In defense of souvenirs
One of the most common pieces of advice for would-be independent travelers is to save all of your disposable income for the journey. Spend only on experiences! So what to do when, mid-trip, you fall in love with an object?
Just like spontaneous experiences, the act of travel is peppered with spontaneous items we can’t prepare for. Curios that blur the line between experience and thing. Items that are representative of the adventure, that encapsulate the place. Boom — here’s a way to bring the experience home, to preserve the moment. A snapshot that won’t let you forget who you are, right now. A simple reminder of who you once were. A barometer that will someday reflect how much you’ve changed.
You’ve spent months saving for the big trip. The cash might be hot in the pocket. On one hand, you’re in the habit of self-denial. On the other, you’re itching to make an impulse buy. And those pink and orange banknotes are starting to look like play money. It’s time to ditch the travel dogma and buy some souvenirs.
Whether you spend a little or a lot, the effect is the same. You’re the proud owner of a token of remembrance — or, as the word souvenir originally meant, a memory. That thing wrapped in tissue paper is no different from the thoughts collecting in your brain.
I think the constant advice to spend only on experiences and never on things can leave a traveler unbalanced. Especially for serious travelers who don’t intend to live full-time on the road: If you travel three months a year, racking up ten years of travel over four decades, that’s still thirty years at home. I can’t imagine spending those thirty years without the company of beloved foreign places — a Tibetan rug, a closetful of Indian-made suits, Habotai silk sheets every night, a terracotta nobleman, and a bell of absurd proportions and unknown age (just because).
Buying things on the road works on the same principle as aggressive saving at home — the sacrifice of immediate gratification for a larger future reward. The rug bought straight from the weaver might cost you three weeks of travel, but it will serve you and your family for generations. And in a world of affordable shipping, “I don’t have space in my backpack” isn’t much of an excuse.
How do you handle spending on the road, and how do souvenirs factor into your life at home?
Photo by Col.Sanders via Flickr.
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:47 pm
I agree that souvenir shopping is a delicate balancing act. I don’t purchase much and I give it a lot of consideration before I do, but when it comes to something I’ll treasure long-term like signed prints by one of my favorite photographers, I believe it’s worth the expense, the extra weight and the potential hassle of sending it home. Life is ultimately a collection of experiences but sometimes mementos better evoke the feeling of a place than our minds alone.
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:50 am
If you see something and don’t buy it, you could spend the rest of your travels saying, “…why didn’t I buy that?” When in doubt buy what the souvenir because you could end up regretting that you didn’t.
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:53 am
Okay, sorry for the error. The word “what” was supposed to be deleted from my comment…”When in doubt buy the souvenir because you could end up regretting that you didn’t.” Before you hand over your money, make sure you really, really want the souvenir. You only have so much room in your backpack 🙂
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:59 pm
My favorite souvenir is this mug I found at the top of a mountain in Africa where the guy was making and firing the pottery right there as he sold it. One of my quirks is I like to drink out of my own cup – everything else is negotiable. So I carried and used the mug (very durable) throughout my trip and now when I drink from it at home it reminds me of getting up for 6am surfs and sunrise. It remains one of my favorite things.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:30 am
To be quite frank, I don’t contemplate too much on whether or not to buy souvenirs when I’m on the road. There’s lots to say “in defense of souvenirs”!
1-You’d be helping local economies.
2-Souvenirs make for really fun pictures.
3-There’s always the postal system to send things home if the back pack gets too heavy along the way.
4-If you decide you can make do without the souvenir at a later stage, there will always be children who will appreciate a weird and wonderful gift from a stranger.
Also – as a travel journalist, my editors ALWAYS want to see pictures of local produce/tradition/souvenirs, so I have become accustomed to spending some of my time traveling at souvenir stands;-)