Souvenirs from Around the World!

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I’m always curious as to what others buy to help them remember their journey when they come back home.
I figured I would share some of my favorite souvenirs from around the world! And, of course, I’d love to hear about yours!

This is a little drum/bongo I purchased in the Dominican Republic.

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I have it displayed on a unique shelf in our bedroom with many other souvenirs we’ve collected from around the world!

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The most frequent item we purchase on our trips is art. It’s so nice to have pieces of art all over our house to remind us of our journeys.

This is a painting I also bought in the Dominican Republic. It hangs in our kitchen over the sink.

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Over our stove is a painting we purchased while on the Greek island of Mykonos.

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Also in our kitchen is a tile we obtained in Amalfi, Italy. A region known for its lemons and limoncello.

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We framed a charcoal drawing we purchased from a street vendor in Venice.

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One of my favorite purchases during a Caribbean cruise (our Honeymoon) is this painting by Nick Maley. Nick was one of Star Wars team members who created one of Star Wars most beloved characters, Yoda. He has a unique shop on the island of St. Marteen, which is home to many of the props from the Star Wars films. This is also where he sells his personal art work, like the one we purchased!

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This is not art, per say, but this was also a little memento we bought on our Honeymoon; a map of the Caribbean, to remind us our journey through the Caribbean sea.

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During a recent trip to Kauai, we picked up this beautiful piece of art to remind us of our favorite spot on the island, Tunnels Beach. This is where we snorkeled with the sea turtles! It was one of our favorite memories, so this piece helps remind us of that wonderful day!

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We also purchased this little turtle in a store in Hanalei to remind us of that day!

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One of my most treasured souvenirs is this blown glass lantern that we haggled for in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It was probably the most expensive item we purchased during our Mediterranean cruise, but like I said, it’s one of my favorites, so it was worth every penny!

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Another purchase I had to haggle for was this set of ceramic suns I picked up in Cabo San Lucas. I desperately wanted this set, but felt that the price was way too high. I tried talking the merchant down, but he barely budged! I tried the whole “I’m going to leave” tactic and he still didn’t budge. I went back the next day and tried to haggle again, but I think they could tell I really wanted them! I can’t even remember how much I ended up paying for them, but I’m so glad I caved!

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We purchased this beautiful hand-painted spoon rest in Poble Espanyol in Barcelona.

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We also purchased this little Gaudi-inspired owl figurine, because Sam likes owls and it reminds us of the unique Gaudi-architecture found throughout the city of Barcelona.

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So do these funky shot glasses we also purchased in Barcelona! We typically collect neat shot glasses from where we’ve been, as well, but these are by far our favorite!

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Another item we like to collect while traveling is magnets. We don’t have too many, as we know they will soon take over our fridge, but it’s a daily reminder of some of the wonderful places we’ve been!

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This glass vase was purchased, where else than in Venice, Italy, famously known for their glass.

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We visited the island of Moreno, home to the glass blowing museum and a plethora of glass shops. I read before our trip that we shouldn’t purchase anything on Moreno, because it’s over-priced and you can get the same items on the mainland. I wish I had not listened to this advice. I saw many beautiful items on the island I would have loved to purchase, but chose not to. Then we spent a lot of time on the last day going from shop to shop on the mainland trying to find something that came close to what we saw on Moreno. I still love this vase, but it wasn’t my first choice!

And how can one go to Paris without buying a tacky little Eiffel Tower souvenir? I just wanted a little memento to put on our book shelf as a reminder of our wonderful time in the city of lights!

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Sam likes to collect books during our travels. He tries to find first editions in the unique books stores we visit.

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When we came back from a 3-week trip to Europe, I wanted a creative way to display all of the tickets we had from various museums and transportation modes, so I created this shadow box.

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Beneath the shadow box are 4 pictures I had put onto canvas. I know I’ve said I have a lot of “favorite” souvenirs, but I think the pictures (and videos) we take on our journeys are the best reminders of the adventures we had!

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We have a large picture of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris hanging on our guest room wall.

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What are your favorite treasures from around the world? (Leave a comment below!)

20 Comments

  1. I love the lamp from Istanbul. I’m kicking myself for not buying one (or three). I have an evil eye from Istanbul hanging in my kitchen.

  2. That’s a great collection of souvenirs! Some of the artwork is absolutely precious. What a way to remember your travels 🙂

  3. Love this post because we enjoy collecting souvenirs when we are on our travels. We are pretty boring though because we stick with magnets and postcards but I particularly like your shadow box idea for old tickets etc. We have a new one unused so may just have to turn it into similar – always thankful for inspiration.

    Looks like you have had some great travels and you have purchased great memories of those spots. Really looking forward to following you on your travels in the future!

    • Thanks for checking out my post! I’ve been wanting to put this together for a while! Just had to find the time to do a photo shoot with all of our souvenirs! Glad I could offer you some inspiration. I do love the shadow box I made. I see it everyday and it reminds me of beautiful memories!

  4. Well that’s a lot of cool travel souvenirs, love filling the house with these special treasures! Hope you can link this up today for #tpMondays, the link is up all week!

  5. Great ideas! I tend not to buy souvenirs but when I do is always such things as art for my parents house. And coffee, tea drinking from different cultures related items!

  6. What a great idea for a post!! I recently bought some lacquered coconut shell bowls from Vietnam, which I loved – bought them as gifts but ended up keeping them because I thought they were so pretty! oops!

    • I know! There are so many things I buy as gifts that I want to keep for myself! 🙂 Sometimes I end up buying two… one for me; one for family/friend!

  7. What a cool post! I cant collect souvenirs because everything we own in this world fits in our suitcase but I used to love bringing things home when we went on vacation. Now my memories and photos are my souvenirs 🙂

  8. You’ve collected a host of lovely treasures for your home! Love the blown-glass lantern from Istanbul – that must have been fun lugging back on the airplane :-). When in Cabo, we can’t resist the Mexican glassware and have some beautiful blue glass candle vases.

    • We purposely leave a little bit of extra room in our luggage for our treasures! The lantern is absolutely one of my favorite souvenirs. It’s so beautiful when we have a lit candle inside! But yes, glass souvenirs, like your candle vases from Mexico, although beautiful, are some of the most challenging to bring home safely!

  9. Love your paintings. We do the magnet thing also, new fridge does not work any longer for magnets. My husband is making me a “cookie sheet”hanging to put them on. 🙂

  10. You have collected some lovely pieces. I prefer to buy art pieces as souvenirs. They really give a global feel to my home

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