My authentic tube map! My mum happened to be in London for the day and was given this by a man changing out the maps in a tube station. One of my favorite travel souvenirs!
Backpacking, by its very definition, is the ability to carry all of your worldly possessions on your back (or your front…whatever!), wherever you go. With a backpack weighing in at fifty pounds, it’s not exactly the best time to buy that Italian vase your grandmother always wanted, is it?
A ram skull my boyfriend found while hiking in Ireland. He latched it onto his backpack, and actually convinced customs to let him keep it!
Well, for the souvenir-minded, rest assured. There are dozens of cute, lightweight souvenirs in any city – you just have to be prepared to find them!
Personally, I rock the “sticker-look”. What is this, you ask? Well, the “sticker-look” is my highly scientific word to describe my hobby for buying a sticker everywhere I go and plastering it on my suitcase when I get home. My boyfriend is more of a patches kind of guy, and has started collecting patches, which he affixes (I can’t admit that he sews) to his backpack.
Handmade peace flags from Woodstock, NY
If luggage decoration is not your cup of tea, you can always buy lightweight trinkets at each place you stop. How about an $8 hand blown glass pendant from Venice, or a $2 tiny bottle of cologne from (of all places) Cologne, Germany? If that doesn’t suit you, how about some Mozart Kugeln from Vienna or a religious relic from the Vatican? At the very least, grab some soviet-era kitsch for just a few cents in Berlin and Prague! I have even gradually replaced my closet over the course of a trip – every time I would buy a new shirt, I throw out a sleep shirt or something less valuable to me.
Give your little sister some Euros – she will find that cool enough!
If you’re on a super-low budget (which you probably are, if you’re like me!), how about free souvenirs? Try picking up cool looking rocks when you see them (but heed this warning!) or collecting foreign currency. My personal favorite is to keep cool looking drink bottles or unique beer coasters (I think I literally have thirty of those now!), or even the cork from a particularly good glass of wine.
Only a fraction of the free memorabilia that I’ve schlepped home with me!
Anyway you look at it, it is possible (in some fashion or another) to bring home truly unique mementos from your vacation, even for the space-limited. Bon voyage and happy buying!
