Souvenirs that you enjoy over the years

[Sunset]

I buy a souvenir magnet on each vacation so have a refrigerator covered with magnets. When I look at one, it gives me fond memories of past travels.

We do as well.
Also DW got this great idea, since we take a ton of pictures, if we don't find a magnet that makes us happy, we take one of our photos, usually a self of us someplace memorable and get a magnet made out of it.

Those self made magnets have turned out to be some of the best since it's personalized, and you can add in a title and date in the photo

 

[TrvlBug]

Magnets, although with my new grown up kitchen (stainless), I miss them. I'm going to figure out how to make the inside door of my new walk in pantry magnetized to hold them. We also, in the early years, sent ourselves postcards, 'glad we were here'...love looking at them along with the magnets on the fridge.

My fave souvenir is a piece of the Berlin Wall. We were there a few months after it came down and entrepreneurs were selling little pieces for $10 each. I'm sure they painted pieces of concrete and sold them, but we like to think we bought an actual piece of the wall.

 

[TrvlBug]

I used to buy souvenirs and then realized that many ended up at Goodwill a few years later. That is when my Aunt suggested I buy refrigerator magnets and I do. They stick to my stainless steel fridge.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...I just tried my magnets on my new SS fridge and they stick . I'm going to be a bit more selective than before and also magnetize the inside panty door.

 

[Sunset]

I have a great collection of magnets but whatever the content of the stainless steel refrigerator in the house DH and I bough in 2015, magnets won't stick to it. :-(

Quality stainless steel is non-magnetic.

A cheaper version of stainless steel (less stainless) keeps its magnetic property.

One shopping advice when looking for stainless BBQ is to carry a magnet and only buy if it does not stick to the stainless steel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel

 

[MRG]

My fave souvenir is a piece of the Berlin Wall. We were there a few months after it came down and entrepreneurs were selling little pieces for $10 each. I'm sure they painted pieces of concrete and sold them, but we like to think we bought an actual piece of the wall.

OMG I forgot.

After the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 I acquired a piece of debris. I just kept it, now it's weird. I still have the thing. It's just a piece of concrete, but it seems like I don't want it.

 

[athena53]

Forgot to mention: if we were traveling late enough into a year that the next year's calendar was available, we always bought one with pictures of the place we visited.

 

[TrvlBug]

Quality stainless steel is non-magnetic.

A cheaper version of stainless steel (less stainless) keeps its magnetic property.

One shopping advice when looking for stainless BBQ is to carry a magnet and only buy if it does not stick to the stainless steel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel

I'm no expert, but not sure I agree with this. My All Clad cookware is not cheap sh*t and is highly magnetic as it works beautifully with my induction cooktop. My guess is that this cookware and probably some fridges and other products have a magnetic layer incorporated into the product. My $3K magnetic fridge wasn't at the cheap end, but who knows.

 

[ERD50]

Quality stainless steel is non-magnetic.

A cheaper version of stainless steel (less stainless) keeps its magnetic property.

One shopping advice when looking for stainless BBQ is to carry a magnet and only buy if it does not stick to the stainless steel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel

I'm no expert, but not sure I agree with this. My All Clad cookware is not cheap sh*t and is highly magnetic as it works beautifully with my induction cooktop. My guess is that this cookware and probably some fridges and other products have a magnetic layer incorporated into the product. My $3K magnetic fridge wasn't at the cheap end, but who knows.

Agree with TrvlBug. 300 series versus 400 series, but they just have different properties, not all about 'cheap' or not.

Sunset, where in that wiki article does it equate magnetic properties with "cheap"?

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

https://youtu.be/fZE4IqeXnT8

Thanks. Hadn't given that song and the lyrics a good listen in a long time. John Prine, what a poet.

I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs

[Chorus:]
Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And I don't know how they slipped away from me

-ERD50

 

[Nemo2]

John Prine, what a poet.

"Give my knees to the needy" Apropos for a concurrent thread here.

 

[happy2bretired]

Seriously, give it a try. They're meant to be used. As long as you're not overly sensitive to caffeine, it's an experience you ought to have.



I have several friends who are gaúchos (native to southern Brazil) and they introduced me to mate a long time ago. Takes a bit of getting used to, but very comforting.

Maybe I will, I am curious. Unfortunately I purchased the one for hot tea, not the cold tea. Apparently the spoon/strainer thing at the end is shaped differently.

 

[Ronstar]

Maps. I get maps of the places we visit - some to navigate the area and some rolled maps to frame. I'm running out of room for framed maps, so I'm going with folded maps from now on.

 

[FIREmenow]

Maps. I get maps of the places we visit - some to navigate the area and some rolled maps to frame. I'm running out of room for framed maps, so I'm going with folded maps from now on.

Maybe take really good quality scans of them and have them cycle through a high-resolution digital photo frame?

I've been trying to digitize EVERYTHING we have (that can be) in anticipation of major downsizing.

 

[Ronstar]

Maybe take really good quality scans of them and have them cycle through a high-resolution digital photo frame?



I've been trying to digitize EVERYTHING we have (that can be) in anticipation of major downsizing.

Ah - great idea! I could take them with me that way also. Thanks!

 

[scrabbler1]

Add me to the refrigerator magnet list. When I was in Houston nearly 25 years ago, I went on a walking tour of the Astrodome. While in the gift shop afterward, I bought a refrigerator magnet with a picture of the Dome. While I have obtained other magnets over the years (not from my travels, just some advertising freebies I got in the mail), the Dome one is not only my favorite but it is the strongest one, able to hold heavier papers between it and the freezer door.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I bring home Christmas ornaments and when we put up the tree I relive many fun trips .

We do this too- it makes decorating the Christmas tree fun- and we certainly have an eclectic tree. When we can't find an ornament, we'll pick up a pretty shell on the beach and make one- we have even made ornaments out of a key chain! The kids always fight to see who will hang the most recent trip ornaments. After a fallen tree incident where we shattered a blown glass ornament from Germany, we now look for unbreakable ones.

 

[FIYes]

I am in the Christmas ornament group. Great memories when I decorate the tree and added plus is they don't clutter up the house all year[emoji846]
Yes I have occasionally repurposed small souvenirs as Christmas ornaments...including a key chain.

 

[Taxman59]

My Mom used to needlepoint a lot. She made Christmas stockings for the entire family (26 stockings). She also made ornaments for us, some relating to trips we took, some of the boys' activities etc. decorating the tree is a trip down memory lane!

 

[Meadbh]

My two favourite souvenirs are hancrafted: a walnut citrus reamer and a walnut perforated olive spoon that I bought in southwest France on a biking trip about 25 years ago. I use them daily and think fondly of cycling though the lemon and olive groves!