When going on vacation with your family or friends, you often have special memories of different locations or attractions. An inexpensive way to capture those memories is to purchase a postcard from that location and immediately have each person write down on the back of the postcard their favorite part of the attraction. Be specific.
When you get home, collect the postcards and add them to an album with some of your pictures taken at the location.
[Image credit: D Sharon Pruitt]
I find no better way to remember a vacation than through the kitschy photo books available at any tourist shop. They’re relatively inexpensive and are full of photographs unique to that particular spot on the globe. They can be kept on a bookshelf at home, and you can revisit your favorite vacation spots any time the mood strikes.
I have one photo souvenir book that’s almost thirty years old. It covers one of my favorite vacation destinations, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and its breathtaking Butchart Gardens. While I may not have the photos we took handy, these books are only an arms reach away.
Most hotels now use keycards to unlock room doors (instead of keys). Some hotels suggest you return the keycard after your stay, or leave it in your hotel room.
However, you don’t have to do either of these things. Hotel keycards are deactivated as soon as your stay is complete, and you are free to take them if you wish.
Keycards can provide a fun memory of the hotels you’ve stayed in, and you can even show off your growing pile to admiring friends and family members.
Tourist attractions are peppered with refreshment stands where visitors quench their thirst and satisfy their hunger. These stands also present a wonderful opportunity to grab cheap souvenirs.
The majority of tourist attractions offer their goods in reusable cups and containers. These reusable cups and containers can be purchased in most cases for a nominal cost above the cost of the item you’re already purchasing.
Souvenirs like this are great for kids (and for adults). You can buy a frozen drink in a reusable cup, or cotton candy in a reusable bucket, and you have an instant, affordable memento of your trip. Every time you use that cup in the future, you’ll think about the great trip you had!
Many people have a nice bottle of wine when they dine out on vacation. When you’re on vacation, scan the wine list for locally produced wines or choose a bottle with the restaurant’s label. Instead of packing the bottles to lug home, ship them home as you leave each city.
Alternatively, if you don’t have room for the bottles, soak the labels off the bottle in your hotel room, let dry overnight and press between the pages a book. At the very least, they make for a great color insert in your Moleskine.
Related: The 25 greatest cities in the world for drinking wine