Travel Momentos

 We all like to travel and see new places and things. Now that we are getting closer to normal, after COVID, we all will begin to travel more. Years ago, I began buying magnets as souvenirs from places we visited. At the time, I had a metal backdrop on my modular desk at work and I would stick them there to remind me of the good memories. When I retired, I boxed the magnets up and found a good spot for them on the back of a metal cabinet in the garage. On our recent trip I added 9 more magnets to my collection. I even have a few pressed pennies that I glued a small magnet to add to the magnet collection. 

Over the years, we have purchased all kinds of cheap items on trips with our kids. Most, if not all of those items are long gone. My kids used to love the gift shops, Indian Trading Posts, and souvenir shops along the way. I still enjoy a trip through the gift shops today. Now I only look for a coffee mug, magnet or a coaster. Every once in awhile I'll indulge in a t-shirt from the area I'm visiting. As I sit here writing, I have a Durango, CO coaster with a steam train sitting on my desk and on my bookshelf is a Cozumel coffee mug, a Chinese horse figurine from Chinatown in San Francisco and a cannon from Ft. Sumter. They are just small items from those places visited but help take me back to those great memories. We always take a lot of photos on vacation and will always have those great memories also. 

No matter where you visit, the gift shop seems to have some of the same items but have just changed the name. Same coffee mug, key chain, pocket knife, snow globe, etc. only the names of the place you are at have changed. This reminds me of some advice I heard on the radio a few days ago. One of the pieces of advice was "Name you kids with one of the common names you see on the key chains, license plates, etc. you see in a the gift shop. It will save you a lot of headaches down the road." Too funny! 

What do you keep from your trips and vacations? Do you have a coffee mug collection, pressed penny collection, magnet collection or other interesting collection commemorating your trips? The pressed penny is the best vacation value on the planet! For 50 cents and your penny you get a pretty cool little keepsake. Plus you get the fun of cranking that penny through the press!