apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think anything consumable is a good thing to bring back. I'm very fond of regional salts, as well as toiletries--toothpaste, shampoo you can't get at home, etc. (Photos, postcards, well, duh, yes of course.) Jam, local specialities as long as they're legal to bring in. Flower and veggie seeds are great, but sometimes you have to hide them.

Greeting cards in foreign languages are fun, and daily newspapers, which can be reused as wrapping paper all year long. Vintage post cards are more interesting than contemporary ones.

School and office supplies are much more interesting in Italian or Russian, and are easy to pack. Japan has great stuff, and lightweight, too.

i like to bring back rocks and stones.... they are always free, and interesting to look at... my house and garden are full of stones from my travels around the united states and my trip to italy... and interesting ones (that i can part with) i give to friends for their gardens...

The safe souvenir: I put all the loose change from Ireland into a Guinness pint glass I stole from the hotel.

The risky, I wish I had thought it out more souvenir: When I went to the Middle East I collected shells from the shore. I tried to wash them and then put them in peanut cans to take home. When I got home and opened the cans I almost passed out from the horrid smell that came from the shells. Don't be like me... make sure nothing is living/rotting in the shells before you take them home with you.

My husband and I are living in Ecuador. We've been here for 4 months and we have a month left. There are so many cool fabrics available for cheap but we are trying to figure out how we could actually use them in our home decor. I like the pillow idea. Maybe a tapestry or table runner... I just don't want to go overboard with Ecuador style. Any ideas on how to work the style in without it being too much?

I am not big on souvenirs as I don't like to clutter my house with more junk I don't need. I do like bringing home local sauces or some type of consumable.

I have to take umbrage with your last suggestion. Please do not take rocks, sand etc...it is part of the local ecological system at work. Even fallen leaves are instrumental to a forest. You don't know how much harm tourist constant picking creates.
Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

I agree with the post above. Experience the place fully and enjoy your memories with feeling the necessity of documenting every moment.

I have many travel memories of family members jacking around with photographic equipment. If it's a number one hobby for you, that's fine for you. Remember that someone else may be standing by, bored out of his or her mind while you fiddle with a camera; and wanting nothing more than a moment's peace in the here and now.

"I have to take umbrage with your last suggestion. Please do not take rocks, sand etc...it is part of the local ecological system at work. Even fallen leaves are instrumental to a forest. You don't know how much harm tourist constant picking creates.
Take only pictures, leave only footprints."

This.

"leave only footprints"

get over it.

We've gone to the Outer Banks on a family vacation for the last 6 years and I always come back with a small handful of shells and a couple of larger shells that wash up on the beach. I love seeing my collection grow and being reminded of the beautiful scenery and great times there.

For other vacations, I have gotten into the habit of picking up 1 christmas ornament that reminds me of the trip/location (the tackier the better!). It's great because I'm a minimalist and don't care for clutter - these only come out once a year and are small enough to fit into my carryon.

Pagesandmaps-- my favorite Ecuador souvenir, bar none, is the very light, finely woven scarves they sell (supposedly of cotton) at all the markets (but Otavalo has the best selection)... they come in solids and stripes and some of the solids have very faint patterns like herringbone woven into them. You should NOT pay more than $2 a scarf, and if you're motivated you can pull it down below that. They are lightweight and beautiful, come in an endless variety of colors, and are super soft and warm. I brought back 20 to give to friends on my last trip and wished I had more... all of my friends loved them (a set of 3 in complimentary colors makes a great holiday/birthday gift and for under $6...!) I suppose if you are not a scarf wearer they might not be so exciting, but seriously people tell me over and over how much they LOVE the scarves.... suitable for the office, for cold weather, for wraps on formal occasions... they are endlessly versatile. My other favorite souvenir (more home decor themed) was large carved wooden masks from the folk dances in Quito... I only bought 2 and wish I had brought more as they're hard to find and more expensive in the US. Let me know if you want specific store recommendations! =)

Re: other souvenirs... toiletries are always fun (if anyone is in HK, you *have* to get the sandalwood scented hand wipes from Watson's... so much better than anything we have in the US!), but my favorites are usually furniture, textiles, antiques/vintage objects/ephemera, and original art. Yes, they are a pain to get home and are expensive in the short term... but so much MORE expensive if you realize you want them once you are home! And you can display them in your home without feeling like you're adding clutter, and you're not spending "extra" money on something useless. Often if I am familiar with a country I will have a few general types of piece in mind before I go, which gives me a fun task (looking for them) and helps keep costs and bulk in line (although of course stray souvenirs creep in)... but for example, on my last vacation (Belize) I wanted to pick up some vintage Guatemalan wood carvings, which I had priced online and learned a bit about before I went. Knowing what I was looking for was a ton of fun, made me more selective, and kept my fiance from freaking out about getting all of my luggage back to the US/our apartment filling up with clutter.

One other piece of advice I have is to take a step back and imagine art out of its local context... for example in Bali I did not buy any paintings because they looked so tacky and touristy displayed all together. Then when I got home I saw a photo with a glossy white kitchen with a large Balinese painting of jackfruit displayed-- extracted from the muck of paintings of buxom women and oversized frangipani blossoms and improbable beachscapes it looked incredibly vibrant and almost Surrealist. I was SOOOO mad at myself! In a new setting craft and sometimes even pretty terrible commercial art can be elevated.

marie516, thanks for the ideas! I'm heading up to Otavalo in a couple of weeks and now I have a better idea what to look for. Thanks!

I like to buy 'custom' or hand crafted jewelry while vacationing. A set of earrings or unique bracelet is longer lasting than remembering where i picked up sand & shells(have 3 containers of sand I can't remember which beach they're from now-only 6months after the trip). In addition to helping local shops/economy they make terriffic conversation peices back home...AND I like thinking they may become items I will pass down to my children.

Books in foreign languages look pretty cool stacked on a side table (assuming you have room for a side table - I do not, so my Claudine in Paris books are in the bookcase).

While in Paris, I couldn't resist buying small reproduction prints of Art Nouveau-era nightclub posters, which now adorn my bedroom in matching black frames.

I love to buy tasteful, but fun, magnets for my refrigerator from places I travel to plus whenever family members go places and ask me what I want I always tell them a magnet which is easy to find and inexpensive for them.

But my favorite souvenirs are Christmas ornaments. I have several from places we have been and every year when we decorate the tree it's always so much fun to reminisce about where they came from and how much fun that trip was....

OK, I admit it, when we camped in the Libyan Sahara to view the solar eclipse, I brought back about a cup of desert sand.

HOWEVER. It is illegal to import any soil (of any kind) into the US. It could have been confiscated and I suppose might have harbored something (seeds, bugs, bacteria) harmful to our own ecosystem.

I don't think I'd have brought back something from a similar climiate, and certainly not in any quantity. (I could have carried that much in my shoes by accident...)

my best friend has only traveled within the US, but she collects tiny snowglobes-- the kitchiest part of her otherwise darling decor. it totally works. everyone who visits her house loves it.