Objects aren’t meaningful on their own… our stories give them significance. This picture was taken at Orella Ranch; it’s sand from the beaches our friends Guner & Heidi have visited together. Without the story, they’re just a collection of jars filled with dirt. With the story they’re a log chronicling travels, courtship and, eventually, marriage.
Do you have a travel collection with a great story? Tell us about it in the comments and you could win a promo code good for 20% off our Fall ’11 men’s and women’s travel clothes. We’ll pick a winner next Tuesday, November 8 at noon.
My most appreciated travel collection is the box of postcards that I’ve written to my niece and nephew, currently ages 4 and 6 – one card to each for each travel day. Many of the cards are of works of art that have caught my fancy; others show iconic vistas or characteristic cultural activities; and still others are whimsical (such as the engineered photo captioned “La Tour Leffie” – Parisians picnicking around an upside-down Eiffel Tower). It’s been fun figuring out how to distill a cultural snapshot or an artist’s oeuvre into a couple of kid-friendly paragraphs – this is definitely a collection that they’ll grow into.
by Penelope Gordon | November 3, 2011 at 5:46 am
I collect magnets from my travels. They’re fun, functional, and easy to carry around. When people come to my house it’s amazing how ofter I hear “I’ve been there” or people tell me they collect magnets too. It’s nice to go to the fridge and be reminded of all the amazing things I’ve seen.
by Maria | November 3, 2011 at 6:23 am
Whole sand dollars, if you can find them!
by Amy | November 3, 2011 at 6:27 am
Once my husband and I got married, we started collecting a Christmas ornament every time we went on vacation. I have even had friends bring me an ornament back from some of their destinations. At Christmas, I have a smaller tree just for our vacation ornaments. It’s a great way to remember some great times.
by Jennie M. Stelly | November 3, 2011 at 7:28 am
I pick up rocks from many of the places I visit. I found myself in the habit of picking up rocks when I hiked and accidentally started collecting them from travels–they made it into my pockets to be found once I was home. I started doing it consciously then since they made for interesting souvenirs. I have rocks from Egypt, Jordan, India, Europe, Canada, and many states. I adopted a dog who also picked up rocks, diving into the water to pick one up in her mouth and bring it to shore. If she really liked it, she would carry it back to the car, sometimes for a couple of miles. I saved all of these, since she put so much work into it, and eventually used them to make a border in the garden. Though she is gone now, my 17-month old son seems to have “inherited” her rock fetish and carries rocks with him when we go for walks, though I may have contributed to this a bit, too. I save his also and someday I’ll be able to tell him where each of his rocks came from and the stories behind them.
by AmyO | November 3, 2011 at 10:48 am
I’ve got these things I bring back from every journey… I refer to them as “memories”. Sometimes they’re top quality and quite expensive. Other times, they’re as dirty and cheap as a hook (whoa, easy people) used to reel in a fat catfish.
by DJM | November 3, 2011 at 11:47 am
For over 20 years I’ve made a point to do a handstand in each new country, state or significant place I’ve visited. My “collection” is a series of pictures of me upside down in historically or sentimentally significant places. (:
by kelsey | November 3, 2011 at 1:25 pm
I love writing in journals either quotes from people, funny family stories and just misc. scribbles. When I travel I collect unique little notebooks to feed my obsession.
by Stephani | November 3, 2011 at 5:48 pm
As a major foodie, I love collecting napkins or business cards from restaurants, labels of beers I’ve had, parts of the labels of special treats or even receipts of things I bought. It may sound weird but while in Europe this summer, I took so much joy out of glueing them into my notebook and writing little descriptions about those moments. It really makes my journal come alive with those amazing italian cappuccinos, delicious swiss chocolates, belgian beers and french baguettes. I love looking at these and remembering that all that is still there, and I can always go back. But what makes my heart melt is that those moments were particularly special because of the people I shared them with, and that will stay right there in my journal in the captions next to the receipts, labels, or restaurant napkins.
by Nolan | November 3, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Years ago, I started a “phallic monuments of the world” collection, in postcards. Nearly all of the postcards are from friends, and many are quite creative. Some are simple, of course–Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, etc.–but others are more playful interpretations of the theme, and it’s not always immediately obvious to a viewer what the theme is.
My other travel memento is a pair of birkenstocks that still have playa dust embedded in them, from my visit to Burningman.
by Narya | November 4, 2011 at 8:57 am
Just something that represents the place. Anything from a mini Statue of Liberty, coins, rocks and shell from the beach, to a bike bell from Amsterdam! Travel is everything!
by jessica hawkey | November 5, 2011 at 4:56 am
Before my wife and I married, we collected objects from nature from everywhere we went – pinecones, sea glass, rocks and gave them out to wedding guests to hold during the ceremony. We asked them to put intentions into them and then put them in a glass bowl. Every time I look at it I feel the love of our journeys together and of our community.
As we continue to travel, we tend to buy “outsider” art wherever we go, more often than not carved in wood. We have a drum from a beachside shack in Belize, carved animals from the artist’s actual workshop in Nova Scotia, driftwood art from Cali. I love the connection to the land and the stories we collect from actually meeting and chatting with local artists.
by Renee Farster | November 8, 2011 at 11:14 am
Thanks for your great answers everyone! It was a tough call for sure… but we chose Narya as the winner. Stay tuned for more contests like these in the future!
by sohlson | November 8, 2011 at 2:46 pm