souvenirs

travelin' oma assignment number seventeen

i am not a pack rat. i probably throw away more than i should. so, i have a hard time with the concept of souvenirs. at least, the cliche souvenirs that you see in shops when you travel to places accustomed to tourism. if you've ever been to hawaii and seen an "abc" store, you know what i mean. save your dollar, i don't want a miniature flip-flop key chain.

i even have a hard time collecting things that aren't cliche or that weren't originally intended as souvenirs. i know people who have collected ticket stubs, museum pamphlets, and things like that from their travels and even though i love to look through those and think that they are great alternatives to raiding the gift shop when you go to disneyland, i still can't bring myself to save things like that. i can't handle an extra box of clutter in my life. i used to tape things like plane tickets, movie ticket stubs, and programs into my journal and that was manageable for me, but now that i keep a journal digitally, it hasn't happened.

but reading travelin' oma's post for this assignment has caused me to rethink my grinch-like behavior towards souvenirs. because i do want to have something to show for my travels. and i want it to be something tangible, in addition to the memories that we make on our trips. and so, i've developed a bit of a souvenir plan. to overcome my unease at collecting.

here goes:

1. get a good camera, take high-quality pictures, save some of the ticket stubs, programs, etc., that i was talking about earlier and then when i come home, make a photo album for that trip. with all of the digital book software that is available now, it isn't that hard to do and is surprisingly inexpensive. i can scan in the non-picture items and discard them when i am done with them (how's that for sentimental?). and then, i have a book to look through and remember my trip by. and i never mind having another book around. hopefully, someday i will have a shelf full of these little books.

2. collect artwork from the places that i go. i think that it is going to need to be hanging artwork for the most part. because, as explained above, i have a hard time with clutter. randy and i are anxious to expand (read: start) our art collection, and what better way to do so than by accumulating art work with sentimental value? we are currently living in my grandparent's house and the walls are covered with art from the many places that they have traveled and lived. almost every piece has a story to go along with it. and i love that.

now that i have my plan, i just need to start traveling.