Every journey even the well-planned one always comes to an end. But that’s fine because at least we are gifted with the ability to keep memories from the different trips. In order to keep them, people apply many interesting methods, just to be sure that they will not be forgotten. Of course, what we do the most is taking pictures while traveling but that will not be the topic of today’s post. On the other hand, buying souvenirs is also very popular among travelers so we will not talk about the most popular travel addiction – the magnets, either. Instead, we will write about the things that we collect during our journeys. We hope that this post will inspire you and you will decide to change your approach while on the road and you will see the new places from a different perspective.

(BG) Какво колекционираме докато пътуваме? Няколко алтернативни идеи за пътешественици.

1.Postcards

I am the kind of person who still sends postcards for different occasions. You can point me as a romantic old-school, but no one can steal my pleasure, even the slow and less reliable Bulgarian post. Whenever I travel, I always buy some postcards which I send via postal, keep for myself or make a gift to someone. The postcards can be bought from any souvenir shop, so next time before running into the magnets, think about why not buying some paper postcards, it’s so cool!

2.Advertising materials

This may sound super weird to you, but when I pack my bag for the way back, it’s full with brochures, business cards, flyers, etc. even shops catalogs and receipts (that’s how I calculate the total of our trips, it is smart, isn’t it?). I like advertising materials because I am a big fan of good graphic design. I am extremely interested and inspired when touching nice paper, seeing well-designed materials with nice color patterns, etc. Am I alone?

3.City map

The first thing I search for when arriving at a new location is finding a paper city map because the travel apps aren’t enough. I buy the sacred Grail or take away it from the tourist kiosks. And after this, we can conquer the city on our own – Dido with the mobile app and me with the map in my hand.  

4.Books

You already know about our passion for comics. The same goes for books and magazines. From each trip, we leave with a souvenir that brings the scent of paper. What better to fill the shelves with nice books that we can link to one particular trip? In Berlin, for example, we often visit the Modulor bookstore (for our one-week stay, we’ve been there at least three times …)

5. Planners / Journals

I’m taking notes for almost everything. I’m not a digital geek but mostly an analog one. For Dido, I can say the same. It is for this reason that the bookstores and the art shops are the places we spend some of our time. Any journals, planners, pens, and pencils go right into our bags. In London, for example, we have a favorite place for this purpose – Casa Art London.

6. Museums / Galleries Shops

In order to get wonderful memories of our journeys, we must also visit as many museums and galleries as we can. And we love to visit the museum shops. There can be found copies of museum exhibits, books, cards, etc. Over the years, we have obtained a copy of the Bill of Rights (USA), with a copy of the Rosetta Stone (UK), with a collection of old US currency from the Confederacy and the Civil War’s years, etc. One day, I would like to make a small room where I can expose all of my travel souvenirs. For now, I keep them in separate envelopes. 

7. Yoga

Along with the visit to various yoga studios in each city, I visit small shops or big chains that offer yoga products. The market in different countries is quite different, and you can find useful props for yoga practice or your zen place at home. For example, I bought a palo santo for a wonderful Madrid shop Velas de la Ballena and I love to clean the negative energy at home with it 🙂 

8. Food/Drink

We are food lovers and we can’t hide it. So bringing the specific taste from the place we’ve been travel to is something that we can’t miss. A box of candy, a nice tea, a pack of coffee? That doesn’t matter … Our ideas are always changing, but the concept doesn’t – it has to bring the aroma/taste of the last journey, long after our daily life has swallowed us up again. We left Spain with coffee and two cups of the Cafe Pozo brand.

Here we are at the end of the post. We shared the list of the things we collect while traveling. I hope it will give you new and fresh souvenir ideas. Share your alternative ideas, too! We will be happy to hear from you. Still, remember that the most important thing is to collect moments, not things. We wish you joyful trips and new meetings! 

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