Everyone wants to bring home the perfect souvenir to remember their vacation. But what is the perfect travel souvenir? It’s fun to purchase items during your journey, but things really start adding up. The cost can be a concern as well as valuable packing space.
Speaking of space, large souvenirs can really clutter up your home space as well. Do you have that one favorite travel souvenir? Is it affordable and easy to pack?
If you are looking for the perfect travel souvenir that is easy on your bank account, useable, and packing-friendly, read on.
A Beach Towel is a Great Travel Souvenir
This is the bulkiest item on the list, but it’s been one of my favorite travel souvenirs.
We collect one beach towel from each new island we visit on our cruises. We also pick one up during our beach vacations here in the States. Over the years, the towels add up. But one towel at a time doesn’t impact our return packing too much.
In the future, my husband and I would love to retire to the beach. When we are growing old in our little beach shack, our grandchildren can use the beach towels we have collected from around the world. (fingers crossed).
Magnets are also a Great Travel Souvenir.
Magnets make great travel souvenirs because they are so easy to pack. They are also usually very inexpensive, especially compared to other souvenir options. Bonus! You can also use them during your cruise, as stateroom walls are metal.
Read my cruise posts here and get organized with my cruise cabin prep kit here.
You can collect a magnet from each port visit if you are on a cruise and collect several from one trip. Most cruise lines sell magnets of the specific ship you are sailing in the gift shop onboard.
I like to use a Sharpie or put a label on the bank with our travel date. It’s fun to look back at the magnets and remember events while on vacation.
Ornaments/Snow Globes
I am seeing more and more ornaments in tourist shops. They are a bit more obscure than magnets, but they can be found! Imagine setting a tree up and reminiscing about the wonderful places you have been fortunate enough to visit. Talk about a great travel souvenir!
The daughter of a good friend of mine collects snow globes when she travels. Admittedly, snow globes could present a packing challenge, especially if your trip has multiple destinations. But she loves them, and it’s worth it to her!
Shot Glasses are a Very Popular Travel Souvenir
So, I’m showing my age here, but this item is certainly something we collected in our 20s. They are so easy to find and one of the least expensive travel souvenirs to pick up. The variety is incredible, too. I’ve been to tourist shops in Cozumel and have hundreds of shot glasses to choose from.
Despite us growing older and moving on to other collectibles, shot glasses remain a great travel souvenir to collect. BONUS, you can’t beat how easy it is to pack these tiny little treasures.
Perhaps the most traditional Travel Souvenir – Postcards!
This one has certainly stood the test of time. You will be hard-pressed to find the perfect travel souvenir that is more affordable or easier to pack than a postcard. If your photography skills are limited, what a great way to ensure you get a beautiful shot of that ocean sunset, cathedral, or skyline. Postcards are also great travel souvenirs for those who journal their adventures.
Ball Cap/T-shirt
A favorite travel souvenir of my husband and son. They love the utility that this choice offers. Typically, my husband will put the hat on right after his purchase. No need to pack. He conveniently forgets his hat in the room when we head out to explore a new area and has to purchase a new one. 😉
Coasters/Koozies
Sometimes, a great travel souvenir can be specific to your destination. We collected beautiful coasters from the wineries we visited in Napa and used them around our house. It’s a great reminder of our wonderful time touring the wineries in the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley.
If we return to Napa…strike that…WHEN we return to Napa, we will continue collecting these beautiful coasters.
Koozies could also be a perfect travel souvenir. They are also reasonably priced and lightweight. When traveling by air, you must always keep luggage weight in mind.
Location decals/stickers
We have all seen location stickers on vehicles around town or laptops in our favorite coffee shop. Decals and stickers are a great way to be reminded of your adventures and follow the theme of this post….. super easy to pack!
Cruisers Can Collect Sea Pass Cards
Quite possibly, the most economical souvenir is your cruise sea pass or hotel/resort key card. Unless you consider the cost of your cruise being represented by this card, that’s a different story. 😉
We love collecting our sea pass cards and find them a great travel souvenir. Our cards are kept in a decorative jar in our home. If all of the ships convert over the years to wristbands, I’ll be a little sad.
We also add special hotel/resort room cards to the mix. If you are a member of a cruise loyalty program, it’s fun to see how your cards change color with your loyalty status or room type.
Wow, I’m really displaying my “cruise-nerd” in this post.
Photos
My favorite travel souvenir is all of the memories we make as a family! I try and always take the time to create a photo book from our adventure. Admittedly, our Alaska book took me nearly a year to complete. We had thousands of pictures to review and choose from. It can be difficult to get it done between work and family schedules, but I always manage to carve out time to do it….eventually. Will it take you a year to finish a photo book? Of course not; I procrastinated…a lot.
I upload and organize the photo book using Shutterfly. I’ve used Shutterfly for years, so it’s easy for me to navigate, but many online options are available. You can even have a book printed at Costco for a great price.
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas for a great travel souvenir.
I like to collect Stubbie/Can neoprene holders. They are used in my household very often and we always comment ‘Remember when I bought this one’.
Great souvenir and light weight for packing! Thanks for reading the article!
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Patches
Jillian, to answer your question, I definitely prefer Celebrity over Carnival. We also really liked Azamara, but we did a B2B Transatlantic/Spain on her and she was a bit small for that length of time – 23 days. We really prefer to travel with a group. On the Transatlantic there were 8 of us and we did not do all excursions together or necessarily see each other for large parts of the day but we did meet up for pre-dinner drinks and dinner every night. Next April, with Celebrity, we have planned B2B NZ/South Pacific of French Polynesia to Honolulu with 2 couples. In Oct we are booked on the new Celebrity Edge for the Amalfie Coast/Greek Islands with 5 couples. I might mention while I am here my packing preference. Bundle packing all the way! While our friends were struggling with 2 or 3 large checked bags plus carry on each we rolled along with one medium checked bag between my husband and I plus carry on. I went to Alaska without my husband with only carry on. But it only works if you are going to stay in one place -like a ship- for awhile or one hotel.
You are living my dream! We are a few years off from longer sailings but my husband just added the 21-day Australia/New Zealand to our wish list. We plan to convert over to Celebrity once we are empty nesters so thank you for sharing your experience. I agree about longer sailings with a group. That sounds perfect and I think we need to join your sailing group! 😉
I haven’t tried bundle packing but I did research it a bit. For cruising, I really have found success with rolling and packing cubes. I pull the cube out, unzip it, and toss it on a shelf or in a drawer and off to the pool I go!
Thank you so much for sharing! Please share your thoughts any time!
SnoGlobes may pose a transit problem due to the liquid contents, but it’s all a matter of personal taste and means. I’ve been collecting local art in my travels for years – mostly small (8×10” or less) sketches and watercolors of local sites, but we have bought a couple of gorgeous larger pieces. Factor shipping costs into your bargaining for the big ones, though (although I did bring a 4×7 foot carpet home from Tunisia in a suitcase, I don’t recommend DIY transport.) I also pick up interesting jewelry along the way, sticking to unique and inexpensive pieces. And our Christmas tree is now almost entirely ornamented with pieces picked up along the journey.
I can just imagine your beautiful tree and I love the idea of collecting local art. It sounds like you have had some amazing adventures!
I really enjoy reading your posts. I have a couple of additions to your souvenirs post. I not only collect shot glasses but I collect sand from the island to put into it. I must admit my Alaska shot glass has a vial of gold shavings but….. I just started collecting postcards, but I write what I have done each day on the back so I have a picture journey. On sea days I get postcards of the ship – Celebrity has them free at guest services, while I had to buy them on Carnival.
Thanks, CJ. I appreciate that. If you would share with a couple of friends I would really appreciate it. 😉
Your additions are awesome. Checking at guest services for a free postcard is a great tip! Do you favor Celebrity or Carnival? I love hearing people’s thoughts on cruising.
GREAT souvenir ideas! This post makes me want to schedule our next vacation. My kids love to get something small from each place we visit…such a nice reminder to reminisce about the adventure!
Thanks, April! I bet you found some treasures in Alaska. 🙂