in the kind of merchandise you can get from wherever you are. If you prefer wearable memorabilia, then a t-shirt printed with the place or country you’ve been to can be a good keepsake to collect.
T-shirts may not hold as much sentiment as postcards or figurines, but they can be just as special if you want them to be. Plus, if you’re getting them from local merchants, you are supporting their livelihoods, even if it’s only a small way. Think of it the act like paying it forward and sharing your blessings.
You can choose to wear your accumulated t-shirts for everyday living, or you can keep them as a collector’s item, in which case you will need to fashion a shrine inside your closet to honor them. Kidding aside, buying t-shirts can be a good way to get memorabilia without having to break your bank.
Item #4 Magnets
Each morning as you make your coffee to start the day, you pass by the refrigerator door without thinking that it could be something more. But in fact, the refrigerator door is like a blank canvas that is just waiting to be filled by magnets from your adventures around the world.
If you’re not a huge fan of writing on postcards, figurines, or even t-shirts, then magnets can be the thing you collect from wherever you go. They aren’t too heavy on your wallet nor your luggage because they are small objects, but they can be reminiscent of the time you spent in a certain place.
Imagine your refrigerator door becoming more occupied with quirky magnets from all the places you’ve been to after each travel. Your refrigerator door can act like an album containing all your travels, but instead of flipping through, you will only need to look closely to see the details on the little magnets.
Collecting memorabilia from your travels is not hoarding clutter but rather a way to hold on to a time when all you were thinking about is how you can enjoy your time in an unfamiliar environment. Being sentimental is not a bad thing, just like collecting keepsakes is not a waste of time.