Are you heading on a month of travel or a semester abroad? Keep reading for reasons why you need to collect something at every stop, and why you’ll regret it if you don’t!
Here I am, 3 years home from my seamster abroad and desperately trying to relive it in my mind. It was easily the best 5 months of the entire life and the fact that it’s over and I don’t have it to look forward to anymore is slightly traumatizing.
Luckily for me, I was determined to bring something home to remember my time abroad more easily. I had grappled with what to collect, hearing a lot of people choosing shot glasses or magnets or some small tourist item, but with how much I hate junk, I thought I’d better leave those types of things in the tourist shops.
I ended up deciding on art to take home. Now, it didn’t have to be expensive, but any drawing from the cities I visited would do. I was able to collect some original art and some tacky tourist ones from shops to add to my collection. Both are equally as valued in my little mini collection!
Here is why you should collect something while abroad too!
3 Reasons to Collect Something on your Travels
1. You have something to remind you of all your amazing adventures
As much as we don’t want to admit it, these moments won’t last forever. Once you’re home, it’s honestly crazy to look back and realize the trip you’ve been daydreaming of forever, is over. Huge bummer, am I right?! But, if you collected something from your trip, you’re able to look back over your collectables and remember all the amazing times you had!
I know you’re probably thinking, ‘that’s what pictures are for Victoria’. And I agree, to an extent. I take a lot of photos (obviously, with this blog!) and I love to look back at them. But, if you collect something other than photos, I think it makes you appreciate even more of the experience you had trying to get that piece.
As I write this, I’m looking at my dresser where I have 3 of my pieces of art framed from my trip and they make me SO happy. I remember the day I got my drawing of Copenhagen in a corner store I had been eyeing for 3 months. I had gone on one of my last days in the city and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it to be honest!
Related: All my frames are off the rack from IKEA so if you pick art, like I did, don’t worry too much about your framing situation!
2. It’s an easy way to remember your time if you hate writing in a travel journal
I am a huge advocate for everyone to keep a travel journal, but I get it. These things are tedious to say the least. Having to sit down and actually write about your day can take up a bit of time. On a lot of trips, time to do it all might be exactly what you’re missing. That’s why by buying a little piece of the city, you’re cementing the memories into your brain for every time you sneak a peak at your little collection.
Related: Why you NEED to keep a travel journal on your next adventure
3. It forces you to do some exploring
I can’t tell you how many times I was going to head back to my Airbnb for a rest before I realized I still hadn’t gotten my painting. Obviously, you always need to rest here and there, but without my need to snag a memento from every city, I would have gone for a nap a lot more often.
Often, I would only be in a city for a few days. In those few days, my search for a local artisan took me down different roads and to places that weren’t on my list when I got there. That’s the point of going to a new city, right? To explore and hopefully find some things you weren’t looking for!
Like I mentioned before, I’m a huge declutter advocate so this might seem a little out of character. But if you snag things you’ll actually use or display, I think the declutter point is moot.
Remember, if you don’t buy it then, you won’t get another chance, so think hard before you leave about what you want to take home with you.
I’ve always said that my travel journal is one of my most prized possessions from my time abroad, but since framing all my artwork, I think that’s changed. It’s a solid tie at this point. As much as I love to spend time looking back over what I wrote during my trips, my paintings are there for me to see every day. It can’t get much better than that!
xx Victoria
Pin it for later!
Leave a Reply