When you were last abroad you probably saw hundreds of shops and stalls all selling the same souvenirs, t-shirts, fridge magnets, caps, and ornaments. Yes, these are great mementoes, but will you ever really wear that t-shirt? The ornaments will just gather dust and the fridge magnets will probably get lost or broken although we must admit, we do still retain a certain ‘penchant’ for the fridge magnet.
As a travelling couple, we do believe it’s incredibly important to create and preserve as many travel mementoes as possible. But, aside from the classic tourist fodder, how else can you create and preserve your amazing travel memories?
Read on for how you can make your travel memories last a lifetime with these inventive souvenir ideas.
Beautiful Canvas Art
There’s no better way to capture those incredible moments than with your camera. So, it makes perfect sense to have as many photographs as possible printed onto canvas and placed around your home. You can buy a canvas print by clicking the link. You can have them printed in various sizes and the gorgeous matt texture of canvas prints means that you don’t get glare when light shines on the image and they’re incredibly high quality – which means that they’ll last! We’ve got a really good canvas print printed from a picture Mel took during our trip to New York.
Collectable Sand
If you’re planning to check out more than one beach whilst abroad, then there is a way you can bring a little bit of the beach back with you, although we usually seem to accumulate quite a bit of sand in the bottom of our suitcase. When you travel, bring along some small containers that you can collect sand in from every beach you visit. When you return home, you can layer all the sand you’ve collected inside a glass bottle and then display them at home.
A Memento Box
You’ll pick up plenty of little mementoes on your travels. From tickets to cocktail umbrellas, loose change and paper notes, receipts, shells, even pens and business cards from your hotel. Instead of leaving all these things in a drawer, collect them together and keep them in a special memento box that you can enjoy for years to come.
Send Yourself A Postcard
If you’re still on the road, try sending yourself a postcard from every location you visit. Then, when you get home, you’ll have a totally unique collection of postcards from all over the world. Display them in frames, on noticeboards or in your travel memento box.
Write A Travel Journal
Photos and Instagram posts are great. But they don’t really capture the true feelings and essence of your travels. Keeping a travel journal whilst you discover the world is a unique way to create and preserve your travel memories. Mel kept one during our road trip along Route 66 last summer documenting the strange places and characters we met on the trip.
If you have any unique mementoes or a particular collection of souvenirs from your travels, let us know below.
