I collect Christmas tree ornaments - they can be found everywhere (even in non-christian countries you can find an item of similar shape and size that can be hung on the tree). They don't clutter up the house and every year when I decorate the tree I remember buying these beaded stars from some Maasai women while on safari in Tanzania, that thuja wood hand of fatima in Essaouira, those painted eggs in Prague, etc., etc.

For souvenirs we send ourselves postcards from our holidays, but we do one each and list our ten fave things about the holiday. It's fun to compare them and I love flipping through the collection so far.

For more tangible souvenirs from holidays, we like just about anything that's small enough to fit in our printers tray, or a cool looking map of wherever we've visited.

i actually try NOT to collect things from where i've been. i ended up with a lot of cluttery garbage and this horrible emotional attachment to it all. "but i can't throw that little egg statue that just sits collecting dust away...i brought it home all the way from ukraine..."

so now when i travel i take a moleskine journal with me and collect flat things. ticket stubs, stickers, maps...and put them all in the book. it's been working. except that i have a slight addiction to teapots from china, but those look so cute in my kitchen! :)

Refrigerator magnets!

I try to get a piece of pottery wherever I go. I have an antique bud vase I picked up in St. Louis, Talaveras from Mexico, a vintage pitcher from Mississippi, and a vase from Hawaii made by a local artist. The pieces don't scream "souvenir" but they remind me of the places I've been.

I just collect what draws me. I have rocks from all over the US, a blue glazed ceramic squirrel from Louisiana (yeah, a blue squirrel--don't ask) as well as a mini gourd bobble-head dragon/turtle, a pair of silver and turquoise unicorn earrings from Arizona (and I don't even have pierced ears, but I always figured I'd find a use for them). As a kid, I once saved some sort of rodent skeleton I found while hiking/mountain-climbing in Nevada. Yeah, I cradled the thing during the three-day drive back to Mississippi and kept it for years. I always was a morbid child.

I even have things from places not far from home. I have a dinosaur keychain from a museum in Memphis, TN. I have shells collected from a canoeing trip that took place not even 20 miles from my home.

I think it's okay to collect tangible souvenirs, as long as they don't start weighing you down.

hlg22 - I do that too. A lot of the things I find that I can use as ornaments aren't meant to be ornaments. You just have to be creative. I've been in "non-Christian" countries and have had no problems finding things that could be used as ornaments.

I collect local art and folk art from the places I travel. I spent a few years visiting some remote villages in Alaska and got some beautiful carved objects in balleen, bone, and (legal) ivory, as well as some baskets. Along the Gulf Coast, I picket up some fun outsider art, paintings on funky objects, as well as dolls made of local materials. In Detroit, it's Pewabic Pottery. Find what they love and do best locally and go for that.

I also collect tree ornaments and things that can be used as ornaments. That way I don't have to dust them 50 weeks a year, and it's a treat to see them again. I always put the year on the bottom of the ornament to refresh my memory.

I love coyotes, so on my recent trip to Albuquerque I focused on coyote figurines - Oaxacan painted wood and Navajo carvings. My studio has what used to be a window but was made into an interesting shelving unit. I keep most of my space pretty minimal and use the shelves to display knickknacks, photos, and art.

I collect mugs and fridge magnets. The mugs are great because my cupboard is very colorful and I use them all year round. The fridge magnets help me display photos from my travels! I don't want to have to buy special furniture to store or display souvenirs so I try not to acquire too much when I travel.

I have picked up table cloths on my last few trips to Africa. I like having something that is easy to store, but that I can display and use when the fancy strikes.

In high school I was able to go to Africa. Life-changing experience, let me tell you. I was able to bring home a couple of masks, a ceremonial sword, a couple of knives, and a bundle of arrows. Air France took the Bow at customs (they said it was a weapon, but they didn't take the sharp pointy arrows?).

I will always treasure these items...

Pottery, paintings,scarves...

I've started buying prints from local artists or museums wherever I travel. At some point I'm sure I will have to switch over to something else, but I love the idea of supporting local artists rather than kitschy things shipped in for tourists.

I collect rocks and other strange natural bits- it started when I went to Savannah and walked down the street that is made up of rocks from Ireland that were used as ballast. The sailors paved the roads with them so they could always feel close to home. That was just so beautiful it stuck with me.

I have bits of slate from Welsh mines, a smooth rock from the first time I saw the Pacific, some petrified heather & moss from the Orkney Islands, a sliver of a broken wall from Quebec- you get the idea. They are all beautiful on their own- add the memories attached to them and they are pure magic.

My mother and I go to Atlantic city every year to gamble. There is a jewelry store on the boardwalk called Pilani's -- it sells the most insane and weird necklaces. Whenever I go to AC, I always come back with a new, weird necklace from Pilani's to add to my collection.

I also try to buy a postcard for everywhere I go, even if it's a local musuem. I have postcards from NYC, AC, and various musuems in the area. They are all in a photo album with pieces of memorabilia (ticket stubs, pictures I took, etc.).

I really only "collect" postcards and guidebooks. I can never part with tattered guidebook that was with me for weeks. I pick up other random stuff that I know will fit in my house and sarongs because I can always use more.

that's a really cute yo-yo :)